Great Rift Valley Golf Resort
Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s elite amateur John Lejirma shot a round of 67 on round three of the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing Qualifying School (Q-School) tournament on Wednesday for four-under par on the day, and six-under par 207 for the tournament.
His round was the joint lowest of the tournament at the par 71 Great Rift Valley Golf Resort, seeing him return to the summit with a four-shot lead going into the final round.
Lejirma, who had previously held the tournament’s lead after round one, started the day in second, one shot behind the lead.
He would steadily build up through the round, shooting a one-under par, front nine score, off three birdies and two bogeys. At this point, he had taken over the lead from Njoroge who had a torrid time through the same holes, returning a score of eight-over par.
At the back nine, Lejirma was blemish free, shooting three birdies, at the par-four 13th, par-five 14th and at the par-four 18th a hole he bogeyed at in the last round.
Speaking on his round, Lejirma said: “Today was a good day, especially after yesterday which was a bit of a grind. Today I felt more in control of my game, I stuck to my strategy, made better decisions and the putts decided to fall.”
“Coming in tomorrow, I will approach it positively and hopefully it will pay off, I need to keep the momentum going, nothing is guaranteed as I am playing against a solid field. I need to focus on strategy and not place any pressure on myself,” he added.
Kigali Golf Resort and Villa’s Celestin Nsanzuwera, also shot a round leading score of four-under par, 67 to see him move up four places into second place on an overall score of two-under par, 211.
Celestin’s had an almost similar round to Lejirma’s, shooting a score of one-under par through the front nine courtesy of three birdies and two bogeys, the bogeys coming at the same holes as Lejirma’s, at two par-fours the fourth and seventh.
Celestin would go on to challenge for the lead, with triple birdies in the opening holes on the back nine, with a further birdie at the 14th, he would then drop a shot at the par-five 17th, while holding par through the rest of the holes.
Speaking after his round, Celestin said: “My game plan coming into this round was to play better which I did, my shots stuck, and my putting was my strongest weapon in this round.”
“Going into tomorrow, I won’t change much in terms of my strategy, I hope to go on and win, but if I don’t I hope to keep my current position.
“Winning this tournament would be a great opportunity for me and my country to be placed on the golf map. Yes, there is pressure, but nothing I can’t handle,” he added.
Kakamega Golf Club’s Dismas Indiza’s steady rise on the leaderboard continued in round three, moving up five places, to finish the round T3, after returning a score of two-under par, 69 to take his total tally to two-over par, 215.
Indiza barely put a foot wrong through the round, recording two bogies at the par-four ninth and par-three 12th.
Other big movers on the day included Golf Park’s David Wakhu, who moved up 10 places to 18th, and Mutahi Kibugu who finished in 19th, 14 places better than he finished yesterday.
Indiza was happy with his round: “I really enjoyed my round today, I played alongside some great players who challenged me to play well. I however missed a short putt on the 9th but overall, I am happy.”
“You can never be too sure with the sport of golf, depending on how the pin positions are placed, I’ll however look to give it the best I have,” he added.
Mutahi’s brother Njoroge didn’t have the same fate, as he dropped eight places to finish the round placed in T9 on a score of 8-over par, 221 for the event.
The last round of action will tee off at 7.30am, off both tees, with the leading group made up of Dismas Indiza, Celestin Nsanzuwera and John Lejirma teeing off at 8.33am off the first tee.
The overall winner of the tournament will walk away with Sh180,000, from the total purse of Sh1 million, with the top 10 receiving invites to play at the Sunshine Tour Final Stage Qualifier, set for April 8-11 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
This update is generally attributed to Pura Vida’s Content team. Feel free to shared any feedback or or relevant info incase of inaccuracies.
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