Indiza storms to day one lead at SunDev East Africa Swing

Dismas Indiza of Kakamega Sports Club surged to the top of the leaderboard after an impressive opening round at the SunDev East Africa Swing Johnnie Walker Classic, held on Saturday at the Diamonds Leisure Golf Resort.

Indiza carded a brilliant 3-under par 69 despite a shaky start. On the first nine, he dropped shots on the 3rd, 5th, and 9th holes, but managed to keep himself in contention with birdies on the 2nd and 6th.

On the second nine, Indiza was flawless apart from a double-bogey on the 11th, but stayed on fire with birdies on the 10th, 13th, 15th and 18th, and played level par on the rest of the holes..

“I am happy with my performance today, I loved the course here today,” said Indiza after his round. “I have been practicing at this course the past two days and I had a good feel of it ahead of the tournament. The weather here is also better than at Nyali and that contributed to my performance. I had a challenging first half, but when turning, I tried to play safe which led to the birdies I hit.”

He added: “Tomorrow I want to try and maintain the momentum and make the cut. I missed the cut at Nyali and that sort of motivated me coming into this leg, knowing I had to play better to make the cut.”

In second place is Rwanda’s Celestine Nsazuwera of Kigali Golf Resort, who returned a 1-under par score. He enjoyed a flawless front nine, making pars on the first three holes, then carding back-to-back birdies on the 4th and 5th before playing level-par on the rest. On the back nine, he bogeyed the 10th and played level par on the remaining holes to close with a total of 37.

Speaking after his round, Nsazuwera said, “The round today was great. I started well with pars, made birdies on the 4th and 5th, but had a bogey on 9 when I dropped my ball in the bush. I’m generally happy with my performance, but I feel I should have putted better. My approach tomorrow will be the same which will be to aim to be on top, make the cut and go for the win of the final round.”

Tied for third on level par were Samuel Njoroge of Kenya Railway Golf Club and Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo. Njoroge endured a challenging front nine with bogeys on the 2nd and 6th. On the turn, he picked up another bogey on the 10th, but closed strongly with birdies on the 16th, 17th, and 18th.

“Today's round was good. I stayed focused throughout and was hitting some good balls. The first nine was a bit hard because I wasn’t putting well and dropped some bogeys, but I stayed patient and finished strong,” said Njoroge.  

Rugumayo began brightly with a birdie on the par-5 second hole but dropped shots on the 6th and 9th to make the turn in 37. On the back nine, he bogeyed the 11th but recovered with birdies on the 16th and 18th, playing level par on the remaining holes.

A four-way tie for fifth on 2-over par included David Wakhu of Golf Park, Jastas Madoya of Great Rift Valley Golf Resort, Jacob Okello of Golf Park, and Robinson Owiti of VetLab Sports Club.

There was no winner for the hole-in-one prize on offer at the par-3 12th hole, which was sponsored by travel company Pure Travels. The prize, an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the Maasai Mara, remains up for grabs, and players will be aiming to claim it when the second round tees off tomorrow.

The SunDev East Africa Swing Johnnie Walker Classic is the fourth leg of the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing, a series designed to provide professional golfers and elite amateurs with regular, high-caliber tournaments aligned with Sunshine Tour standards.

The events offer Sunshine Development Tour points, Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR)  and World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points, and opportunities to play in major regional and international tournaments, providing a clear pathway for players to rise through the global golf ranks.