Course plays tougher with trade winds as Kenyans fail to make cut in MKLO

KILIFI, Kenya, Feb 11 – All the four members of the Kenya team are officially out of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open (MKLO) following completion of Day Two play at Vipingo Ridge Baobab course on Friday afternoon.

It was a bad day in the office for Vet Lab’s Mercy Nyanchama who repeated another score of 7 over par 79 to close round two play with 14 over par 158 gross.

And by the time she was done for the day, the projected cut stood at +8; which was obviously a mission impossible for the locals. 

Nyanchama, who was the best placed Kenyan, shot 41 in the front nine and 38 in the back nine for the day’s total of 79 at the hallway stage of the tournament.

She made two birdies on the Par 4 third and par 4 thirteenth and parred holes 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17 and 18 before dropping shots on the other holes including the par 4 seventh where she shot a triple bogey.

Kitale club’s Naomi Wafula ended her campaign on a cumulative total of 20 over par 164 to kiss vipingo goodbye much to her chagrin.

Faith Chemutai and Kenya’s sole professional Bhavi Shah were 35 and 34 over respectively after 13 holes and as such could not make the projected cut line.  

Meanwhile, monsoon winds and firm greens (occasioned by the current dry weather) continue to play out on Ladies European Tour (LET) scores.

For the second day running, the field has had to contend with relatively high unimpressive  scores.

Vipingo Ridge’s Head of Marketing Rachel Drew attributed the challenge to the relatively predictable monsoon ‘trade winds’ that have traditionally been an integral part of coastal life for donkey’s years.

“In Kenya we experience two wind seasons per year which add up to the challenge in the course. The Kaskazi (N/NE trade wind) blows from mid December until mid of March whilst the Kuzi (S/SE trade wind) blows from June until mid September,” he said.

“The Kaskazi wind is a very reliable and steady wind with an average wind speed of 15-20 knots,” Drew added.

The tournament is sponsored by Capital Group Limited, Johnny Walker, KCB Bank, Centum, Safaricom and Magical Kenya.