As the dust settles down on the just-concluded Magical Kenya Open, it is evident that the 156 players who entered the competition have a story to tell regarding the state of the par-71 Muthaiga golf course.
Compared to last year, the winning scores at this year’s event were relatively better with the winner Jorge Campillo posting -17 which was one better than Ashun Wu’s return. In fact, all the players in the top-10 this year were in double figures with the 10th placed player on -13 unlike in 2022 when a score of -9 was enough for a top-10 finish.
Despite the beautiful score cards at the top of the leaderboard, the story was not the same for the rest of the pack. Exit interviews with most players pointed out to three factors that made the week a long struggle; extremely dry conditions, strong unpredictable winds and relatively small and firm greens.
T-OFF News takes a look at some conspicuous numbers shared by the DP World Tour team:
81 Eagles
The players managed a total of 81 eagles all week. The most conspicuous eagle was by Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo who got a hole-in-one on the tough par-3 hole number two. Par-5 number 18 yielded the most eagles (31) followed by the par-5 no. 10 with 25. The players in the field managed another 17 eagles on the par-5 no.4. Interestingly, there were only six eagles on the long playing (616 yards) par-5 no. seven. Spaniards Adri Arnaus and Santiago Tarrio made three eagles each.
1681 Birdies
There were a total of 1681 birdies with the front nine witnessing 798 while the back nine had 883. The par-5 no. 10 playing 539 yards was the most generous hole on the course with 225 birdies. Magical Kenya Open 2023 winner Campillo registered a total of 23 birdies. Kenya’s Mutahi Kibugu managed a respectable 17 birdies.
183 Double Bogeys
A total of 183 double bogeys were registered during the week. The front nine proved quite daunting providing 80 of them while 53 were registered on the back nine. The par-3 no.13 (191 yards) was certainly the trickiest hole on the course where 27 double bogeys were registered.
Overall Ranking
The par-3s were ranked the toughest-playing holes while the par-5s were the easiest. The par-3 no. 16 playing 224 yards was ranked the toughest followed by par-4 no. 14 (474 yards) while the par-3 no. 2 playing 220 yards was the third hardest.
The par-5 no. 18 turned out to be the easiest hole on the course followed by par-5 no. 10 then Par-5 no. 4 which was playing 551 yards.
The DP World Tour moves to South Africa this week for the SDC Championship 2023 in Eastern Cape.
