Teenage sensation Wahome on fire at BKO

Nyali Golf Club based amateur Matthew Wahome, 18, was the leading local golfer at the 2016 Barclays Kenya Open as Moritz Lampert and Danie Van Tonder took charge on the first day of the new European Challenge Tour season as they shared a one shot lead after the opening round.

Lampert’s bogey-free round of 66 put him on six under par where he was soon joined by South African van Tonder, one shot ahead of French duo Clément Berardo and Adrien Saddier as well as Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg.

German Lampert – who gave a guided tour to Nairobi’s Karen Country Club earlier in the week – won three times in the 2014 Challenge Tour season to earn instant promotion to the European Tour, and he is keen for similar success this year.

“It’s good to be back,” said the 23 year old. “Two years ago on Challenge Tour was the best season I have ever had so, though I would like to be on the European Tour, I’ve set my goals for this year and I’m enjoying it so let’s see what we can do.

“I feel really comfortable around here and I played quite a lot of practice – 18 holes on Monday, 9 on Tuesday and then 18 in the Pro-Am – just to get a feeling of how far the ball goes and what it does out of the semi-rough.

“The key today was that I putted well, I got a lot of up-and-downs that were quite important and if I hit more fairways in the next couple of days that will really help because my iron game is really good right now.

“My off season was great. I lost my European Tour card and took four weeks off and regrouped, had a good practice with my coach and my national team, then I played two events in Morocco on the ProGolf Tour and I won the first one, which gave me confidence, and this is a good start.”

Wahome had completed his first round with an impressive score of 3-under par 69 and was tied fourth behind early clubhouse leaders before falling back when the day’s action.

The teenage sensation started his round on the 10th tee and made two quick birdies on the par-4 10th and par-4 12th as the first tournament of the 2016 European Challenge Tour got off at Nairobi’s pristine Karen Golf and Country Club.

However, he dropped shots on the easy and short par-3 14th and the long and challenging par-3 16th to finish the back nine on level gross 36.

On the first tee, he found the right rough and a quick bogey followed, however the young man from Mombasa quickly corrected his boat and made three birdies in a row from the 2nd to 4th holes.

He followed that with a string of pars and closed the round with a birdie on the par-4 9th and an impressive score of 3-under par 69.

Wahome will tee off just after noon on Friday for his second and crucial round with his impressive start at the tournament underpinning the versatile and exciting nature of the Kenyan Open Championship that makes it the best golf annual occasion in Eastern Africa.

-Material from http://www.europeantour.com and IMG used to compile this report