Gaita finishes fourth in the Sunshine Development Tour Johnnie Walker Classic
Gaita finished joint-third with Kenyan Dismas Indiza after both closed at 3-under-par 213 in 54 holes to pocket sh3.3m each and 99 Order of Merit points each.
Rodell Gaita follows the flight of his ball during the Entebbe Open. Photo by Michael Nsubuga
Uganda’s own Rodell Gaita soared to a third-place finish in the sixth leg of the Sunshine Development Tour’s East Africa Swing at the Royal Nairobi course on Wednesday.
Gaita finished joint-third with Kenyan Dismas Indiza after both closed at 3-under-par 213 in 54 holes to pocket sh3.3m each and 99 Order of Merit points each. Gaita posted rounds of 70, 75, and 68, with a brilliant four-under-par in the final round, while Indiza registered rounds of 72, 71, and 70, finishing two-under-par on the final day. This was a big leap for Gaita who tied for 20th in the first event at the Thika Greens Golf Resort in June before he missed the cut in the next event at the Ruiru Sports Club three days later.
He skipped the Nyali Golf & Country Club, Mombasa, and the Diamonds Leisure Beach & Golf Resort Diani legs in August before returning with a strong showing in the SportsBiz Africa Championship in Kigali, where he finished fourth, and then achieved his latest feat in Nairobi.
Kenyan top amateur golfer John Lejirma of Royal Nairobi Golf Club conquered the field after he edged out Kibugu Njoroge after a sudden-death playoff after both players tied on 10-under-par after regulation play.
Windsor Golf and Country Club’s Njoroge Kibugu delivered a superb final round of 6-under-par 66, capitalizing on Lejirma’s conservative play to erase the deficit to force the playoff. He earned sh5.7m out of the sh53m total prize kitty.
Celestin Nsanzuwera of Rwanda, winner of the Kigali leg, tied for fifth on 1-under-par 215 (73, 73, 69) with Kenya’s Erick Ooko (71, 72, 72). Nsanzuwera was the highest-placed non-Kenyan in the field.
The Johnnie Walker Classic was the sixth leg of the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing, a regional professional golf circuit designed to provide a pathway for African golfers to earn Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points while competing for Order of Merit standings and prize money.
The tournament was supported by East African Breweries through its Johnnie Walker brand, alongside Vivo Energy Kenya, Pure Travel, and Magical Kenya, and hosted by Royal Nairobi Golf Club.
Meanwhile amateur golfers Titus Okwong and Joseph Kasozi also managed top-five finishes, finishing fourth in the NCBA Tea Fields Trophy 2025 tournament at Kericho Golf Club and at the Nyanza Open ‘Hippo Pot’ championship respectively.