Benjamin Kedochim extends his lead at the 2024 New Giza Open.
It was another beautiful day with mostly sunny skies that welcomed the players at New Giza Golf Club in Cairo, Egypt for the 2nd round of the 2024 New Giza Golf Club. Play began at 7:00 am local time from the 1st and 10th hole. The first time the Alps Tour played at New Giza Golf Club was in 2019 and Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise, who now plays regularly on the DP World Tour, won the event. Players are competing with good scoring conditions this week, even if they faced more wind today compared to yesterday’s first round.
France’s Benjamin Kedochim, 29, maintains his lead after two rounds of the 2024 New Giza Open. He shot a second round of 5 under-par,67 with 1 eagle, 4 birdies, and 1 bogey for a two-day total of 11 under-par. Kedochim has earned numerous top 5 finishes in his career but is still looking to earn his 1st title as he has never won an Alps Tour event. After his round, he was delighted and happily commented: “Even if we teed off in the morning today, it was significantly windier than yesterday. It was already really windy at 5:30 this morning when I left the hotel. The course is wide, so I feel like you can allow yourself to miss some shots off the tees, they don’t need to be perfect, however your iron shots and your putting need to be spot on. I feel like I managed well today in these conditions and the only bogey I made was a stupid one but then I almost made an albatross on 14 so it was a good comeback.” He added that this week, “I’m not thinking at all about the results, I’m just trying to stay in the present and hit the shot that’s ahead of me and I also do the same with my putting. I try to hit the putt on the line I see without thinking about the consequences or having to tell myself I need to make it.” Kedochim plans to “do a little practice this afternoon just to go over the fundamentals I’ve been working on and allow my body to memorize well my swing which seems to be working well and some rest as that is always very important ahead of tomorrow’s final round.”
Manfredi Manica, 28, from Italy, winner of the 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand, is 2 strokes off the lead after the 2nd round of the 2024 New Giza Open. He was tied for 2nd place at 5 under-par after the 1st round of the tournament and remains in a 2-way tie for 2nd place with a two-day total of 9 under-par. He made 6 birdies and 1 double bogey during round 2, for a 4 under-par, 68. At the conclusion of his round, he commented on how, “today was a good day, yesterday wasn’t bad either but today the only negative part was the double bogey on the last hole which was unfortunate. However, it’s done now, and I can only look forward to tomorrow and try my best. I don’t want to do what I did at the season-opening event, where I had a rough start to the round, and then all I can do is to try and recover. Yes, it was the first event of the season, so my game was a bit rusty but tomorrow I plan to play like I did today and having played a few rounds, I’m a bit more confident overall in my game.” Manica added that, “it would mean a lot to me to win tomorrow. That would mean adding another title next to my name, but most importantly, it would allow me to have some margin for the rest of the season, which would determine my chances of being in the top 5 of the order of merit rank. That said, I will stay present and focused on my round and what I can control and see if it will be enough at the end of the round.”
England’s Harry Ellis, 28, who was tied for 17th place after yesterday’s 1st round, now finds himself in a 2-way tie for 2ndplace with a two-day total of 9 under-par. He shot a bogey-free 6 under-par, 66 in today’s round 2 where he made 5 birdies in a row to begin his day. Ellis’s best finish this season was a 10th place at the season-opening, 2024 Ein Bay Open. After he concluded his bogey-free round, Ellis commented: “it was a quick start to the round which put me in a good place for the rest of the day. To have a bogey-free round, on a tricky day feels very rewarding.” He added that he plans to: “just go out and play another round of golf. I feel like I have some good momentum and I am just looking forward to being out on the course again tomorrow.”
In a 7-way tie for 4th place at 8 under-par you can find: Spain’s Jorge Maicas and Mario Galiano Aguilar, England’s Harry Goddard and Arron Edwards-Hill, Italy’s Edoardo R Lipparelli and Enrico Di Nitto and France’s Aymeric Laussot.
Final Round
The final round of the 2024 New Giza Open will begin at 8:00 am local time from the 1st and 10th hole. The leaders will tee off at 9:17 am local time from the 1st hole.
The winner of the 2024 New Giza Open, will earn the winning check of €5,800 and 6,525 Order of Merit points.
Tournament Promoter
The 2024 New Giza Open can count on the support of: New Giza Company as the main sponsor of the tournament, as well as TPC- Touristic Promotion Company and Coca-Cola Egypt.
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