Rise of junior golfers sets stage for first winner at Kenya Open
Naomi Wafula during the All Africa Challenge Trophy Ladies Golf event at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi on June 8, 2014. The junior golfer has impressed in major games. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO
Is it me or is junior golf on the rise in Kenya? I have been quietly following the recent action at the Junior Golf Foundation ‘summer-break’ tournaments and the results are very impressive!
At the Sigona Golf Club in Nairobi a week ago, Kenya’s elite junior golfers posted PGA-like scores on the tough par-72 course.
Naomi Wafula once more proved her dominance of the junior scene with scores of 77 and 78 for a total of 155 closely followed by Kellie Gachaga with scores of 78 and 84 for a total of 162.
Incidentally this was not a girls competition, but two girls, Wafula and Gachaga were on top of the list. Very impressive. The future of ladies golf in Kenya is bright.
Meanwhile, down at the Coast, another junior golfer won the Coast Open (Barry Cup) with an under-par score.
Mathew Wahome, a member of Kenya’s strongest junior golf fraternity, based at the Nyali Golf and Country Club, and inspired by Taufiq Balala and Alice Wahome, claimed victory at the 2014 Coast Open.
The 16-year-old Wahome became the youngest ever player to win the Coast Open and the first golfer to win the event with an under par score. His rounds of 69 and 71 for a total of 141, one-under par, set a new record at Kenya’s only links golf course.
Wahome, beat John Karichu to second place; Karichu is arguably Kenya’s top amateur golfer currently and Justus Madoya was third. By the way, didn’t Daniel Nduva, another Nyali-based junior player win this same event last year?
At the JGF Junior Strokeplay Championship, a 72-hole competition, Wafula stamped her authority as Kenya’s top junior player, winning with scores of 78, 75, 72 and 78 for a total of 303 gross.
The Nyali brigade took the next five positions — Tahir Mohammed was second with 305 gross, Mathew Wahome was third with 308, Adel Balala was fourth with 309 and Agil Ishaq and John Mburu was tied in fifth place with 320.
This result proved two things, that Wafula was still the junior golfer to beat and that the Nyali programme was living up to its billing as the best factory for Kenya’s future golfers.
Kellie Gachaga finished in 15th position with a gross score of 342. Kellie is maturing and will soon be threatening the boys from Nyali for dominance.
A question to the Taufiq Balala, Alice Wahome and golf pro Kopan Timbe in Nyali — are there no girls in Nyali? This may be a case for FIDA!
At the Limuru Junior Open, Wafula was still the queen and king of junior golf in Kenya, winning that 54-hole competition with scores of 76, 75 and 74 for a total of 225.
The competitiveness among juniors, the comradeship, the energy and level of talent and passion among the junior golfers gives me hope for Kenyan golf.
This group of juniors, the Nyali brigade, the Rose Naliaka Academy graduates, the Muthaiga, Vet Lab, Limuru and Sigona junior programme, this is where the next crop of Kenya’s elite golfers will emanate from, and it is from this group that we will get the first winner of the Kenya Open.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
