All set for junior Stroke Play at Muthaiga
Vet Lab Sports Club golfer Chanelle Wangari tees-off from the First Tee during the August Mug at the par 72 Vet Lab Sports Club course on August 8, 2020.
What you need to know:
- From the South Coast, action will then shift to the historical Mombasa Golf Club’s links course for the Mombasa Cup on Wednesday.
- Then there is the Vipingo Ridge event, a non Kenya Ladies Golf Union event on Thursday, before action moves to Nyali Golf and Country Club for the 36-hole Championship on Friday.
- The series winds up on Saturday with the Nyali Mixed Foursomes where the ladies will invite men to join them.
A field of 54 boys and girls will parade at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course for the 2021 Kenya Junior Stroke Play golf Championship from 7am Monday.
Last year, the event also known as the “Boys and Girls Championship’’ did not take place because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This week’s tournament also marks the second leg of the Junir Golf Foundation series, after the successful first leg at Machakos two weeks ago.
Chanelle Wangari, who won the Railway ladies Open, will miss the action at Muthaiga, which besides being a JGF Order of Merit event, also counts towards the World Amateur Ranking.
During the 2019 event, home player Taimur Malik shot an impressive 294 gross, which included a brilliant final round of three under par 68, having earlier shot rounds of 79, 74, and 73 to claim the overall title, which also earned him a place in the Magical Kenya Open 2021 at Karen.
The overall girls title went to Jaimee Gachaga, younger sister to Kellie Gachaga, who is currently away in the United States of America.
Malik is in School in South Africa, while some of the leading juniors such as Njoroge Kibugu, his brother Mutahi Kibugu, 22, are in the senior league.
But Coast-based Andrew Wahome, who won the 13 years and under title in the 2019 event, Vet Lab’s Leo Zurovac, Thika Sports Club’s Dennis Gakuo, home player Emmanuel Njugu, Junaid Manji and Lee Kimanthi are among those who will be going for the boys' title, while Nyali’s Rmil Jayasinghe, Bianca Ngecu, Belinda Wanjiru will be among the top contenders for the girls title.
Meanwhile, the Ladies Coast Open golf series which has has attracted players from across East Africa gets under way Tuesday at the Leisure Lodge Beach and Golf Resort in Diani, Kwale County.
A field of 133 including a number of the leading lady golfers such as Serah Khanyereri, Mercy Nyanchama, Naomi Wafula, Chanelle Wangari, Frankie Gichuru, Esther Chumo, Ashley Awuor, Tanzania’s Madina Idd, Angel Eaton and Vicky Elias will take part.
From the South Coast, action will then shift to the historical Mombasa Golf Club’s links course for the Mombasa Cup on Wednesday.
Then there is the Vipingo Ridge event, a non Kenya Ladies Golf Union event on Thursday, before action moves to Nyali Golf and Country Club for the 36-hole Championship on Friday.
The series winds up on Saturday with the Nyali Mixed Foursomes where the ladies will invite men to join them.
