It's Makokha v Sandhu for the Match Play title

Isaac Makokha of Vet Lab Sports Club follows the progress of his tee from the first tee on September 19, 2020, during the semi-finals of Kenya Amateur Matchplay Championship at Vet Lab Sports Club.

Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • The event was held at Limuru Country Club last year where home player Paul Muchangi won.
  • Lejirmah will now play the 15-year-old Njoroge Kibugu in the third and fourth place play off at 8.40am, just 10 minutes after the first round of the 36-hole final.

Vet Lab Sports Club’s Isaac Makokha is about to make history by becoming the first ever player with an hearing impairment to win the Kenya Amateur Match Play Championship.

Makokha will face Jay Sandhu of Royal Nairobi Golf Club in Sunday’s grand finale of this year’s championship at the par 72 Vet Lab course.

Makokha, a regular player in the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series, on Saturday beat Njoroge Kibugu of Muthaiga 3-2 in the semi- finals, to set up the showdown against Sandhu who rarely features in the KAGC series, save for the events played mostly in Nairobi.

It will be a great achievement for Makokha if he wins on Sunday as he will have a chance of playing in the 2021 Magical Kenya Open Championship at Karen.

A brother to Muthaiga based Jeff Kubwa, If he wins, this will be Makokha’s first KAGC series title having featured in most of the events over the past two years without success.

In November 2018, Makokha participated in the Deaflympics in Turkey.

It will probably be his toughest match against the more experience Sandhu, though being at home at Vet Lab and on a course he is so familiar with, the title may be his for the taking.

Sandhu on the other hand made it to the final after beating another tough playing player John Lejirmah from Kenya Railway Golf Club 3-2. Lejirmah had eliminated Kenya’s top junior golfer Mutahi Kibugu with a one-hole victory in the quarter-finals, to eventually meet Sandhu in the semi-final match.

Lejirmah will now play the 15-year-old Njoroge Kibugu in the third and fourth place play off at 8.40am, just 10 minutes after the first round of the 36-hole final.

This year’s championship, sponsored by the Kenya Golf Union(KGU), had attracted a field of 108 players most of whom were eventually eliminated in the two rounds strokeplay event which left 32 players to proceed to the match play proper.

The event was held at Limuru Country Club last year where home player Paul Muchangi won.