Mombasa Golf Club to honour 'first Kenyan' golfer Duncan Ndegwa

The Mombasa Golf Club, second oldest golf facility in Kenya, has organised a tournament in honour of the country's oldest golfer, the legendary Duncan Ndegwa.

The tournament will go down on Mashujaa Day at the club that was started in 1911.

"We are pleased to inform you that Mombasa Golf Club has chosen this year’s Mashujaa Day to honour you by hosting a golf tournament to show our appreciation for the work you have done for golf in Kenya, as well as your efforts in promoting golf activities in general," Mombasa Golf Club captain James Gitonga Wachira, said in a letter to Ndegwa, a former Central Bank of Kenya Governor.

Wachira said Ndegwa,a member of Nyali and Nyeri Golf Clubs, is well known for his passion for the game, his contribution in the development of the sport and preservation of golf course facilities in the country.

“We saw it worthwhile to celebrate you on this day of Mashujaa, because for us, you are a true Shujaa who deserves every honour," added captain Wachira.
Ndegwa thanked the club.

"I feel greatly honoured by your kind gesture of celebrating me as a Shujaa during the forthcoming Duncan Ndegwa Golf Day on Mashujaa Day at the Mombasa Golf Club," said Ndegwa.

Born in Nyeri on March 11, 1925, Ndegwa started playing golf in 1954 at St Andrews University College in Scotland, then a student.

This makes him the first Kenyan African to play the game, a preserve of the white settlers here in Kenya then.

Upon his return to Kenya in 1956, Ndegwa was appointed to serve as an economist/statistician in the government until 1963.

Upon independence, he was appointed Permanent Secretary, and secretary to the cabinet and head of the civil service, a post he held until he was appointed the first Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya in 1967.

Ndegwa, the late President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki and the late Lawrence Nginyo Kariuki are some of the prominent Kenyans who encouraged Africans to play the game of golf during those early post-independence days.

It was almost impossible to join the then white dominated golf clubs.

Around 1961, Ndegwa, Kariuki and others turned a football pitch at Ndumberi location in Kiambu County into the now Ndumberi Golf Club - popularly known as St Andrews.

That is where most of the early black golfers started their golfing careers.

Ndegwa and others mobilised a number of Kenyans after independence to join clubs like Kiambu, Muthaiga, Railway, Royal, Nyeri, Sigona, Mombasa, Limuru and others.

He was also instrumental in helping protect golf course land in the country from land grabbers who had already grabbed golf clubs in Meru and Embu.

Because of his efforts to promote the sport of golf, Kenya Golf Union (KGU) made him the first KGU patron in 1976, a post he later handed over to Mwai Kibaki in 1983.
Ndegwa, 98, still finds time to play a few holes and meet old friends at Nyali Golf and Country.

The tournament is sponsored by ICEA LION Group, Mombasa Golf Club and Duncan Nderitu Ndegwa Foundation.

It is also supported by NCBA Bank and Wanakirima.

By Wednesday, over 100 players had already listed their names to participate in the event.