A team of seven players has been picked to represent the country at the All Africa Junior Team Championship scheduled for April 15-21 at the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort & Spa, Uganda.
The team will comprise four boys and three girls. The boys' cadre will have Lee Kimathi, Krish Shah, Mikael Kihara and Junaid Manji while the girls' team will feature Chanelle Wangari, Belinda Wanjiru and Audrey Gachora. The team was named after the conclusion of the Muthaiga Open, which was used as a qualifier last weekend.
Lee Kimathi played the best score among the juniors with an aggregate of 235 gross while Chanelle Wangari led the girls with a score of 239 gross.
The tournament presented a great competition experience to the juniors who got a chance to play alongside elite amateurs throughout the three days and golf professionals on the final day.
The event was won by Michael Karanga, who played a great score of 7 under par after three rounds—extending his lead in the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship Series while Simon Ngige led the professionals with a
Kenya Golf Union (KGU) chairman, Njani Ndiritu, lauded the efforts made by Junior Golf Foundation in the selection process and congratulated the juniors who made the cut for the Uganda event.
He thanked tournament administrators including Philip Ochola, David Kihara, Patricia Wangongu, Mike Ngene and the Muthaiga Golf Club fraternity for a job well done.
The JGF president Regina Gachora appreciated the sacrifices made by the juniors and parents and the efforts put in place to ensure the success of the selection process.
She further thanked the schools for granting leave to the juniors, especially on the first day of the tournament and during training sessions, and Muthaiga Golf Club for allowing the juniors to play in the tournament.
The chairperson of the JGF-AAJTC sub-committee Vincent Mukiri outlined the process that has been undertaken as part of the team selection.
This included the selection of the top 12 boys and top eight girls from the JGF Order of Merit and taking the juniors through three weeks of training guided by coaches John Van Liefland and Alfred Nandwa in the Nairobi region and Saleem Haji in the Coast region.
The Muthaiga Open was thereafter selected as the qualifier tournament wherein the results determined the final squad.
Mukiri further expressed the need to have continuous high-performance training up and above preparing for international events.
The selected team will continue on with an intensive training program in readiness for the AAJTC in mid-April.
