Kenya harbours a dream to qualify golfers for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, thanks to landmark partnerships intended to bolster the standards of play countrywide.
The 3-year renewable agreements between Junior Golf Foundation (JGF) and Safaricom, NCBA, Crown Paints as well as Prime Bank will cater for the training of coaches, local golf tours and nationwide golf development.
The long term goal of these prestigious programs is to have local junior players play and win in the Kenya Open and also qualify for the Olympics in 2028.
Sports Minister Amb. Amina Mohamed, who was the chief guest during the partnership launch, said local golf will go places following the generous gesture envisaged as a new beginning in the sport.
Speaking during the official launch of the US Kids Golf Coaching Conference and US Kids Local Tour Competition, Amina noted that such initiatives, will give our qualifying golfers opportunities to play in regional, international and world championships organised by US Kids Golf.
"It is my expectation, that the coaches and their respective golf clubs will use their newly acquired knowledge and skills to attract and nurture the talents of junior golf players from across the country," Amina highlighted.
"Additionally, this marks the launch of US Kids Local Tour Competition, which will also give qualifying golfers more opportunities to compete in existing Championships.This development program will in the long term, grow the game of golf in Kenya and develop more elite players."
As part of this partnership, US Kids Golf Foundation, will provide training and certification to the local coaches with a view to develop a vast knowledge in youth golf.
The Kenya Golf Union recently signed a partnership agreement with US Kids Golf Foundation to introduce and implement a golf development program dubbed the 'Player Pathway'.
The Local Tour Competition will be a six to eight series one-day tournaments, where juniors will earn points, awards and priority status invitations to the annual World Championships in Pinehurst, USA.
JGF President Larry Ngala said: “We are quite fortunate to have brought on board 4 big corporates in Safaricom, NCBA, Crown Paints and Prime Bank as our main partners. Up to 70 percent of the investment they have put in will go into developing the sport and identifying juniors who are looking to develop their golfing ability through learning technical skills and venturing out onto the golf course."
Earlier last month, four junior golfers from Kenya played in the US Kids Golf Competition in Rome Classic in Rome.
