The rains being experienced in Nairobi and other parts of the country did not affect the turnout at the US Kids Local Tour Muthaiga tournament that decided some of the group winners.
The girls’ 13-14 years was a close call going into the final tournament where the players earned double points in the rankings. Amelia Sheikh emerged the best with a score of +7, three strokes ahead of Audrey Gachora with a score of +10. Marya Nyambura had a rare off day with a score of +17 in third place.
A statement to newsrooms indicates that this did not seem to affect her match as she did just enough to emerge the overall winner in the category with 175 points. Audrey Gachora finished second overall with 160 points while Yolanda Yu who finished fifth on the day was third overall with 137.50 points.
“Today I played some interesting golf but overall, I played my best and kept my head down. But it is okay,” said a disappointed Marya Nyambura.
Another interesting battle was in the boys’ 12 years category where Amar Shar and Aidan Gachora have been exchanging wins in every other tournament.
At Muthaiga, Amar once again played one of the greatest rounds of golf by the juniors, winning the category with an impressive score of +1. Mwathi Gicheru was second four strokes behind with Aidan Gachora in third position, one stroke behind Gicheru at +6. The result gave Amar Shah the overall group win with 230 points. Aidan Gachora settled for second with 152.25 points and Justin Ngera, 4th on the day finished third overall in the group with 149.50 points.
“Today I started bad. I had three bogeys, and then after that, I started to focus more on my game and it was good after that. I went two under from there,” explained Amar.
Amar who says he was not happy to finish second in some tournaments, has set a new target for the upcoming season.
“Next season I want to shoot under par first, then I want to win all my games in all the tournaments,” he concluded
In the boys’ 11-year category, Gitobu Gitonga continued his dominance and won at Muthaiga with a score of +6. He was followed by Jeff Kivi with a score of +12 and Murithi Gitau with a score of +13. One stroke behind him was Benny Dinkins with a score of +14 in a tight finish for the 2nd to 4th positions. The tight race was reflected in the overall standings as Gitonga Gitobu emerged as the winner with 204 points. Jeff Kivi finished second with 137 points while Palash Tank emerged third overall.
“The season has been okay; I shot under once. Today it was okay but not the best because I made a bogey in the 18th hole which is not good. Next season I’m winning everything! I am not giving the other guys a chance, I’m not even giving them an option to win,” warned Gitobu.
The girls 5-18 category saw Navya Nagda win in a playoff with Cherise Wachira after they both scored +15. Hazel Kuria finished third in Muthaiga. Navya also finished first overall in the rankings with 205 points. Cherise Wachira settled for second with 145 points with Hazel Kuria finishing third with 120 points.
Kushagra Sharma who did not play at Muthaiga emerged the category winner with 178 points in the boys 15-18. Alvyn Otsianyi finished second at Muthaiga with a score of +9 behind winner Kiunjuri Mathu who scored an impressive +2. Otsianyi was second in the overall rankings with 106 points followed by Kiunjuri Mathu with 102 points.
The Junior Golf Foundation tournaments take a break to resume in December with the Western Junior Open, The Royal Junior Strokeplay Championship, and the US Kids Golf Regional championship. The Sigona Junior Open will close the year between the 20th and 22nd of December.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
