The heavy rain pounding the country forced a venue change for the NCBA Nairobi Local Tour US Kids golf event that was slated for the Thika Sports Club.
The Junior Golf Foundation had to look for an alternative venue because of three challenges in Thika.
“We had sightings of a hippo, then the Thika super highway was flooded in some sections; getting to Thika would have been a problem for everyone. Then the course in Thika is a bit wet because of the heavy rains,” explained Regina Gachora, the Junior Golf Foundation president.
The tournament was moved to Windsor, which has also taken a beating from the rain but is in good playable condition. Despite the conditions, the junior played some impressive golf, with two categories decided via a play-off.
First in the play-offs were the girls 13–14 years old. Yolanda Yu and Sophia Nesbitt tied with a score of 85, and the tie breaker was a playoff. They both had a good start in the playoffs, but Yolanda was the stronger one in the end, calming her nerves to putt for the win.
Yolanda says it was not easy, and she was nervous because she was playing against Sophia Nesbitt, who is more experienced.
“My friends like Shuhan Peng and Nawembo were making fun of me before the play-offs; that was released by pressure and made me laugh a bit. Plus, my caddie came back! He was on his way home (before the scores were announced), and my mom called him back. I wasn’t stressed when he showed up,” she said.
On facing Sophia Nesbitt in the play-off, she said, “Since she wins a lot of competitions and she has a longer golfing age than me, I kind of feel pressured whenever I play her because she is more experienced and I think her tempo and all these are way better than me, but I did it.”
Another category that was decided via a playoff was the boys 12 years category. George Ikirima and Jeff Kivi were tied for 82 and needed a tie breaker.
Despite a poor start in the playoffs, George Ikirima recovered well to beat Jeff Kivi to the title. He says he needed the win and worked towards achieving it.
“I wanted to win because I wanted to climb up the ranks since I was ten points behind my opponents. So I needed to win,” stated Ikirima.
He claims he had a poor start because he was nervous and was gripping his clubs very tightly.
The players hardly have time to relax as they head to the next leg of the US Kids series in a week’s time at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
