Elvis Muigwa from Kiambu Golf Club is the winner of the 2023 Kenya Junior Match Play Championship after beating Mikael Kihara 8 and 7 in the final played at the Sigona Golf Club.
Muigwa was aggressive from the first tee and was already five up at hole seven, having won five consecutive holes following an impressive three straight birdies at holes four, five and six and a level par at hole seven. Kihara won hole eight after a level par and Muigwa’s bogey, but Muigwa finished the first nine 5 up.
Kihara won hole 14 to reduce the lead to 4 up, and then Muigwa quickly restored the lead to 5 up with a win in hole 15. A win at hole 17 gave him a good buffer at 6 up.
Muigwa’s path to the final saw him win 4 and 2 against Denis Gakuo in the first round, followed by a 5 and 3 win over Muthusi Mukundi in the second round. He floored Trevor Ngotho 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals, then dispatched Krish Shah 4 and 3 in the semi-finals.
I feel very good. I had confidence coming into the final, this not being my first. Last year I lost in the final, so today I said I’m going to try my best, and yeah, I have done it,” said Muigwa.
On his part, Kihara said, “I didn’t play too badly; it’s only that Elvis brought his ‘A’ game and absolutely destroyed me, but we learn and we move. My round didn’t start so well so Elvis got away with it from the start. I tried to bring it back, but unfortunately, he got too many birdies for me”.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
