Juniors Lynnete Zawadi and John Mbagi were crowned the Junior winners of the eleventh leg of the Safaricom Golf Tour held at the par 73 Nakuru Golf Club on Sunday.
Six-year-old Lynette from Nyali golf club produced a splendid 37 gross to lead her group and claim the overall best girl title with Nakuru-based junior John Mbagi emerging the best boy after posting a gross of 84 points.
“It feels nice to be the overall champion even though I didn’t play to my potential. I had a tough time at the front nine given the cold weather in the morning, but my back nine was good with solid putting and good drives. I believe golf is for everyone and I want to thank Safaricom for giving young people this opportunity. My future ambition is to become a professional and represent my country,” said Mbagi
Sunday’s tournament witnessed the largest turnout for the junior part of the tour with 159 participants including 5 golfers with hearing impairment from Ngala school of Deaf in Nakuru. Another 62 juniors showed up for the golf clinic which was part of the day’s activities.
Earlier on Saturday, during the corporate day tournament, 17-year-old Kelvin Kiplenge from Nakuru beat a field of 246 golfers to claim the overall title on 41 Stableford points. Kiplenge became the second junior golfer to win the corporate tournament after 15-year-old Leo Gitonga won the second leg of the tour in Limuru. The victory also earned Kiplenge a place in the series grand finale to be held in Vipingo early in August.
The Safaricom Golf Tour now moves to Nairobi, with Kenya Airforce Golf Club set to host the next leg on 16th July. The tour has so far drawn over 5,000 golfers who have participated in the tournaments, junior clinics and outreach programmes.
As part of growing Golf among the juniors in the country, Safaricom has partnered with Junior Golf Foundation to tap and nurture young talent in the golf sport. The juniors can register with Junior Golf Foundation (JGF) for KES.1,000 and have access to any golf club in the country to play Golf.