As part of the Golf Tour which ran through most of this year, Safaricom promised to have a golf bootcamp for the winning juniors from around the country. That came to be at Windsor Golf and Country during this past long weekend, where 51 junior golfers took part in the Safaricom Junior Elite Camp. This was a three-day boot camp held at the facility, where the juniors got a chance to be trained on different aspects of the game, including putting, chipping, pitching, bunker, iron play, and woods. The US Kids Golf Foundation conducted the training in collaboration with the Junior Golf Foundation (JGF).
It was a joy to be back in the Safaricom Golf circles and I got to speak to some of the winners of the tournament.
Nine-year old Nyawira Macharia who won in the 9–10-year category is from Vetlab Golf Club which hosted the thirteenth leg of the Safaricom Golf Tour. Nyawira was elated at the win and felt that it was well deserved after doing her best. Her favourite part of the bootcamp was the knowledge class where about the rules of golf, and she appreciates the importance of this especially in competitive golf to avoid disqualification.
She is grateful to Safaricom, Windsor Golf Club and Junior Golf Foundation for making this happen.
19-year-old Elvis Muigua clinched the above 15 win in the boy’s category, making his family and his home club Kiambu Golf proud. He says that it was a tough game with stiff competition from some solid players, but he’s not one to shy away from that. He gave it his best and emerged top in his category. e
About the bootcamp, Elvis is very grateful to Safaricom, Windsor Golf Club and Junior Golf Foundation for putting this together. His most notable lesson from it is consistency, both in golf and in life in general.
He would like to encourage other young people to try their hand at golf, terming it a good and fun sport which can help one in the future.
We also got to speak to 17-year-old Rasmeet Kaur from Nyali Golf Club which hosted the eighth leg of the tour. Rasmeet won in the over 15 girls category in a game she describes as exciting. The course was tough, and she had a lot of fun though the game was not her absolute best.
She leaves the 3-day boot camp with crucial lessons on mental and emotional control on the course and how to deal with scenarios where she feels overwhelmed for example. They did a lot of putting drills and those helped to build her game even more. She also loved the part of the curriculum where they were given a couple of booklets to assist in journaling and noting down things that will help in future.
“I am delighted to win today’s competition that marks the end of a three-day camp organized by Safaricom in partnership with the Junior Golf foundation. We have been here since Saturday for training by US Kids Foundation. I have gained a lot of skills from the programme that I believe will help me improve my game, especially in putting and chipping,”
Rasmeet Kaur, junior golfer.
The programme was part of a three-year partnership launched last year in October between Safaricom, the Junior Golf Foundation and the US Kids Foundation to help nurture and grow golf talent in the country. The partnership involves the training of coaches, local golf tours and nationwide golf development.