Kenyan juniors post mixed results in continental golf event
Nyali Golf and Country Club 's Andrew Wahome tees off at a past junior tournament at Royal Nairobi Golf Club.
What you need to know:
- Defending champions South Africa held on to the top spot going into Thursday’s third round
- In what appeared to be a tough day for the Kenyan boys, only Junaid Manji was able to break 80, having shot five over par 77 with Kevin Anyien on 80 and Andrew Wahome’s 85 counting for a team total of 242 gross
- The Kenyan girls’ team fired a total of 151, which included a 74 by Chanelle Wangari, a 77 by Audrey Gachora, and 89 by Bianca Ngecu
In Johannesburg
Kenya’s boys’ and girls’ teams Wednesday finished in fourth and third place respectively as this year’s All Africa Junior Team Golf Championship entered its halfway round at the par 72 Benoni Country Club course.
Defending champions South Africa held on to the top spot going into Thursday’s third round.
In what appeared to be a tough day for the Kenyan boys, only Junaid Manji was able to break 80, having shot five over par 77 with Kevin Anyien on 80 and Andrew Wahome’s 85 counting for a team total of 242 gross, which gave them a two rounds aggregate of 473.
The fourth player and team captain, Kris Shah, had a bad day out, shooting 87, a very unusual score for him.
South Africa showed their usual great form as they fired a second round 212 made up of 69 by Charl Bernard, a 71 from Pearce Lewin, and a 72 by Janko van der Marwe for a two rounds aggregate of 423, a 29 shots lead from Zimbabwe, who moved to second with 452 after posting 220 gross in the second round.
Pushing them to the second place were a two 74s by Brayndon Amm and Tonaka Chatora, with the third score of 72 posted by Keegan Shutt. Dropping to third place was Zambia with a two rounds total of 462, having picked up 233 in the second round where their contributing stars were Michael Chuma on 77, Fabian Musonda on 80, and a 76 by Zaid Yusuf.
One of the two Kenyan coaches, John Wangai, said they were heading for a team meeting, but noted the poor performance could have been caused by decision-making on the course by the boys.
“The girls however did well as they improved from the first round scores and narrowed the gap from Morocco by two shots. It’s halfway through the event anything can happen in the remaining two rounds,” said Wangai.
The Kenyan girls’ team fired a total of 151, which included a 74 by Chanelle Wangari, a 77 by Audrey Gachora, and 89 by Bianca Ngecu, which gave them a two rounds total of 309, while Morocco took the second place on 308 after 153 in the second round.
Back on the Boys’ section, Ghana carded 234 for a total of 474, while Reunion and Namibia carded 481 and 483, to finish day two ahead of Tunisia, Egypt, Uganda Malawi, Botswana, and Cote D’Ivoire in that order.
The second third round of the event, being hosted by GolfRSA and supported by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Scotland(R&A) and the Africa Golf Confederation (AGC), is set for 7.30am on Thursday.
