Weary Kenyan golfers finally arrive in Kitwe
What you need to know:
- Kenya’s team for this year’s Africa Region Five Championship arrived in Ndola and finally connected to Kitwe, 65 kilometres away, after an hour and half delay by Kenya Airways at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
- They joined South Africa, Uganda, Angola, and hosts Zambia. Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana were expected last night while no word came from Mauritius.
- The Kenyan team, though excited to take on the rest, were upset as national head coach, John van Liefland, had his luggage left behind in Nairobi by the airline.
in Kitwe, Zambia
Kenya’s team for this year’s Africa Region Five Championship arrived in Ndola and finally connected to Kitwe, 65 kilometres away, after an hour and half delay by Kenya Airways at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
They joined South Africa, Uganda, Angola, and hosts Zambia. Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana were expected on Monday night while no word came from Mauritius.
The Kenyan team, though excited to take on the rest, were upset as national head coach, John van Liefland, had his luggage left behind in Nairobi by the airline. But all the same Liefland said although he had trained the team for a short time due to the Barclays Kenya Open, he was happy with the progress.
“During training, we focused on short game which is the real thing and the players responded well,” said the coach. He said the fact that he was not familiar with the rest of the teams participating won’t bother him much.
“We are here to play serious golf and win that is the objective. I believe in every team. This team was selected on merit and they the best four amateurs in the country at the moment,” added Liefland.
Kenya’s team is made up of Alfred Nandwa (captain) from Railway, John Karichu (Limuru), Edwin Mudanyi (Vet Lab) and Samuel Njoroge of Railway, who is making his debut in the national team.
Njoroge won the Windsor Classic last month to grab the fourth slot in the team.
Team captain Nandwa, one of the most experienced players, said the coach had made a big impact on the team particularly in terms of game management.
“We know every team is here to win, and so are we, and will put up a fight in the strokeplay round so that we make the ‘A’ division,” he said.
On Tuesday, all teams will play a practise round at Nkana Golf club from 8am followed by managers meeting and the official flag raising ceremony at 4pm local time. The strokeplay qualifying will take place on Wednesday and the quarter final on Thursday morning and semis in the afternoon.
