Samuel Njoroge of Railways Golf Club displays his trophy after being crowned the overall winner of 2018 Kenya Amateur Championship today during the Kenya Golf Union Awards Top Amateurs of 2018 ceremony held at Muthaiga Golf Club.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

The Kenya Golf Union has today officially feted the winners of the 2018 Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (formerly known as the Golf of the Year (GOTY)). Samuel Njoroge from Railway Golf Club is the 2018 Kenya Amateur Champion having gathered 545.6 points throughout the year to beat his closest competitor, John Karichu from Limuru Country Club, who managed 469.6 points. Coming in third was the 2017 champion Edwin Mudanyi, from Vet Lab Sports Club, with 333.5 points.

Edwin Mudanyi was also the winner of the lowest average gross score. Of his 20 best rounds, he managed an average score of 71.20 strokes beating John Karichu who had an average of 71.60 strokes.

In the club category, Vet Lab Sports Club was announced as the winner; having contributed the most amateur golfers in the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship throughout 2018. Royal Nairobi Golf Club came in second with Limuru Country Club taking the third position.

The Kenya Golf Union also announced the launch a program of talent development that will be led by the Golf Talent Foundation, a subsidiary of the union. The program that will take some of the talented amateur golfers through a training regime that will help equip them with skills that will see them do well even as they turn professional.

Kenya Amateur Championship winner S. Njoroge of Railways GC (Left) and lowest average gross score winner Edwin Mudanyi of Vetlab GC display their trophies during the KGU Awards Top Amateurs of 2018 ceremony held at Muthaiga Golf Club.

“The Kenya Golf Union will get into an arrangement with Golf South Africa and some of the federations in Europe that will see our amateur golfers get opportunities to play in competitions abroad and they will also get to send some their amateur golfers to play in Kenya,” said Lucas Marang’a, the Chairman of the Kenya Golf Union when announcing the start of the program.

“We recognise that to produce golfers who can compete effectively on the world scene as professionals, we must equip our amateur golfers and part of the program will be to expose them to golfers from countries that have continually produced the best golfers,” added Marang’a.

During the awards, the Kenya Golf Union also announced five of the six amateur golfers that will be playing at this year Kenya Open at Karen Country Club from 14^th to 17^th of March.

The five are:

1. Daniel Nduva from Nyali Golf and Country Club – winner of the Kenya Amateur Match Play Championship

2. Samuel Njoroge – winner of the Kenya Amateur Stroke Play Championship

3. Edwin Mudanyi – picked from the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) ranking

4. Mike Kisia from Vet Lab Sports Club – picked from the KAGC ranking

5. Bradley Mogire – KGU wild card

The Kenya Golf Union will announce the Junior Golf Foundation nominee to fill the sixth slot by the end of February.

Sweden’s Linda Wessberg, winner of both the ProAm team prize and the overall leading Pro prize at the Vipingo Invitational ProAm. She emerged victorious after returning an individual score of 2-under 70.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Swedish pro Linda Wessberg and her partners posted a combined score of 44 points to claim the top prize in the second Ladies European Tour (LET) Vipingo Invitational Pro-Am at the Par 72 Vipingo Ridge’s PGA Baobab Course over the weekend.

Wessberg’s team comprising two local pros namely amateurs Naomi Wafula and Florence Kirimi tied on 44 with four teams but won the title with a superior score of 9 on the last three holes after also tying with the second placed team on the back nine.

In second place was the team of English renowned professional Florentyna Parker and Charles Gacheru and David Nyale who scored 44 but with a lesser score of 8 points on the last three holes.

The team of Spanish pro Noemi Martin Jimenez and amateurs Fred Muteti and Gurbux Singh of Nyali came home third with a total of 44 points and 7 on the last the holes.

A total of 13 teams led by the visiting Ladies European Tour Pros and over 50 amateurs participated in the historic event. The first Pro-Am was played on Friday, where the Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck emerged the winners.

The Fuenfstueck led team comprising of amateur Mamta Patel, Rhapti De Silva and Purity Mutinda carded 58nett.

Kenya’s Betty Gacheru with Lady Pro golfers (L-R) Camilla Lennarth, Annabel Dimmock, Kelsey Macdonald and Amy Boulden at the Vipingo Invitational ProAm event

Kitale Golf Club’s Wafula who played in the winning team savored her presence in Vipingo Ladies Invitation Tour. “It’s such a great feeling to play alongside the top 100 ranked ladies from the European Tour. It’s such a great experience and we have learnt quite a lot from the visitors. It’s my hope that similar tours are organized frequently, said Wafula, from the ever-green Rose Naliaka Academy.

The event, which ran across two days, is a pre-cursor to a fully-competitive LET event which shall be held in Kenya later this year, and which is excepted to draw the participation of ladies from Kenya and the East African region.

The LET pros were on their way from the Fatima Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi to the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville in Australia.

The Vipingo LET Invitational was organized by Vipingo Ridge in partnership with U.Com Media the official television broadcaster of Ladies European Tour events. Safaricom and the Kenya Tourism Board also supported the event.

U.Com will use footage from this Vipingo event throughout the 2019 LET season, giving Kenya’s golf tourism a much needed boost in the arm.