Kenya Golf Union (KGU) chairman Francis Okwara at a past function.

By KGG REPORTER

Kenya Golf Union (KGU) chairman Francis Okwarwa has defended the national golf team’s lacklustre performance at this year’s Africa Zone VI Golf Championships in South Africa finished fifth out of 12 participating countries.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout put the seal on South Africa’s successful title defence at the tournament, with the South African number one ranked amateur belting Nyali’s Adel Balala 9 & 7 in the final round singles at Devonvale Golf and Wine Estate to put an exclamation mark on another clean sweep for the country in Africa’s most prestigious team event.

Swaziland took fourth with 14.5 points, while Kenya finished in fifth place on 13 points.

The national team’s performance seem to be taking a down ward spiral going by the fact that they won the tournament just four years ago and initially they were guaranteed of a top three finish, but fortunes seem to have dwindled.

“I can say we performed well, finishing fifth out of 12 countries is not a mean feat as you are aware that the number of participating countries increased to 12 from eight in the previous years,” said Okwara.

He added: “Namibia and Swaziland have also invested in very strong junior programmes, making the competition at the tournament very high.”

Okwara admitted that the team missed the services of Royal’s Jay Sandhu whose papers did not come out in time and ended up missing the trip, forcing the team to travel with only eight players.

On the way forward, Okwara said: “We need our juniors to play more frequently because the prime age of every sports people is between 15 and 30 years and in turn we will soon be getting the results.”

FINAL LOG STANDINGS:

1 South Africa 23

2 Zimbabwe 19

3 Namibia 15.5

4 Swaziland 14.5

5 Kenya 13

6 Malawi 12

7 Mauritius 11.5

8 Zambia; Uganda 9

10 Lesotho; Botswana 8.5

12 Mozambique 0.5 nike air max 1 nike air max 1

Naomi Wafula (right), a member of the ladies national team is awarded for her feat in this past photo.

By CORRESPONDENT

The entries for this year’s All Africa Challenge Trophy (AACT), a biennial continental ladies golf championship to be held at Muthaiga Golf Club from June 8 to 12, has attracted 19 countries, including hosts Kenya and will be a World Amateur Golf Ranking  (WAGR) event.

Making this announcement at the conclusion of the Organising Committee’s fortnightly meeting yesterday,  AACT Organising Committee chair, Dorcas Mbalanya said:  “At the close of  team entries, we have received 18 confirmations, and although we had planned to host 24 countries, we are pleased that there will be 19 teams competing in June.”

“We are grateful to the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrew’s (R&A) for their financial support as well as listing the 2014 AACT Championships as a World Amateur Ranking Event.  This will give our national and regional golfers a chance to get world ranking points”,  she continued.  Kenya’s top lady golfer, Naomi Wafula is the defending best junior golfer in Africa – a title she won in Botswana in 2012.  Also unveiled was the tournament website:  www.aactgolf.com which will incorporate live scoring during the three day championships.

Defending champions, South Africa are sending a strong team which includes their number 2 ranked junior, Cara Gorlei (Handicap +1);  Magda Kruger (Handicap 1) ranked 2nd on Womens Golf South Africa  (WGSA) senior ranking, and Michaela Fletcher (Handicap +1) ranked 4^th on WGSA.    The other countries include Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and hosts Kenya.

The All Africa Challenge Trophy will bring together the best lady amateur golfers on the continent.  Each country is represented by three players and a non-playing captain.  Using Eishenhower scoring, the best two scores per round count towards the daily team score in the 54-hole strokeplay format.  First held in 1992 in Zimbabwe, Kenya hosted the second event 20 years ago at Muthaiga Golf Club.

The Kenya Ladies Golf Union (KLGU) the governing body for ladies golf in the country have been organizing golf fundraising tournaments since January, with great success.   Vet Lab, Muthaiga, Karen and Nakuru have hosted events which has netted close to Sh 4 million towards hosting expenses.  Four more events are scheduled at Royal Nairobi and Nyali on 9 May,  Sigona on 23 May and Kakamega on 31 May.

The AACT will be followed by the Kenya Orient Insurance-sponsored Kenya Ladies Open Amateur Strokeplay championship, a 36 hole medal at Royal Nairobi on 14 and 15 June. nike air max trainers nike air max trainers