Limuru Country Club’s Roy Nichola follows the path of his tee shot during the NCBA Golf Series at his home club on Saturday.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

The second leg of the NCBA Golf Series came to a thrilling conclusion on Saturday, with over 200 golfers competing in a tightly contested tournament at the Limuru Country Club.

Peter Muchangi emerged as the overall gross winner of the tournament, with an impressive 73 gross points. John Kariuki, playing off handicap 1, took home the Men’s Category with 76 gross points, followed closely by Solomon Mumbi, playing off handicap 4, with 79 gross points.

In the Ladies’ category, Noni Wanyee, playing off handicap 14, secured victory with 84 gross points, while Caroline Wangari, playing off handicap 9, finished her round with 86 gross points to secure second place.

In other results, John Odhiambo and Joseph Kihanya emerged as winners in the Nines contest, with 37 and 36 gross points, respectively, winning the two categories.

At the same time, Jelani Kihanya, playing off handicap 9, won the Juniors Category with an impressive score of 82 gross points, claiming the bragging rights in the category.

Meanwhile, NCBA Group Retail Director Tirus Mwithiga, playing off handicap 17, put up a stellar performance to emerge top in the Staff category, while Bill Emase, playing off handicap 11, was the top Guest player on the day.

Speaking after the event, Mwithiga said: “We are delighted to have hosted another successful leg of the NCBA Golf Series, which has become a highlight on the Kenyan golfing calendar. We would like to congratulate all the winners and participants for their excellent performance and sportsmanship throughout the tournament.”

“Tournaments like the NCBA Golf Series provide an excellent platform for golfers to showcase their skills, and we are proud to support the growth and development of the sport in Kenya. We are honored to have been part of this event and look forward to continuing our support for the golfing community in Kenya,” he added.

The NCBA Golf Series is organized by NCBA Bank in partnership with golf clubs across the country and is fully sponsored by the bank. This year’s series features 16 senior’s qualifier events and a juniors tournament to be held at Nyali Golf Club.

The next leg of the NCBA Golf Series will be held at Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club on 22nd April 2023.

Junior golfer Oscar Kuhnert pulls his golf bag at Sigona Golf Club.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

The 5th leg of the U.S Kids Golf Spring Local Tour attracted 104 junior players at the challenging hilly Sigona golf club. Two of the golfers that took part are on a golf Safari tour of Africa. Rudolf Kuhnet from Vienna, Austria has been on a three weeks’ tour of Africa, starting in South Africa, then Uganda and finally Kenya where he has taken his Children 10-year-old Oscar Kuhnert and 8-year-old Allegra Kuhnert on a golf playing tour.

“I’m really impressed by the quality of golf in Kenya, they played really well and the competition for my kids was tough. We were hoping for very good results here and go back to Austria with very good golf memories,” said Rudolf.

The Kuhnert family arrived at Sigona by chance. While playing in Uganda, they met a Kenyan family playing in the Uganda tournament and they were invited to Kenya. Both families arrived in Nairobi on Monday on the eve of the U.S Kids Tour Sigona leg.

“We were invited by a friend who also has boys playing here (Sigona). He told me to come here because we have to see this beautiful location, so of course we honoured the invitation,” he explained.

Kuhnert senior says the toughest course was in South Africa, followed by Kenya. Uganda he says was just different. His children performed well in Kenya, Oscar finishing second on 45 points, two shots behind Palash Tank in the boys 10-year-old category. Allegra also finished second with 44 points, two shots behind the winner Aarna Mengi in the girls eight years category. Rudolf was a busy father, as he had to caddie for both children who played at different times.

“I was out of breath coming back from the hills. I was with my son on the course for six hours, then I looked at my watch and saw it was already late!! (for Allegra’s tee off). So I had to run back to the tee off to caddie my daughter and was completely out of breath. I’m glad my son finished by himself and still got a good score,” he explained.

“I was struggling a bit in the opening holes but I got better and better as I moved on. Again in the last few holes, I struggled a bit because I was alone, but in my mind my father was speaking to me, giving me tips. Then I just focussed on the game,” said Oscar Kuhnert.

Allegra said “It was good but there are not so many bunkers here. After Kenya, I want to visit America!”

After all the golf, the Kuhnerts will be in Kenya for another three days to sample what Kenya has to offer.

“We are now about three weeks in Africa and my children have only seen golf places. So we hope to see some of the animals, we will go somewhere outside Nairobi on a small safari for two or three days,” said a beaming Rudolf.

He added that Kenya was on their bucket list of places to visit, only that it came earlier than planned.

“Kenya and Africa was always an interesting country for me because in my opinion, Africa is the future. So I was very happy to come here and im very happy that my children get the experience to see how it is in Africa and the great opportunities they will have in future.”

The Sigona leg again witnessed great competition with the girls 9-10 years category decided by a play off in hole one. Nyawira Macharia who won the play off was tied on 46 points with Ashley Gachora.

“The play off was with one of my very close friends, so it would have been really hard. At first, we both had very striking drives, but when everyone hits a great drive, it really comes don’t to the short game. So you would first want to read the lines of your chip because the greens might be a little tough. Then with putting you do the same thing, just read the lines,” explained Nyawira on how she won the play off.

In third place was Ashley Muyera on shot behind the leaders. Zianna Khoda and Siqian Yu were also joint fourth on48 points.