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From Left: Mathew Wahome in action during the Nyali Open Junior golf
tournament, Tahir Mohammed follows his shot during the Coast Open, Adel
Balala during a practice session at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club, and
Daniel Nduva follows his tee during the Keringet Golfer of the Year
tournament. Photos/FILE
By Charles Gacheru
In Summary
- Although the Kenya Golf Union is under fire and even under the threat of legal action for standing by junior golfers, the union must stand firm by what is right.
The future of golf in Kenya, and indeed, the
future of all sports, is in the hands of the juniors. Sporting
excellence is not in the hands of aging 40-year old sportsmen from
yester years, well past their sell-by date. The future is not found in
the past.
This past week, the Kenya Under-19 golf team has
been playing in the 19th edition of the All-Africa Junior Golf
Championship, at the Chainama Hills Golf Club in Lusaka.
The team from Kenya includes Matthew Wahome,
Daniel Nduva, Tahir Mohamed and Adel Balala, all from the Nyali Golf and
Country Club in Mombasa.
The team manager is Taufiq Balala, a man who has
invested heart and soul in the development of junior golf in Kenya, and
their coach is golf teaching professional Charles Farrar.
Although the juniors have not played exceptionally
well, they were lying sixth at the time of going to press, behind South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Reunion and Uganda.
South Africa has won the AAJGC a record 15 times
in its 19-year history. But such dominance is no surprise at all. Their
junior programme, established many years ago, continues to produce top
quality golfers year after year.
The current South Africa team that is in Zambia
includes Jovan Rebula (+4 handicap), Kyle McClatchie (+4 handicap),
Hennie du Plessis (+1 handicap) and Altin van der Merwe (+2 handicap).
A plus handicap golfer is so good, that instead of
getting strokes from the course, he or she, gives strokes to the golf
course. Did you follow that? In other words, for a +4 handicap guy,
returning a 4-under score daily is what is expected of him. Or her.
These crop of junior golfers already feature
regularly in the senior national team and soon we will be watching them
on TV as they play on the European and the PGA Tour.
Hennie du Plessis is the top junior golfer in
South Africa. The 17-year old from Polokwane played and won the Kenya
Junior Golf Championship at Muthaiga in 2013, beating his nearest rival
by 13-shots. The young man was in Kenya on the invitation of Taufiq
Balala.
Although the Kenya Golf Union is under fire and
even under the threat of legal action for standing by junior golfers,
the union must stand firm by what is right.
Golf excellence in Kenya will only be driven from
the bottom up; more juniors must be given the opportunity to showcase
their talent.
Initial losses at the AAJGC, the East African Challenge and the Zone VI Championship will soon pay off.
It is a complete waste of space, time and money
for the union to continue to invest in golfing dead wood who have no
place in the future.
The future belongs to the juniors and their time to play in the national team and the Kenya Open Golf Championship is now.
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