Muthaiga Golf Club’s Shashwat Harish from Muthaiga Golf Club shot one under par in the first round with an eagle on the par 5 eight hole and five over par in the second round for an aggregate four over par to lead in the Inaugural NCBA North Rift Junior Open at the Nandi Bears Club.
Home Player Phelix Cheruiyot’s 6 over par in the second round propelled him to the tied second position with the reigning Kenya Junior Matchplay Champion Tsevi Soni on 18 over par.
Justin Ngeera from Vet Lab follows closely on fourth with 19 over par and Yuvraj Rajput on fifth with 21 over par.
This is the first edition of the tournament which is part of the Junior Golf Foundation’s (JGF) initiative to promote the development of golf in the regions in conjunction with the title sponsor NCBA Bank and ICEA Lion.
The tournament attracted 45 Juniors between 9 and 21 years old drawn from Nandi, Eldoret, Kakamega, Kisii, Kitale, Muthaiga, Nakuru, Nandi, Sigona and Vet Lab Golf Clubs.
33 juniors out of the 45 made the cut to the final round on Sunday amidst the excitement of participating in the tournament that counts towards the JGF Order of Merit and World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) Points.
Speaking during the tournament, the JGF North Rift Region Representative, Mr. Fandi Shiyukah lauded the players and parents for turning up in support of the tournament.
“It is amazing to see players from Nairobi, Kisii, and Kakamega come to the North Rift region to compete. We have a lot of budding talents that need to be nurtured and elevated to national and international levels. We appreciate the support from our sponsors, NCBA Bank and ICEA Lion who enable us to roll out training programs in the regions and organize such tournaments. The tournament is an eye-opener for what needs to be done more in the upcountry regions.”