The tournament marked the end of a three-day Bootcamp training for the 51 junior golfers by the US Kids Foundation
Kiambu's 19-year-old Elvis Muigua and Nyali's 17-year-old Rasmeet Kaur have emerged the winners in the 15 years and above category at Safaricom's Junior Elite camp tournament held last weekdn at Windsor Golf Club Nairobi.
The duo braced chilly morning weather to post a gross of 76 and 89 points, respectively, to claim the categories' best girl and boy titles.
"I am delighted to win today's competition that marks the end of a three-day camp organized by Safaricom in partnership with the Junior Golf foundation. We have been here since Saturday for training by US Kids Foundation. I have gained a lot of skills from the programme that I believe will help me improve my game, especially in putting and chipping," said Rasmeet Kaur, junior golfer.
The tournament marked the end of the three-day Bootcamp held at the facility, where 51 elite junior golfers across the country got a chance to be trained on different aspects of the game, including putting, chipping, pitching, bunker, iron play, and woods. The US Kids Golf Foundation conducted the training in collaboration with the Junior Golf Foundation (JGF).
The Elite players aged 11 years and above participated in the 18 holes tournament, with younger players 10 years and below participating in 9 holes tournament.
In the Girls' 9-10 years and below category, the 10-year-old, home player Kanana Muthomi, carded 35 points to claim the title ahead of Vetlab's junior golfer Nyawira Macharia who posted 45 points to settle for the second position in the category.
The programme was part of a three-year partnership launched last year in October between Safaricom, the Junior Golf Foundation and the US Kids Foundation to help nurture and grow golf talent in the country. The partnership involves the training of coaches, local golf tours and nationwide golf development.
The training of local coaches by US Kids Senior Director Golf Development Jim Hardy is also ongoing in key golfing regions of Coast, Nairobi, Mt. Kenya, Rift Valley and Western counties. The coaches are expected to use the knowledge gained to introduce more young people to the sport and develop some into elite players.
In January this year, Safaricom launched its inaugural Golf Series dubbed the Safaricom Golf Tour with an aim to tap, nurture and grow golf talent.
The tour was held in 14 golf courses across the country: Nanyuki, Limuru, Muthaiga, Nyanza, Machakos, Eldoret, Karen, Nyali, Kericho, Kitale, Nakuru, Kenya Airforce, Vetlab and Royal Nairobi Golf Club before culminating in a Grand finale at Vipingo Ridge.