Kenyan teams off to Africa Region Four Golf Championship in Madagascar

Kenya men’s golf team leaves on Tuesday for Antananarivo to compete in the Africa Region Four Golf Championship.

 Defending champions Kenya won the title last when the championship was held at Kigali Golf Resort and Villas in Rwanda.

 The team, which has been practising at Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club for the past two weeks under coach Ali Mohsin Khimji, will be captained by John Lejirmah.

The players in the squad are  Michael Karanga, Elvis Muigua and junior international Junaid Manji. It is the first time that  Manji, who was in the junior team in last year’s All Africa Championship in Benoni Country Club in South Africa, is making his first appearance for the senior team.

He replaces Adel Balala, who was part of Kenya’s winning team at Kigali Golf Resort in 2024.

 Kenya Golf Union

In 2024, Kenya won the cup for the third straight year, having won it in Uganda in 2022, and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2023. The team will be managed by Chris Kinuthia, who is also Kenya Golf Union KGU) chairman.

In August, coach Khimnji also led Kenya’s junior team to finish second in the inaugural Africa Region Four Junior Championship in Mauritius.

Meanwhile, Golf Park’s Sammy Mulama became the first winner of the Altitude Golf Challenge, which ended at the par 72 Nyahururu Country Club course on Sunday.

 Despite the tough condition of the course, which, according to most players, was not ready to host a national event, Mulama produced a three-rounds total of 16 over par 232 gross, to beat Kenya’s leading amateur golfer John Lejirmah by two shots.

Starting with a round of 79, Mulama managed a four over 76 in the second round, before winding up with a 77.

 “The course was very difficult, some holes at the back nine were not so good and so were some of the greens at the front nine, but we had to play the course as it was.”

“The club still has a lot to do to make sure it is in playable condition come next year,’’ Mulama said.

Mulama’s best placing in the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series before the weekend was a second-place finish in the Gold Fields Trophy in Kakamega in June and at the Coast Open (Barry Cup) in Mombasa in July.

“I will skip the next event, the Uhuru Shield at Royal from December 5 - 17 as I would like to travel to Mombasa early to prepare for the KAGC series grand finale (Nyali Open) from December 12 to 14,’’ said Mulama. He earned 100 points towards the KAGC series order of Merit, plus Sh115,000.

Like Mulama, Lejirmah closed the tournament with 76, but he had started badly, posting rounds of 80 and 78.

 “The course definitely was not ready to host the event. They still have a lot to do to bring it to a good condition’’ said Lejirmah, who finished second with 18 over par 234, just a shot better than Windsor’s Elvis Muigua. He is still ahead in the KAGC series with a total of 2,050 points, 163 ahead of Ndumberi’s Michael Karanga, who did not travel to Nyahururu.