Lejirmah eyes 'Golfer of Year' crown as KAGC concludes

The curtain finally comes down on the 2022 Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series, with the season’s grand finale, the Nyali Open Golf Championship at the par 71 Nyali Golf and Country Club course in Mombasa’s mainland North on Friday. 

A field of 76 leading amateurs drawn from various clubs in the country was drawn to battle it out in Friday’s first round of the popular 54-hole stroke play tournament which is expected to determine who is the country’s top amateur golfer.

This is probably the smallest entry in the history of the event which used to bring together even professional golfers. This year, the KAGC series formerly the “Golfer Of The Year’’ series, had a total of 25 tournaments which started in January with the Sigona Bowl.

Three out of the 25 events namely the Golf Park Open, Malindi Open, and Kiambu Open were added this year, making the KAGC the biggest national series in East Africa.

Leading the field in hunt for the Nyali Open title plus some points towards the KAGC Order of Merit and World Amateur Ranking, will be Kenya Amateur Stroke Play Champion John Lejirmah.

The Kenya Railway Golf Club player Lejirmah has a narrow 15 points lead in the KAGC series after a poor finish in the Uhuru Shield at Royal Nairobi Golf Club last weekend where Muthaiga’s Jay Sandhu who had taken an early lead in the series before being dislodged by Lejirmah, managed to narrow the gap after clinching the Shield.

He had missed a number of events particularly those outside Nairobi which gave Lejirmah the advantage.

Lejirmah has so far won five events including the Kenya Amateur Stroke Play Championship at held this year at Vipingo Ridge in October, while others are Golf Park Open, Gold Fields Trophy in Kakamega, Nyanza Open, and the Nandi Bears Open three weeks ago for a total of 571.1 points against Sandhu’s 556.4 points.

“I know I have already qualified for the Magical Kenya Open next year, but my target is to be Kenya’s number one amateur golf, and adding the Nyali Open will definitely assure me of the “Golfer of Year’’ title,’’ said Lejirmah after last weekend’s Uhuru Shield.

Unfortunately, Sandhu is not travelling to Mombasa for the Nyali Open as he is assured for a place in the Magical Kenya Open next year.

But taking on Lejirmah this weekend will be home player and defending champion Adel Balala, Limuru’s Dennis Maara, Ugandan Michael Alunga who is currently in third place in the Series, and other players like Coast Open champion William Kaguta, Golf Park’s Sammy Mulama, Joseph Gathumbi, Isaac Makokha and Carl Wambasi from Vet Lab, Nyali’s Andrew Wahome and James Kamenchu of Railway.

Teeing off for Friday’s opening round is set for 7am, with the second round set for Saturday. The Nyali course at the moment is in great condition save for the usual wind.