Kenya, South Africa qualify for World Junior Championships at Windsor

South Africa once again dominated the All Africa Junior Teams Championships after winning both the Boys and Girls competitions at the par 72 Windsor Golf and Country Club on Thursday.

The victors represented by Andries Van Der Vyver, Cilliers Craig, Dewan De Bruin and Roelof Craigled from start to finish with the boys team managing a combined score of 22 under, while the girls team managed a score of 14 under.

Kenya finished second in the competition, a position they held from the first to the last day, with the boys ' team managing a combined score of +13, while the girls’ team managed a combined score of +5.

The results meant that South Africa and Kenya boys’ teams would represent Africa at the World Junior Championships in Japan in June, by virtue of finishing as the best two boys teams, while in the girls’ competition, only South Africa qualified to represent the continent at the global showpiece, since only the best team was getting the limited ticket.

Andries Van Der Vyver finished the competition as the best player on 15 under par 201 after a final day score of four under par 72.

He picked three shots on the front nine, but played a bogey on the par four second hole, while in the second nine, he had a double bogey on the par four 11th, but recovered with four birdies.

Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s junior Mwathi Gicheru registered the best scores for Team Kenya boys, managing an overall score of one over to anchor the team to a strong runners-up position.

“The experience was good. I cannot say it was easy, it was a bit hard. The course was playing long, the greens were fast, but we managed to play well. It means a lot because South Africa is a very strong team and finishing second behind them shows that we are also strong and we can compete with the best in Africa,” Gicheru said.

He added: “I feel great. It is a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to represent my country in a world event, and now I have the chance. We are going to work hard and make sure we perform well in Japan.”

In the girl’s competition, South Africa who were represented by Lourenda Steyn, Phenyo Sebata and Casey Twidale, managed a combined final score of 14 under, with Lourenda Steyn being their best player after the three rounds on an individual score of eight under.

Phenyo Sebata, who had been in a class of her own in the first two rounds, fumbled in today’s final round after dropping six shots on the first nine and dropping three shots in the second nine.

Bianca Ngechu had the best scores for the Kenyan girls on five over.

Team Kenya’s team manager Vincent Mukiri, said he was delighted with the general performance of the team, noting that the team had prepared well for the event.

He said the second place finish meant a lot to the country. He noted that as a host country, Team Kenya was delighted to be runners-up on home soil.

 “To start with, the team was made up of players from the Order of Merit who were then put into a camp, a nine-month camp from where we then selected from a group of 20 players this group of four boys and three girls. Therefore, it is a nine-month program that we have seen presenting four boys and three girls to compete in this event,” Mukiri said.

He added: “When you look at Team Kenya's performance, the boys have managed to clinch a spot into the World Championship and of course the girls finished second although one team is going to Japan. All in all, it's still a good performance.

"Remember before we came we set individual goals and we set team goals. Individual goals were based on what each player wanted to achieve. Team goals was what we wanted to achieve as a team. And I believe silver for each of these teams is a great achievement.

"For the boys, they get to go to Tokyo, Japan for the World Cup. For the girls, we still do not have a provision that they can go. We are trying to lobby the relevant bodies to also have girls included in this because really they've done their best and golf for girls is growing in Africa and one of the ways to encourage it is to create pathways even as the boys are being given such pathways."

1.         South Africa    -22

2.         Kenya             +13

4.         Uganda          +25

5.         Zimbabwe      +27

6.         Zambia           +33

7.         Mauritius        +49

8.         Namibia          +52

9.         Botswana       +55

10.       Ghana            +76

11.       Egypt              +86

12.       Tanzania        +100

13.       Cote D’Ivore   +106

Gilrs Final Leaderboard:

1.         South Africa               -14

3.         Morocco                     +29

4.         Zimbabwe                  +43

5.         Tunisia                                   +45

6.         Uganda                      +61

7.         Botswana                   +87

8.         Ghana                        +104

9.         Maurituius                  +105

10.       Zambia                       +134