12 junior golfers undergo high performance training as road to 2028 Olympics begins

Twelve junior golf players have benefitted from a three-day high-performance training camp organized by the Kenya Golf Union (KGU) in conjunction with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St.Andrews in Scotland.

Kenya is one of only three African countries that have benefited from the high-performance training, the others being Egypt and Zimbabwe. The 12 participants were carefully selected by KGU, Kenya Ladies Golf Union (KLGU) and the Junior Golf Foundation (JGF).

KGU picked Daniel Kiragu, Elvis Muigwa and Mikael Kihara. The KLGU offered their four slots to the upcoming under-18 girls while the JGF picked two girls and two boys for the training.

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“Their game has developed from them playing high handicaps to dropping very quickly in the last two years. We have seen really good progression with that, and the fact that they were selected for the high performance just gives a testament of how far we have come to earn an invite for a programme as prestigious as this,” said JGF president Regina Gachora.

The lead coach at the high-performance training Paul McKenzie from the Pure Motion Golf Academy of South Africa says he was impressed by the young golfers, wishing he had a bigger number going by the talent on display.

“The mix of 12 students and six coaches is really good. One of our major objectives is to up the standards of coaching and we are able to use the students as well to up that standard of coaching,” explained McKenzie.

The coaches worked on the juniors’ short game and long game on alternate days, allowing the students to practice under their watchful eye. They took time to explain the elements of the game and where the Kenyan players could improve to have a better result on the course. After the training, the coaches will monitor the progress of the students to assess the improvements, if any, in their game.

Naomi Wafula who is based in Kilifi at the Vipingo Ridge is one of the beneficiaries of the camp. Naomi says her long will surely change after the three days sessions with coach Mckenzie.

“When we did the change with my long game, I had a really strong grip and I thought that was perfect, but apparently sometimes when I hit a bad shot, it was really a bad hook, so a lot of the times I was missing some shots. Now with my new neutral grip, I'm hitting straight shots, so that is going to give me more percentage of green in regulation. So that’s something I didn’t know and I'm glad they taught me that,” beamed Naomi.

Kiragu, who will be heading to Abu Dhabi for the Faldo Junior Tour Grand Finale in November says the training will go a long way in improving his game ahead of the international tournament.

“We have learnt a lot. There is a slight change in my swing and my technique, especially in the short game. I am practicing and hoping everything can come into sequence for a good performance,” explained Kiragu.

The Africa High-Performance programme is crucial in the long-term goal of qualifying golfers for the 2028 Olympic Games.

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“We are putting the elite squad into camp for five months where they will be training for 2-3 times a week. Then a squad for the Africa Junior championship is going to be selected in January,” concluded president Gachora.

The players at the camp were Naomi Wafula, Elvis Muigwa, Mikael Kihara, Daniel Kiragu, Krish Shah, Jelani Kihanya, Biaca Ngecu, Belinda Wanjiru, Audrey Gachora, Cherono Kipkorir, Hazel Kuria and Navya Nagda.

The coaches included John Van Liefland, Alfred Nandwa, Joyline Jepchirchir, Joyce Wanjiru and Shem Orwenyo. The training was facilitated by AHPP coaches McKenzie and Johan Du Buisson.