By Kenneth Wepukhulu
Justin Ngeera played an impressive one over par 73 to win the NCBA US Kids tournament at the Vetlab Sports Club.
Ngeera played 39 on the front nine and an impressive 34 on the back nine to win the boys 13-14 years category with a score of 73 that included five birdies.
Peter Gathogo finished second with a score of 76 with Yuvraj Rajput closing the top three with a score of 78.
In the boys 12, Palash Tank and Jeff Kivi tied with a score of 80, forcing the only playoff of the day. Palash won the play off to be ranked first and collected the precious winners’ 30 points. Muriithi Gatu finished third with a score of 83, three strokes off the top two players.
“The first nine was pretty hard, but then when I came to the back nine, I played better, I shot a two over. The greens were better on the back nine, they were getting a bit quicker and because of the rain in the first nine, it was soft and slow, so it was a bit confusing putting,” said Palash.
In the boys 11, Adam Nesbitt was impressive with a winner’s score of 79 in a category that attracted nine players. Xichao Huang finished second with a score of 83 as Alexander Mbugua ended up third with a score of 87.
“The course was very tough due to the conditions in the morning, but eventually it got better due to the weather. But the greens were quite tricky, they were fast and that’s where I struggled most,” elaborated Nesbitt.
Nesbitt, like every other golfer at Vetlab, said the chilly conditions in the morning also affected the golfers.
“It was a little cold in the morning and I wasn’t so ready for the cold and I expected a better venue. So it affected my game because my hands were cold, I was stiff, so I was pulling everything left; so I struggled a lot with that,” he elaborated.
Yolanda Yu was in a class of her own in the girls 13-14 years category, winning with a score of 78. She was a massive 11 strokes better than second placed Sophia Nesbitt who finished with a score of 87. Lael Mwangale also finished on the podium with a score of 91.
Vetlab was the second of eight legs in the NCBA U.S Kids Spring Local Tour. The first Leg was played at the Limuru Country Club on the 11th of August. The next Two legs will be played in September in Thika and the Royal Nairobi golf Club.