Kenya’s junior golf scene is booming with the Junior Golf Foundation (JGF) now averaging 140 players per tournament across the country.

This, according to the organisers, is a sharp rise, thus signalling the sport’s growing embrace by young players.

JGF President Vincent Mukiri says the surge is thanks to a newly structured talent pipeline ensuring steady participation, even as the national junior team remains in camp throughout the year and skips some events.

Looking ahead, Mukiri revealed that from 2025, JGF will pivot its strategy by launching regional golf schools across all six JGF zones, aiming to widen the talent base beyond Nairobi and feed fresh players into the national team.

“What we will then see in another one or two years is a national team made up of members from across the regions and not just Nairobi, as is the case right now. We are then seeing our national team members starting to go out there to colleges and follow up collegiate golf,” Mukiri remarked.

Mukiri added that Kenya’s juniors are increasingly attracting international attention, and JGF is crafting a clear pathway guiding players at age 18 or 21, whether into collegiate golf, professional ranks or alternative careers.

Grassroots training is also being strengthened, with coaches now required to submit objective reports detailing players’ progress and skill levels.

“We are looking at what has been done in training in two ways; first, we are requiring the coaches to start giving us objective reports that include the people they are coaching, the skill level they are at, and what the coaches think in terms of their development”, expounded Mukiri. “Secondly, we are developing a way of measuring the progress of our juniors; do we know which junior is in grade one in terms of skills, and we are coming up with a way of having every junior in our country knowing that this is the level that I am at.”

Meanwhile, in the latest JGF tournament at Thika Sports Club, Peter Gathogo topped the boys’ 13-14 category with a score of 77, edging out Amar Shah (78) and joint third-placed Kagame Handa and Tsorav Soni (83).

In the girls’ categories, Aria Dodhia claimed the 11-12 title with an impressive level-par 72, while Randy Turi won the 13-14 section with a score of 81.