- The tournament was played at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club
- Tsoni, Vara pillared Premier Academy
- Rosslyn Academy was second
Impressive scores from handicap 4 Tsevi Soni, Aarush Vara, Yuvraj Rajput and handicap 6 Ishan Samani helped Premier Academy dominate the Lisle Shaw Inter School golf tournament played at the Royal Golf Club in Nairobi.
Tsevi Soni’s 78 gross points was the second-best individual score of the day that helped Premier Academy collect 239 gross points, 8 points clear of second-placed Rosslyn Academy. Aaarush Vara scored 79 points, Yuvraj Rajput 82 points and Ishan Samani 83 points.
For Rosslyn Academy, Audrey Gachora scored 81 points, Jelani Kihanya 82 points, Nehemiah Dinkins 84 points, and Hazel Kuria 93 points for a total of 247 gross points.
“The first nine I wasn’t really hitting the balls to the right direction, and I had to keep on chipping and my putts weren’t going the way I wanted them to. Competition is now good because we are now playing with handicap and we are playing from the ladies’ and men’s tees. So we are being pushed back a little bit,” observed Audrey Gachora.
Finishing third at the tournament was the team from home education. Junaid Manji playing off handicap two was impressive with 79 gross points followed by handicap 10 Kanana Muthomi with 84 points, handicap 9 Kriss Vagdama with 86 points and handicap 3 Mintash Thacker with 91 points. They scored 249 gross points, two points off the second-placed Rosslyn Academy.
New players and more girls in the competition
Aarush Vara – Premier Academy following his tee
A total of 21 teams from 13 schools took part in the tournament with the schools bringing in new players and more girls in the competition.
“It is good to see new faces and new juniors. Today there were very many girls who aren’t there in the US Kids and Junior Golf Foundation tournaments which was really nice to see. And just that the schools have grown over the years, I remember there were only four schools two years ago and now they are more than ten, and that’s a really great thing,” said Kushagra Sharma from Oshwal Junior High School.
On having more girls at the tournament, Audrey Gachora said “probably because more girls are getting handicaps and they are playing well with them, more girls could come in and play in these kind of tournaments.”
Chloe Cherono, fresh from winning the 2023 Royal Ladies Matchplay Championship scored 83 points as her school, Braeside Lavington finished 14th. Cherono played the shot of the day, chipping from the bunker into the hole for a birdie in hole number seven.
Frustrating but ended well
Audrey Gachora – Rosslyn Academy following her tee
“That hole was frustrating but I ended well. I had a very bad tee shot, I was disappointed in myself. My second shot I guess was ok, but could be better. Then my third shot went into the bunker and I chipped from there into the hole. I just wanted to get out of the bunker and aimed to land close to the hole, that’s how I managed it,” said a beaming Cherono.
In the subsidiary category of the tournament, Premier Academy II emerged the winner with 144 nett points followed by Aga Khan Academy with 150 points and Oshwal Junior High School with 152 nett points.
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