- Shashwat won the 2024 Kabete Junior Open
- He had finished the penultimate day tied at second
- The tournament is important for the final rankings of the season
Shashwat Harish proved to be the man to beat in the final round of the 2024 Kabete Junior Open at the Vetlab sports club.
Shashwat played level par in the first nine, starting with four consecutive pars that were blighted by a bogey at hole five before another two level pars in hole six and hole seven. A birdie at hole eight was followed by another level par at the end of the first nine.
Shashwat’s start of the second nine was slow with a double bogey at hole 10 and a bogey at hole 11. But he settled after that to play seven consecutive level pars.
His final score for the championship was 18 over par 234. Shashwat says he took it easy in the final round to enjoy himself, playing alongside Tsevi Soni and Joshua Maina.
“I was playing my own game but having fun with them (Tsevi and Joshua). We had good laughs, each hole was a new experience, and honestly they are two great players and I just enjoyed playing with them,” Shashwat said after the tournament.
Soni finishes second behind Shashwat
Joshua Maina in action. He finished second behind Shashwat
Meanwhile, Tsevi Soni improved his score from round one where he played 80 to 76 in the second round and 78 in the final third round.
His first nine was consistent in all three rounds with an identical score of 40. The difference was in the second nine where he played 80, 76 and 78.
“It was good. I just messed up the front nine, but I had many pars in the back nine which I did throughout the tournament. So im not that angry and Im not that happy also. I feel relieved that these tournaments are over and I have proved that I can play well and my game has improved a lot since last year. I hope to play a lot better moving forward,” explained Soni, who finished behind Shashwat.
Joshua Maina finished tied for third with Maahir Patel and Mitansh Thacker with a final score of 23 over par 239. His first nine in the final round was not good, with two double bogeys, three bogeys and four level pars.
“I started losing confidence in myself in hole seven in the first nine. The second nine just built my game up a bit, got some confidence, started making some putts, and getting quality shots. I tried finishing strong because the most important shot is the next shot; so I told myself it is not over until it is finally over. I just pushed through the final holes,” said Maina.
Belinda Wanjiru finished as the best girl with a score of 43 over par 259, tied for 17th in the leaderboard.
Kabete tournament important for rankings
Kanana Muthomi in action in KabeteShashw
The Kabete Junior Open was important for the players as it counts towards the world amateur golf rankings.
Points earned here improve a player’s ranking and counts towards getting invitations to play at amateur tournaments across the world.
Earlier on during the penultimate day of the competition, Shashwat who finished second at the Kenya Junior Strokeplay Championship last week is tied in the lead at six over par 78 together with Nathan Mwangi.
Shashwat was off to a terrible start with double bogeys in the 10th and 12th holes. He then recovered to pick up birdies in the 16th and 18th holes in the first nine. His second nine was much better with birdies in the 1st and 5th holes, and only one double bogey in the 5th hole.
Nathan Mwangi was off to a steady start with a birdie in the 5th hole in the first nine, and another birdie to close the round in the 18th hole.
Behind Mwangi and Harish was the trio of Kimani Gicheru, Joshua Maina and Mitansh Thacker with a score of seven over par 79.
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