Battling Kenya finish fourth in Kitwe
What you need to know:
- The A division team, which included two juniors, beat hosts Zambia 3-0 in the final match to take the trophy back home once again.
- The Kenyans won the foursome match but lost the two singles for Zimbabwe to claim the third place with a 2-1 victory.
- Team coach John Liefland said Kenya had as good chances as any of the teams including South Africa.
IN KITWE, ZAMBIA
As expected, South Africa retained both the A and B division titles in this year’s Africa Region Five Golf Championship which ended at the par 72 Nkana Golf Club course Friday.
The A division team, which included two juniors, beat hosts Zambia 3-0 in the final match to take the trophy back home once again.
During the foursome match, Marco Steyn and Luca Filipi beat Zambia’s Mukuka Mwango and Kelly Tembo 4-2 while in the two singles, Kyle McLatchty beat Aaron Simfukwe 4-2 though the other player, 16-year-old Christo Lamprecht had to walk all the way to the 16th to win 3-2 against Mwalikwa Sondashi.
Kenya however went down fighting against Zimbabwe to finish in fourth place, an improvement compared to last year’s fourth place in the B division and 12th overall.
The Kenyans won the foursome match but lost the two singles for Zimbabwe to claim the third place with a 2-1 victory.
John Karichu and team captain Alfred Nandwa beat Mohammed Rashid and Tonderayi Musunga 2-1 while in the singles Edward Mudanyi lost 4-3 to Zimbabwe’s top junior golfer David Amm while Samuel Njoroge was beaten by Bekithemba Ndlovu 3-2 in a tough match that saw the two players exchanging leads before the Zimbabwean won in the 16th hole.
"We needed to win at least one single to beat Zimbabwe whose team was not as strong as the Zambian side,” said Nandwa, who is optimistic Kenya has a good chance of winning the trophy in their future.
“We must admit that the coach has made a lot of changes in the team for the better. He is tough but he definitely knows exactly what he wants to achieve and I think given all the support he can transform the game in the country.”
HAD A GOOD CHANCE
Team coach John Liefland said Kenya had as good chances as any of the teams including South Africa.
"Looking at the South Africans, they are beatable. We will work on some of the few mistakes we may have made here, but I believe the four players are good.”
Meanwhile, Swaziland beat Uganda to finish fifth with East Africans taking the sixth position while Botswana won their matches against Namibia to finish seventh. Namibia were eighth.
In the B division where the format was strokeplay, South Africa B posted a total of 876 gross to win by 48 shots from Zambia B who carded 924.
Zimbabwe B was third on 942 while the Angola A and B teams finished fourth and fifth on 1071 and 1132 gross respectively.
This year, there were 13 teams from nine countries after a no show of Lesotho who had earlier confirmed and was drawn in the first round. Next year’s tournament will take place in Zimbabwe towards the end of April.
