It’s a delicate balance for top Kenyan pro Brian Njoroge

Brian Njoroge, one of Kenya’s leading professional golfers, is probably the busiest golfer in the country.

In addition to his role as the national amateur teams coach, Njoroge also acts as the Kenya Golf Union’s development officer. One would there fore be wondering how Njoroge, also a family man, manages to combine all these responsibilities with his playing career. 

Pro golfers usual put in a lot of hours on the range to keep themselves ready for any event.

As KGU’s Development Officer, Njoroge’s tasks include the Public Golf course project at Kasarani and the Lenana School golf course where along with KGU officials and other stake-holders from various government ministries, they have been holding meetings to plan the construction of the public course and the conclusion of the Lenana School course.

Njoroge says once concluded, the Lenana School course will act as the centre of junior golf development programmes before others are established elsewhere in the country.

As of now, Njoroge has been co-ordinating with various professionals in different regions of the country on junior golf training. He however admits that there is an urgent need to set up golf academies in various regions countrywide.

But for the time being, Lenana will meanwhile serve as the centre from where talent will be identified for future good amateur golfers. From there, those with talent to become professionals will then be taken to another level of training.

But Njoroge says all these programmes will require funding, one of the reasons why the KGU recently identified a partner who will help the union in soliciting for funds for golf development in the country.

Njoroge, a graduate of Business Management from Southern University in Louisiana, USA, says that with good training programme right from the tender age of five through those academies, Kenya stands a good chance of producing good amateur golfers who will go on to represent the country in international events and in turn move to the professional level.

“We have had good amateur golfers, some of whom have gone on to become professionals, but most of those are self-taught and make their own effort to reach where they are. For one to become a good golfer either in the amateur of professional ranks, one needs a strong foundation,’’ says Njoroge.

Like many golfers from golf playing families, Njoroge who picked the interest from his father George Njoroge, started playing at the age of 11 at Vet Lab Sports Club and featured in a number of junior events, although it was not until the age of 15 when he developed more interest in the game.

Born in Nairobi on January 17, 1978, he attended St Mary’s and St Austin’s schools before moving to the United States of America for further studies, first at Peninsula College in Washington State before moving to Louisiana.

This is where his golf started improving and was able to win seven South Western Athletic Conference (SWAC) tournaments and finishing second in a few others.

Back home before turning professional in 2005, Njoroge turned out for the national amateur team.

He was in the line-up for the 2004 and 2005 Africa Zone Six Championships in Sun City, South Africa, and at Royal Swazi in Swaziland. Like a number of his colleagues in the local pro golf circuit, Njoroge featured in a number of local and international tournaments from 2006 to date.

Locally, his breakthrough was during the 2007 Kenya seed trophy in Kitale where he won with a good score.

This came after after featuring in several tournaments in America’s Gateway Tour between 2006 and 2007.

“These events helped me alot as I was able to focus more on my game’’. Upon his return to Kenya, Njoroge travelled to Southern Africa for several events in the Sunshine Tour in South Africa and Zambia.

Back home, Njoroge played in the KCB tour, winning two Grand finale events in 2013 and 2014 at Leisure Lodge and Nyali Golf and Country Clubs respectively.

“Having played in the Middle East-based Mena Tour from 2011 to 2013, my game was up there and I think this is why I was able to win the two KCB grand finale,’’ he says.

He made his debut in Kenya’s top pro event, the Barclays Kenya Open in 2008.

“ I did not play well for a start but I was able to make the cut in 2011 and 2012, missed the cut in 2013 but regained his form to eventually finish in the money list in the 2015 and last year. His best finish so far in the Open has been a top 20.
That was in the 2011 Open where he a good chance of winning the open save for a bad finish in the final which saw him drop to 20th place. As to why Kenyans have never been able to clinch the Open title, Njoroge says Kenyan pros though they are as good as those from elsewhere in the world, they lack international exposure, funding, and proper mentorship.

“We have to play many events of the same level of the Barclays Kenya Open in order for us to compete on the same level ground with the visiting players.

“It costs roughly about Sh400,000 to play in one Challenge Tour event and probably half of that for a Sunshine Tour, and this becomes difficult for us to travel and play in these events which would have helped up a great deal’’. 

Njoroge says himself and players like Dismas Indiza, Greg Snow, Riz Charania and Stefan Andersen are capable of winning the Open with good exposure. On this, Njoroge is supported by some of his colleagues Jacob Okello and Dismas Indiza, who are the most popular and most known pros.

“Its not easy to beat these guys who come to Kenya having featured in over 28 top events the previous year,’’ says Jacob Okello who remains the most successful Kenyan player in the Barclays Kenya Open, having finished second in 1998.

Okello says besides the problem of lack of funding that would enable Kenyan pros to feature in international events, the local pros have been lacking mentorship programmes.

“At least a number of us went through a mentorship programme with a veteran pro Peter Barber from the Challenge, courtesy of the Kenya Open Golf Limited and I believe this is the way to go,” he says.

“The idea is for us to think positively during the Open or other international events,’’ adds Okello.

At the same time, Okello said such a programme will also work well if Kenyan pros are able to play a lot of events at the level of the Kenya Open.

“When I had a good sponsorship with Mumias Sugar Company, I not only managed to make the cut in several editions of the Sunshine Tour in South Africa, but I also managed a top 10 finish at Muthaiga.
“Every one of us would like to play out there but sponsorship is usual the most difficult issue for a pro to handle,’’ said Indiza, has featured in the Kenya Open since 1997, first as an amateur and later as a pro and who has never failed to make the cut since 2014.

On the other hand, Njoroge says the KGU has approached a coach John van Liefland to train and help the six local amateurs who will play in the Barclays Kenya Open this year. Later on, he will be given a pool of 20 players to train.

On this year’s Barclays Kenya Open, Njoroge says though this year’s venue Muthaiga is slightly tougher than Karen Golf Club, local players are likely to perform well due to the mentorship programme they went through with the Challenge Tour pro.

Njoroge says Karen was the course for the Kenyans to win as it was more forgiving. Although he says sometimes Kenyan players try too hard after making the second round cut.

“Sometimes we try too had to be somewhere at the top after the cut and as a result we lose focus, at the same time we need to adjust on how to handle local players during the tournament. Not all of the fans coming to watch the open are golfers and may not know how to cheer a player,” he says. 

Njoroge says he has been practising at the range and play a nine hole after his usual morning meetings. “We have a few events lined up such as the Jamii PGK Masters and the Karen Masters which I believe will give us the necessary practice ahead of the Kenya Open,’’ added Njoroge.