Unforeseen circumstances forced a last-minute venue change for the NCBA Nairobi Local Tour US Kids Golf event, originally scheduled for the Thika Sports Club.

Heavy rain across the country presented a unique set of challenges, as explained by Regina Gachora, President of the Junior Golf Foundation:

"We encountered three issues in Thika - a hippo sighting, flooding on sections of the superhighway making travel difficult, and the course itself being damp due to the downpours."

The tournament relocated to the Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club, which, while also impacted by the rain, remained playable.

The junior golfers displayed remarkable resilience, with two categories requiring playoffs to determine the champions.

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Yolanda Yu and Sophia Nesbitt, tied at 85 in the girls' 13-14 age group, went head-to-head in a thrilling playoff.

Both started strong, but Yolanda emerged victorious, overcoming her nerves to sink a winning putt.

Reflecting on the challenge, Yolanda admitted It wasn't easy playing against Sophia, who has more experience, and it was nerve-wracking.

"My friends like Shuhan Peng and Nawembo were making fun of me before the play offs, that released by pressure and made me laugh a bit," Yolanda stated.

"Plus my caddie came back! He was on his way home and my mum called him back, I wasn’t stressed when he showed up."

On facing the formidable Sophia Nesbitt, she admitted feeling pressure due to Nesbitt's experience but ultimately triumphed.

"Since she wins a lot of competitions and she has a longer golfing age than me, I kind of feel pressured whenever I play her because she is more experienced and I think her tempo and all these are way better than me, but I did it," she said.

Similarly, in the boys 12 years category, George Ikirima and Jeff Kivi found themselves tied at 82, prompting a playoff.

Despite a shaky start, Ikirima rallied to secure victory, driven by a desire to ascend the rankings.

“I wanted to win because I wanted to climb up the ranks since I was ten points behind my opponents. So I needed to win,” shared Ikirima, attributing his initial struggles to nerves.

With the US Kids series progressing swiftly, the young golfers now set their sights on the next leg at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club, leaving little time for respite.