John Lejirma took command of the leaderboard on Day 1 of the Sunshine Development Tour Qualifying School at the par 71 Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort in Naivasha on Monday.
The national golf team captain, also known as ‘Samburu One,’ posted a three-under-par 68 to take charge of the four-day contest, which has attracted 70 players from across the East Africa region.
He was followed in second place by Kenya’s Isaiah Otuke and Greg Snow, who tied on two under 69 apiece.
Kenya One Michael Karanga was fourth on one under 70 as the trio of Erick Ooko, Njoroge Kibugu, and Edwin Mudanyi followed in fifth place on level par.
Seventy golfers drawn from the East Africa region are battling it out in the cut-throat showdown. The top ten finishers at the Great Rift event will earn invitations to play at the Sunshine Tour Final Stage Qualifier in Johannesburg, South Africa, from April 8-11.
Fresh from winning the NCBA Kisii Open Shabana Trophy tournament, Lejirma believes he will emerge overall winner when the tournament concludes on Thursday.
“It was a good run for me today. I am just from Kisii, where I played minus four. My game plan was to continue with the same streak, and I’m glad it went well. I had played minus two in the first nine, and I picked three buddies in the second nine and finished minus three,” he stated.
“For me, it is a good honour to be invited to play at the Sunshine Tour Q-School. It’s a big moment for me and as a region. I will stick to my game plan, getting pars all through and when birdies come, I will equally grab them. I’m hopeful to do better,” he added.
He further noted: “I know it will be challenging in the remaining days, but I’m willing to put up my strongest performance because this competition has attracted top golfers in the country. I’m targeting minus three on Tuesday,y and hopefully in the last two days and I will keep pushing. If I get minus nine at the end of the competition, I will be okay with it,” he noted.
Mudanyi echoed Lejirma’s sentiment, saying his target is to qualify for the Sunshine Tour Final Stage Qualifier. “My target is a top 10 finish. Making it top 10 will be a very good thing for me,” he said.
The East African Swing offers a chance for professional golfers (elite amateurs, men and women) to regularly play competitive golf tournaments organised in line with Sunshine Tour standards.
The Tour will include 10 to 15 events annually and will offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, which are crucial for player advancement and essential for Olympic Games qualifiers.
Qualification to play golf at the Olympic Games is based on OWGR, with the top 15 players in the world automatically earning a spot. Thereafter, players are eligible based on world rankings, with a maximum of up to two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.
As such, the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing— offers Kenya, and neighbouring countries a pathway to Olympic Games qualification.
Previously, this would have been out of reach, owing to a lack of enough tournaments offering OWGR points in the region. The Q-School is a mandatory prerequisite for earning OWGR points on the East Africa Swing.
The top 50 finishers at the Q-School will share the Sh1 million prize purse, with the overall winner banking Sh180,220. “Ordinarily, Q-Schools don’t offer prize money, but we made a decision at IMG Kenya to kick start the Tour with an incentive for the professional golfers,” said Peter Gacheru, IMG Kenya CEO, when announcing details of their partnership with the Sunshine Tour.
