Njoroge Kibugu, 18

Golfer

Njoroge’s performance during this year’s Magical Kenya Open, a DP World Tour event at Muthaiga Golf Club on March 6, 2022, will remain etched in the minds of golf lovers for a very long time to come.

At 18, Njoroge, a junior golfer at Muthaiga Golf Club, was among 14 Kenyans who qualified to play in a world event. While the rest were not able to go through the first two rounds, he shot six under par 136, to beat some of Kenya’s professionals and fellow amateurs.

Though he did not win the overall title at the end of the Sh227 million event, he became the youngest player ever, to make the cut in the tournament which started in 1967.

Now in college in the US, Njoroge captured the hearts of many including that of the then President Uhuru Kenyatta who sponsored him to compete in a DP World Tour event in Belgium.

This also saw him ranked 362 by the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Njoroge had featured in many local and international events, winning some of them.

He represented Kenya in both junior and senior national teams, his last victory with the national team being the Victoria Cup against Uganda, and the Karen Challenge as an individual before he departed for the US for studies.

With a string of golf achievements at only 18, Njoroge, a son of veteran golfer Dan Kagwe and the younger brother of Kenyan professional golfer Mutahi Kibugu, he is definitely in for a lot more medals in the golfing world.

Larry Ngala