Junior Golfer Wanjiku Mathu plays a tee shot during 2025 NCBA Golf Series qualying leg at Karen Country Club
Home School target a historic third consecutive title as Kenya’s top young golfers descend on Royal Nairobi Golf Club.
By Martin Weche
Eighty-nine junior golfers from 16 schools yesterday competed at Royal Nairobi Golf Club for the NCBA Lisle Shaw Memorial Interschool Golf Championship, with defending champions Home School chasing a third consecutive title.
The championship, the third interschool golf tournament of 2026, drew 19 teams in the Main Tournament and eight teams in the Subsidiary Tournament, with schools competing across two distinct formats for gross and net honours. The event honours the legacy of George Lisle Gordon Shaw, who served as Kenya Golf Union president in 1953 and whose name has become synonymous with the development of junior golf in the country.
Home School entered the competition as clear favourites, having won the 2024 and 2025 editions and ended Premier Academy’s three-year winning streak in the process. A third consecutive victory would cement their status as the dominant force in Kenya’s school golf circuit and raise questions about whether any rival programme is yet in a position to mount a sustained challenge.
The Main Event counted the best three scores from a team of four golfers, while the Subsidiary Event was decided by the best two scores from a team of three — formats designed to test not only individual talent but the depth and consistency of each school’s programme. Tournament Director Hannah Gatu said the structure of the competition was deliberate, and central to what the event is trying to achieve.
“The Lisle Shaw Interschool Golf Tournament contributes to the broader development of school golf in Kenya by connecting school-based participation with structured junior competition,” Gatu said. “Through our partnership with NCBA Bank, we continue to expand opportunities for young players to access the game and develop their potential.”
Among the most closely watched competitors was Peponi School’s Shashwat Harish, who made his Kenya Open debut at 15 and arrived at Royal Nairobi with a reputation that extends well beyond the school circuit. Home School’s Mwathi Gicheru, Wahome Mutahi of Rosslyn Academy and Andrew Kagima of Rusinga School were also among the standout names, each representing a generation of Kenyan junior golfers whose technical development and competitive maturity have drawn attention from the country’s golfing establishment.
The 16 participating schools were Braeburn Garden Estate, Braeside Primary School, Brookhurst International School Lavington, Crawford International School, Hillcrest International School, Home School, Nova Pioneer International, Oshwal Academy Nairobi Primary, Oshwal Academy Junior High, Peponi House, Peponi School, Premier Academy, Rosslyn Academy, Rusinga School, St Christopher’s International School Karen and St Ruth School.
The breadth of that list speaks to the growing reach of school golf in Nairobi. Several institutions have invested significantly in their programmes in recent years, and the competitive field at this year’s championship reflected that. Royal Nairobi Golf Club, one of Kenya’s oldest and most storied venues, provided a fitting stage for a competition that has grown considerably since its revival under NCBA Bank’s sponsorship.
Gatu pointed to the Foundation’s Golf in Schools initiative as the structural engine behind that growth. “These efforts seek to introduce golf to more learners and establish pathways from introductory school programmes to organised junior golf,” she said. The initiative has broadened access to a sport historically associated with a narrow demographic, and the diversity of schools represented at yesterday’s championship suggested those efforts are beginning to bear fruit.
For the players themselves, the occasion carried significance beyond the competitive stakes. For many, it represented their first experience of a properly organised golf tournament — one with marshals, scorecards, structured tee times and the particular pressure of performing under scrutiny. Those experiences, coaches and tournament officials have long argued, are as formative as any practice session.
The NCBA Lisle Shaw Memorial Championship has, over the years, served as a reliable indicator of emerging Kenyan golf talent, with several former competitors progressing through the junior ranks to senior amateur and professional competition. Whether this year’s edition produces the next name destined for bigger stages remains to be seen — but on a bright morning at Royal Nairobi, the ambition in every young competitor’s eyes suggested the pipeline is in good health.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER October 24-25, 2026
- Muturi calls on IEBC to keep election technology tender clean and on schedule
- Ruto meets UAE minister in push to deepen trade ties
- Gideon Moi breaks silence on Ruto fallout, cites broken promises
- The doctor who refused to abandon a sick Uganda
About the Author
