Sigona's Manji leads Kenya's team to Africa championship

Sigona Golf Club's Junaid Ayaz Manji has been selected from the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship. [File, Standard] 

Kenya’s team for the forthcoming African Region IV Men’s Team Championship at Tamarina Golf Club in Mauritius has been named.

The squad of four players unveiled by Kenya Golf Union (KGU) has already kicked off their training under coach Ali Khimji and composes top amateur male golfers.

According to a press release from KGU on Wednesday, the four players have been selected from the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) rankings and Junior Golf Foundation (JGF) order of merit.

The team will be lead by captain Junaid Ayaz Manji (Sigona), Kamoza Longwe (Windsor), Rafael Leming’ani (Ruiru) and current top junior Mwathi Gicheru (Royal Nairobi).

The championship takes place from June 2-6. 

18-year-old Manji who is currently second on the KAGC Ranking opened the year by winning the first KAGC series in Sigona and in February, he was also part of the team that played and claimed victory for the Victoria Cup 2026 championship in Entebbe.

In March, he captained the Kenyan Junior team through the All African Junior Team Championship 2026 at the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club where they finished second, qualifying for the Toyota World Championship 2026 in Japan.

Manji was also part of the team that played and won the African Region IV Men Team Championship.

“This is my second time participating in the African Region IV tournament and I’m very optimistic about victory this time,” said Manji.

Longwe is ranked fourth and was a recent recognizable force in this year’s KAGC Series events.

This will be his first time representing the country at an international event.

Leming’ani who is ranked fifth started the year on form, winning the highly contested Mt Kenya Championship at the Nyeri Golf Club.

He has great experience as a national team player and was part of the Kenyan Team that played the Victoria Cup Championship 2025.

Meanwhile, Gicheru, currently the top Junior, is a recent powerful force to reckon in the golf scenery in Kenya.

He was first selected to play at the Victoria Cup Championship 2026, where Team Kenya won, with him making the winning stroke.