Sarfaraz Daya qualifies for

Junior World Golf Cup

Young Sarfaraz Daya (15) of Dar es Salaam made the community proud when he became the first boy from the community worldwide to qualify for the Junior World Golf Cup scheduled to be played in Edinburgh, Scotland in mid July. He along with another Tanzanian girl, Aisha Patel qualified to become Tanzania’s flag bearers in the fifth edition of the World Junior Open Championship.  

The World Junior Open Championship will be held from 15th July at the Royal Muselburgh Golf Course three days ahead of the 131st edition of the British Open Championship. All junior participants in the World Championship will be given an opportunity to watch the British Open with the participation of Tiger Woods from the USA and other renowned golfers being a fine attraction.  

Playing off handicap seven, Sarfaraz has won many local tournaments with his biggest achievement being his victory in a KLM sponsored Dutch Golf tournament that was contested by over 150 golfers.  

At community level he has played in events in Arusha, Nairobi and recently in Dubai where he was part of the Dar es Salaam golf contingent that participated in the Dubai Sports Festival. With Dar es Salaam courses having browns he has yet to get used to courses with greens and this is what Sarfaraz expects to do for the next two months when playing golf overseas. 

Sarfaraz began playing golf at the age of twelve. He is also a regular swimmer, plays squash, table tennis and snooker. In table tennis he has won the Juniors title for the community Ramadhan sports festival for the past two years. He has a collection of over thirty trophies for his sporting ventures, which he says, inspires him to strive for more. 

When asked about his future in golf, he said he planned to concentrate on his studies at the International School of Tanganyika, where he currently studies, so that he could obtain admission to an overseas college of his choice. He said he would meanwhile try to improve his game and seize any opportunity to advance his golf. He hopes exposure to the best juniors in the world at the World Championship will give him a good insight on how to handle his coming years.  

Reflecting on his progress, Sarfaraz says he has preferred to take advice from senior golfers irrespective of their handicap and says that watching golf on television has also helped him understand and play the game better. He also appreciates the encouragement he receives from his family and hopes more community juniors will begin playing golf. Congratulations to Sarfaraz!