-Matthew and his generation from Nyali have proven that Coast can produce champions who can compete nationally and internationally.
-He is a member of Nyali Golf Club, Mombasa Golf Club and Rodenbosch Golf Club in Cape Town (South Africa) and boasts having been in the Kenya Junior Golf Team, the Kenya Senior Golf Team and now the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) after turning professional.
-And if his story is anything to go by, Matthew Wahome does not just play golf, but is among the Kenyan Professionals youngsters whose journey through the fairways has just begun.
MAARUFU MOHAMED-GOLFNEWSLINKS.
In a sport traditionally defined by patience, precision and pedigree, one name is among those quietly rewritten the history of Coast golf.
At a tender age of 8 years in 2004, Mathew Wahome picked up a club stick that was almost taller than him, and started a journey through the fairways and never looked back.
Born on 19th November 1997, Mathew is not just a player, but a product of a Mombasa based family that breathes golf, a testament to natural talent nurtured by passion and a proof that Golf is literally in the family blood.
You cannot tell Mathew’s story without telling the Wahomes’ golf history, who joined the Mombasa Golf Club in 2004, a move that changed the destiny of their second-born son.
His mother, Alice Wahome, is a towering figure in Coast golf administration where She was a Lady Captain of Mombasa Golf Club in 2006, Lady Captain of Nyali Golf Club in 2014, served as Junior Golf Coast Convener from 2004 to 2010 and again in 2017, while his father, Martin Wahome, was a Captain of Mombasa Golf Club in 2006 and Chairman in 2007.
“Matthew was different. Matthew would just watch his Father and then swing. From his early years, his follow-through was natural. We never imagined it would produce a professional. In fact, we just wanted all the boys away from TV. Today all three, the first born Jeremy, Matthew and the third born Andrew play golf. My prayer as his mother is that he opens the door for more Coast juniors,” said his Mother Alice often referred to as Mother of Champions.
His father Martin added, “The boy loved the sport from an early age. After school at Mombasa Academy, he was always at the range until dark. For a long time, the Coast has been seen as a holiday golf destination. Matthew and his generation from Nyali have proven that Coast can produce champions who can compete nationally and internationally. At home, it is very competitive. Mathew at times was beating all of us in a serious tournament, his mother and his brothers by the time he was 14. Dinner table talk is always about who beat who on Saturday. I urge all the Coast juniors never to give up.”
As other kids were chasing footballs in the estate, the Wahome boys were chasing birdies at Mombasa seafront and Nyali courses.
Described in his profile, is an evidence of that natural genius that came early when on 5th August 2006 in the Coast Open Junior Championship at Mombasa Golf Club, an 8-year-old Matthew Wahome stunned the field.
Media reports of that day showed a small boy in an oversized shirt following through on the fifth tee with the photo caption reading, ‘Eight-year-old golfer Matthew Wahome…. won the under-10 years’ non-handicap category with 34 points,’ which proved he was just getting started.
Three years later, the boy became the man to beat and on 30th July 2009 as the media headline screamed, ‘11-year-old Wahome floors them all.’
The story detailed how Matthew, then of Nyali Golf and Country Club, beat 36 juniors including single-handicap players to become the new Coast Junior Open golf champion.
Playing off handicap 22 at the time, he fired an impressive 71 points to win the Category one event which was open to players with official handicaps and that was the moment Coast golf knew one of the stars in the region had been born.
What makes Matthew different is not just talent, but balance and he is also as educated as he is gifted.
He went to Deansbrook School, Nyali, for his primary education and Mombasa Academy, Nyali, for his middle and high school.
In 2015, he moved to Cape Town, South Africa for his Foundation Course at Rosebank College and in 2016 graduated with a Business Degree from Varsity College, Cape Town.
Mathew is a member of Nyali Golf Club, Mombasa Golf Club and Rodenbosch Golf Club in Cape Town and boasts having been in the Kenya Junior Golf Team, the Kenya Senior Golf Team and now the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) after turning professional.
He is also currently in the Safaricom sponsored four Kenyan professionals, with the other three being Muthai Kibugu (Muthaiga), Mohit Mediratta (Sigona) and Samuel Njoroge (Kenya Railways/Thika Sports).
Mathew’s business degree is crucial because Professional golf today is not just about the swing, but about brand, management and mental strength.
His time in South Africa, one of Africa’s golf powerhouses, exposed him to elite competition and world-class courses.
For several years, Matthew has been a permanent fixture on the winner’s podium, right from Junior Coast Opens to Kenya Junior Team qualifiers, to representing Kenya many times in international golf tournaments and accumulated trophies and accolades that most golfers only dream of in a lifetime career.
While others struggled to transition from junior to senior golf, Matthew did it seamlessly.
He has played against and beaten some of Kenya’s leading amateurs and has been part of the Coast-based contingent that has consistently challenged the upcountry dominance.
Since turning Professional, Mathew has carried the Coast flag to the Kenya Professional Golf circuit, playing alongside seasoned professionals with decades of experience.
Away from the fairways, Matthew is a disciplined and grounded young man.
His hobbies are swimming and working out, essential for modern golf fitness and he is also a die-hard football fan of Chelsea Football Club supporters in the English Premier League.
The story of Matthew is important for Coast golf, as for years the narrative has been that elite golf is an affair usually centered around other parts of the Country and proves that world-class talent can be also grown at Mombasa Golf Club and Nyali Golf Club in Mombasa County.
He is an inspiration to the dozens of junior golfers now coming through the Junior Golf Foundation (JGF) Coast programs, programs his own mother helped convene, and shows them that one can start at an early age using a borrowed club and a bag bigger than you and end up a professional.
“I fell in love with the sound of the ball through my Dad and Mum. At 11, I didn’t know I was beating single-handicap players. I was just playing. When they announced I had won, that is when I realized I could compete with the big players. Becoming a professional golfer is not about me. It is about showing the next kid from Mombasa and Nyali that it is possible. The Coast has talents. Golf in South Africa taught me that talent is 20%, the rest is work, fitness and your mind. My business degree helps me treat my golf career as a business,” said Mathew.
Now, as a professional, his journey has just entered its most exciting chapter and with several trophies in the cabinet, the Business Degree earned, now comes the grind of professional golf.
And this is the Safari Tour, the Sunshine Tour to PGK Equator Tour and the ultimate dream of every Kenyan professional, to play the Magical Kenya Open.
If his story is anything to go by, Matthew Wahome does not just play golf but is among the Kenyan Professionals youngsters whose journey through the fairways has just begun.
ENDS.
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