Nakalembe chases fourth title
Friendly rivalry. Tanzania’s Madina (left) will be one of the ladies with designs on Nakalembe’s title in Entebbe. PHOTO BY EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
- Golf. A foreign legion of golfers will be the biggest obstacle to Nakalembe’s hunt for a fourth tile when the 2018 Castle Lite Open tees off at the par-71 Entebbe course
KAMPALA.
Sport always provides a spectacle whatever the circumstances.
Thrills and spills are a given at any major sporting event with the form-book being torn to shreds and it will not be any different when the Castle Lite Entebbe Ladies Open tees off this morning.
The par-71 Entebbe Golf Club (EGC) course will be a beehive of activity and the course is certainly to play kingmaker over the next couple of days.
“Despite the prevailing dry season, the course is playing fantastically,” EGC captain Edwin Tumusiime said earlier this week.
But with the rains having hit Entebbe over the past three days, the course is definitely poised to play differently.
The weather could also throw a spanner in the works for many a golfer’s round with more rain in the forecast but three-time winner Nakalembe believes it will be all about game management.
“My game has not been bad lately,” said the defending champion. “This Open is not going to be about the stars in the draw. It is going to be about game management. My plan is going to be easy. I want to keep it simple with 36 pars over three days. I would day such a score any day.”
A return of 36 pars would see Nakalembe finish on 142 gross – a score that without doubt guarantee her a fourth successive crown on her home course.
But although many partisan fans in the gallery will be cheering on the home girl, the threat posed by low-handicapper Eva Magala, left-hander Gloria Mbaguta, Martha Babirye and the foreign legion led by 2013 winner Iddi Madina of Tanzania cannot be taken lightly.
Nakalembe tees off 12.50pm alongside Tanzania’s Vicky Elias and Mbaguta but the threesome of Magala, Harriet Mbiro and Madina, who tee off at 11am, could provide Day One’s Leader.
Britam Insurance, who will unwrap a new scoreboard at EGC today, have co-sponsored this annual meet with Castle Lite to a tune of Shs50m and a subsidiary category of 150 players is lined up to enter the fray tomorrow.
Past champions of Ladies Open
2011: Jasper Kamukama (Ug)
2012: Flavia Namukula (Ug)
2013: Iddi Madina (Tz)
2014: Monica Ntege (Ug)
2015: Irene Nakalembe (Ug)
2016: Irene Nakalembe (Ug)
2017: Irene Nakalembe (Ug)
