Meet Flavia Namakula, the youngest golf winner

Hardly back from her one-year maternity leave, Namakula, 24, won the coveted Uganda Women’s Golf Tournament last month. Agnes K. Namaganda asked her how she did it.

We watched your facial expression of disbelief when you won the tournament. Weren’t you expecting to win?
That win wasn’t easy (she says matter-of-factly with an honest expression on her face). The people I was playing with like Jasper were ahead of me. To see that I managed to cut all of them off was just like a miracle.

What does this win mean to you?
Because this was a big tournament, my profile has improved tremendously.

So when did you start playing golf?
I started when I joined the UPDF in 2006. At the time, General Ivan Koreta wanted soldiers to make a team that would play at the World Military Golf Championships in Ireland and I was selected.

How did you decide to join the army when you were so young?
I was in my S.6 vacation and had been playing netball for my school Bulo Parents School. We had a coach who told me that the army was recruiting sportsmen and that I could join. I was scared of the military training in the beginning but she told me that it was different for sportsmen. So I was playing for the army when I enrolled for my Information Technology degree at Makerere University in 2006. That is when I was recruited for the golf team.

Is this your first win?
I have won many local tournaments but the major ones are Kenya Ladies’ Open in 2008, the Machakos Ladies’ Open in Kenya and now this one, the Uganda Ladies’ Open.
Is golf that easy or don’t you have any other competitors?
(A slight grin appears but disappears almost just as fast as it came as she reverts back to her honest face expression)
The game is not difficult though most people find it expensive, something that should not deter a serious person because if people see you playing and they see the potential in you, they will come out to support you.
Personally, I have always liked sports and when I pick interest in something, I do give it my very best especially when I know where I want to take it. I put in a lot of time training and going to the gym and it has paid off.

Sports women do not bounce back as fast as you did to win trophies and engage in tournaments, case in point is Inzikuru. How did you do it?
Golf is not like athletics, it’s not that demanding. But anyhow my baby is 11 months now and I started serious training in February at Entebbe Golf Course which is near my home. I was very committed and had enough time to get back in shape.

Do you have any challenges that are unique to you as a lady golfer?
Other than membership fee, UPDF doesn’t pay for any of the other costs. And when you do not have the money, you cannot play. So we majorly rely on well-wishers and we also try to get sponsors. It’s a big challenge.

Is there anything else you do other playing golf?
No, because I am still on the UPDF payroll as a sportsman and that’s what I am doing.

What are your aspirations?
I plan to become a professional golfer and I also want to play with better players in countries like South Africa where they have better courses.

What does it take to become one and do we have any professional lady golfers in Uganda?
The difference is that professional
golfers play for money not for prizes like us amateur golfers. Pros (jargon she uses to refer to professional golfers) can have prize money like Shs5m set aside for the winner. Although Uganda has 15 professional male golfers, we have only one professional woman golfer, Norah Mbabazi who is currently living in Sweden.

Is this money sufficient to live off?
Yes, I think it is.

How about your degree? Aren’t you planning to utilise it in any way?
Maybe sometime in the later future but for now, I am concentrating on golf.

So is there any special someone in your life?
I’m staying with my boyfriend so I feel more of married.