Entebbe club rocks Jinja on Golf tour
Winners: Entebbe Club players celebrate winning the Jinja leg of the Uganda Golf Tour on June 15, 2019. PHOTO BY ALLAN DARREN KYEYUNE
What you need to know:
- West Nile remained top of the charts with 393 points even if they were finished six points behind Entebbe in Jinja.
Jinja. For the bigger part of the journey, Entebbe Golf Club has been a silent party in the Uganda Golf Tour (UGT) business.
Contrary to their pomp kings’ status, Uganda Golf Club (UGC) had won the Kigo leg, West Nile won three rounds in Mbale, Namulonge and at home in Arua while Tooro bossed their own leg of the Tour.
However, Entebbe rose to the podium for the first time on the Castle Lite and Uganda Tourism Board (UTB)-sponsored countrywide circuit by winning the leg at Jinja Golf Club on Saturday.
Entebbe, fielding more than 20 players in the 112-man field, bossed the Jinja show by amassing 45 points after action at the nine-hole par-72 course.
Their vocal yet jolly celebrations were led by the famous ‘Entebbe choir’ comprising Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Paul Kaheru, Elly Mukasa, Andrew Kibaya and Edward Kabuuchu, who lit up the 19th hole ceremony right at the Jinja Club swimming pool.
A big part of their triumph was owed to Diana Nabukenya who emerged as overall lady winner after returning a nett score of 70 off handicap 18.
“It’s very good points for Entebbe. Being overall winner pushes us up the charts,” a jubilant Nabukenya said after receiving her trophy from UTB Deputy CEO Bradford Ochieng.
“We love our club. It’s getting more intense on the Tour and we came out in big numbers to represent,” said the marketer who joined Entebbe five years ago.
It however had not been a cakewalk affair for Nabukenya. “I lost two balls. The fairways were funny and looked like the rough. On the back nine, I managed to recover and the rest is history,” she added.
Nabukenya’s round involved six pars and no birdie but her final score took Entebbe’s overall tally to 189 points on the Tour.
West Nile remained top of the charts with 393 points even if they were finished six points behind Entebbe in Jinja. Their best player was Moses Sebi who fired 65 nett off handicap 24 to win the overall men’s category. Golfers toured the source of the Nile, Itanda and Sezibwa Falls as part of the UTB weekend package.
“We have 17 golf courses in the country and for us we that in order to sustain tourism, we need sports. Golf brings a niche tourism,” remarked Ochieng.
The next Tour leg will be at Mbarara Sports Club on July 20.
