Matsiko earned a single handicap under one year

Matsiko on the greens at the beautiful Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort last year. It is a course he loves to play. Photo by Eddie Chicco

When did you start playing golf?
October, 2014.

Who introduced you to golf?
I was introduced by some good friends and trained by Amos Kamya, the national coach at that time.

In a very short time, you had dropped to a single handicap. How did you pull this off?
Like any other sport, hard training and alot of game time against professionals helped me in this area. (Masiko moved from handicap 28 to 9 inside his first year of golf - ED)

What is best course you have played golf in the world?
Locally, Kigo Serena is a great deal.
But I enjoyed Arabella golf club in Western Cape in South Africa. I will tell if those two are the best when I play at Augusta National one day.
What is your favourite Hole at Kitante? And least favourite?
Hole 12 can be unfriendly sometimes but since I have eagled it three times, I can take it as my favourite Hole and of course it’s a Hole I intuitively give respect every time I step on its tee-box. My least favourite is 16 which, I believe, has a wrong index.

How about Entebbe? 18th and the ‘19th’ are my favourite holes. Hole 7 is my least favourite with its illegal green!

Which golfer do you admire most in Uganda?
Ronald Otile is still an amateur but such an admirable player for me.

What advice do you give to a prospective golfer? Start now, train hard and you will benefit for sure.

What is your most favourite golf trophy of all the ones in your collection. And why? The 2018 Entebbe Open trophy where I tied second and 2016 Kenya Open Pro-Am trophy. Last year during the Entebbe Open, I played with national team players for two days and it felt good chasing them and being chased for every shot and at every hole until the 18th. For the Kenya Open Pro-Am, I was paired with Stephen Ferreira from Spain and learnt how to manage a tight game and it paid off at the amazing Muthaiga golf club.

As an executive member of the Uganda Golf Union, what is the future of Ugandan golf? There is some work to be done in the game but the future of golf in Uganda is generally growing very fast and young players are coming out every day across the country.

How easy is it to manage time for family and the game you so love?
It’s good to involve family in things that take one’s time. And as a result I’m interesting them to join the game with my son doing well already. Still, one needs the right balance and family is always the first for me.