Rugumayo renaissance, and why it’s only a start

Ronald Rugumayo didn’t pick the winner’s purse at the Magical Kenya Open in Nairobi last weekend. And yet in the true sporting stratosphere, the DP World Tour event has one winner in the Ugandan professional.

It was truly a week of wonder for Rugumayo, who sealed his third sojourn at the Race To Dubai Ranking event, as the biggest headliner in the golfing world.

Dutchman Darius van Driel mixed an eagle with three birdies and a bogey for a closing round of four-under 67 to finish two shots clear of Joe Dean and Manuel Elvira for a cash prize of $425,000 (Shs1.67b) after tallying 14-under 270 over four rounds. Rugumayo shot two-over 286 to pocket an estimated Shs17m from the elite event that brought together 144 players from 31 nations.

Yet, beyond the financial rewards, Rugumayo's achievement tells a larger tale. It marks his most significant payday in his budding professional golf career, demonstrating a journey focused on breaking barriers, inspiring others, and turning dreams into reality.

Tale of perseverance

“It has been the biggest sacrifice of my life,” started the 31-year-old golfer, who started last week at the punishing yet scenic par-71 Muthaiga Golf Club ranked 2,901st by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Now he is rated at 2492nd after a remarkable climb.

“Love always wins. Unless you’re not a normal human being. I had to be away from my family and those I love for eight months last year. I went and toiled, fed on invites and wildcards until I made it to the Sunshine Tour in Southern Africa.

“I was there and I was not getting results. I was lonely and all I could do was talk to my fiancée (Esther) and our little girl (Zaabu) on the phone. It was tough and the weather wasn’t friendly. Every time I felt terrible I got the Ugandan flag out of my golf bag and I also looked at the Ugandan flag on my hand (wrist band) and told myself that I wasn’t doing this for myself only but for my country.  

“I persevered and I stayed there because I didn’t want to come back and then watch another opportunity go past me at the Magical Kenya Open with a lukewarm performance. I was hungry to do better and inspire others.”

Over the years since their first participation in the event when it was still European Challenge Tour in 2010, Ugandan professionals had literally made it a habit of enduring treacherous bus rides to Nairobi, miss cuts, fail to make it into the weekend and forthwith head back home ruing missed chances with the critics baring their fangs whilst labelling them spent forces.

“Once bitten, twice shy,” is an old English adage Mayo heeded but only when the third chance availed itself this year.

Looking back, the Kabarole District-born golfer almost never made it to this year's MKO. The Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) offer their 10 slots from the DP World Tour to the best eight Kenyan golfers and top two non-Kenyan finishers at the end of the six-legged Safari Tour Series.

A registration mishap from Rugumayo’s management team saw him forfeit his 50 points from the Uganda Open, which is a heavy scorer as its points are doubled unlike other legs. He then had to toil; missing the cut at his first attempt in Sigona due to the absence of his driver and putter. However, he rallied in subsequent legs, making the cut at both the Limuru (29 points) and Muthaiga (35 points) legs. In the final qualification leg at Karen, Rugumayo aimed to surpass fellow Ugandans; David Kamulindwa, Abraham Ainamani, and Phillip Kasozi, who were ahead of him in the standings.

Signs of rebirth

Rugumayo, then, demonstrated remarkable skill and determination in Karen, posting scores of four-under 68 on Day One, a course-record round of nine-under 63 on Day Two, and two-under 70 on Day 3, securing a two-shot lead over the relentless Dismas Indiza. He shot three-over 75 in the fourth and final round to accumulate 48 points for  a final aggregate of 112 to narrowly surpass Kamulindwa, Ainamani, and Kasozi by one, six, and 31 points, respectively, thus earning his spot in the 2024 MKO edition.

Such a rallying effort, fighting from oblivion to qualify for arguably the biggest tournament in Africa, was a testimony to Mayo’s new mental fortitude and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste.

No one was about to say it publicly, but the murmurs in the golfing corridors had become surreal. Everyone who had followed Mayo swing into favour on the Sunshine Tour by making two cuts, win one Blue Label Development Tour event with seven-under 65 in Pretoria last September, watched him play during the Uganda Open and followed his progress on the Safari Tour, knew that the three-time Uganda Sports Press Association (Uspa) Nile Special Golfer of the Year was on the cusp of something special. They just couldn’t speak out.

But like they say; “Actions speak louder than words,” the Ugandan fans raided Muthaiga in hundreds, at least 15 of them sponsored by Absa Uganda to a tune of Shs130m for having finished atop the leaderboard during the Uganda Open Pro-Am that was powered by the bank.

Breaking the jinx

Rugumayo started his campaign slowly with three bogeys on the front nine but quickly restored normalcy with three birdies on the back nine to finish one-over 72 in his opening round on Thursday, February 22. He chopped two shots off his tally with an emotion-sapping shift of one-under 70 to make the coveted cut of the $2.5m (Shs9.6b) event thanks to a wily birdie-putt on the last hole – the par-4 ninth in-front of a vociferous East African gallery on Friday, February 23.

“Coming into this Open, I said I was targeting more than the cut. Because it was always going to be easy to fail if I said I wanted to make the cut. I had to aim higher,” reasoned the Ugandan, whose first golf club and ball were a cassava stick and avocado seed respectively.

Moving Day – Day Three- on Saturday, February 24 saw Rugumayo move five-places up the leaderboard with a solid round of level-par 72 and be temporarily poised to earn Shs30m. The final day came with its trials and tribulations with Mayo heavily scrambling the front nine to finish it four-over 40. But he refused to buckle with the fans now packed onto the course viewing and ‘demanding’ a flourish. Rugumayo offered the flying finish and had the crowd eating from his palms with a birdie-birdie finale on No.17 & 18 respectively.

He sealed his final putt with a cap-off bow and starfish celebration to the predominantly Ugandan gallery which duly acknowledged with a deafening roar.

Sir Nick Faldo, European Ryder Cup winning captain Luke Donald, celebrated commentators Josh Antmann and Michael McEwen among many others golf icons have not stopped waxing lyrical about Rugumayo’s heroics saying his performance was not only ‘historic but it also transcends the sport’.

Those that have been in Mayo’s midst will know that he is such a humble soul, with a good head on his shoulders and a proud owner of a grateful smile, always.

Behind the scenes

“I thank God for meeting my manager Peter (Mujuni) who had a dream like mine as well as my fiancée Esther, who I call Heaven Sent. They all believed me and have pushed me to the limits. I call the three of us the ‘Dream Team.’

I also thank all the people that have been there for me. There is nothing as sweet as being important in someone’s life.  Where I come from in Tooro there is a proverb that says a chicken cannot thank enough the compound from which it feeds every day. I just have to continue doing well and achieving more. It is the only way I can thank them because they’re my ride or die every day,” said Rugumayo, who went to Itojo Hillside Academy for his secondary school formal education.

Key to Rugumayo’s success was not only Mujuni but his sponsors; RwandAir, Callaway South Africa, Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort & Spa and Absa Uganda among others.

On the technical front, Mayo had a golf mental game specialist coach in UK-based A.P O'Neill and fitness & nutrition coach in South Africa-based Slade Fick as well as the witty bag caddie Eric Stanley May from South Africa.

“I would not have accomplished what I did without my manager, coaches and caddie. It was a bargain for us to get Stan (Stanley) and I asked my manager for only one thing and that was to bring him to Kenya. It cost us at least $3,500 (an estimated Shs13m) but I had told myself that whatever it takes I must have someone who knows my game even if it meant me spending the Shs18m package from Absa,” said Mayo in praise of the man with 22 wins on the Sunshine Tour – the most by any bag carrier.

Last year, Rugumayo still had a crack at the headlines as the only player with a hole-in-one after he aced the par-3 201-yard hole No.2 at Muthaiga and now says the international golfing world have their eyes on Uganda because they believe something special is brewing.

What the future holds

“It is getting tougher now for me because the world is watching. Not only me but the whole of Uganda. I have a lot to prove and this should be the starting point. I have to show the world that Rugumayo Ronald worked for it and deserves it all. Uganda is on everyone’s alert. Before scripting this piece of history I was operating at 100 per cent and now I must take it to 101 per cent and I urge others to do the same.”

The Kenyan government coughs millions of dollars and alongside East African Breweries Limited (EABL), Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife and Absa Kenya to ensure the tourney keeps up to its lofty heights. But Rugumayo reasons that the regional talent is either forgotten or ignored.

“My call is to corporate companies and governments to make the playing field level by supporting us. We have the talent. Golf is an expensive sport and we need help. Most of these corporate bodies come in for one-off events. How about the partnerships are made longer? Let them make it a marriage between the player and company. Preparation is key and it determines how one will perform. I started preparing for this MKO soon after the last edition in March 2023. The whole year I have been preparing. Golf is a process, you cannot skip a step. And you have to earn everything,” added the man who won the 2017 Uganda Amateur Open.

Rugumayo speaks calmly and yet so boldly without mincing his words, and like any sportsman hailing from a humble African background his parting shot is to the parents of this generation.

Lessons for all

“Please support your children’s talents because they have idols to look up to now and they’re the future. Talents have been neglected in the quest for big education careers,” says Mayo before backing up his ‘polite plea.’

“There is a PGA Tour professional Kurt Kitayama who won his first major at the age of 20 years and picked $3.5m (Shs13b) and then Naomi Osaka who won her first Major at the age of 18 years and got a cash prize of $2.5m (Shs9.6b). Where in Africa can you win such money at that age? I am not trying to teach parents but I would love to see them support the young ones. Children do what they see and not what they’re told. If they grow up seeing something, they will do it even better than what they saw.

“Sorry to say this, but I don’t think I would be playing golf if my dad was still alive. He was a teacher and a headmaster! Sport wouldn’t have meant anything to him.  But now, my family is proud of me.”

Rugumayo’s return was a heroic one and it was littered with promises from those in top hierarchy to fund the game more and elevate it further – something the former’s heart beats for on a daily.

But for now, Mayo must polish his clubs, engage fight mode and head back into the war zone to earn more stripes on the golf course if Uganda, East Africa, Africa and the world is to witness another inspirational feel-good story of perseverance from a committed ice-breaker and man of steel like Rugumayo.

AT A GLANCE

Full Names:  Ronald Rugumayo                             

Nickname: Big Mayo

Born:  December 28, 1992         

Birth Place: Fort Portal, Uganda                           

Parents: Bernadette Kajumba & John Rwabwogo (RIP)                       

Started Golf: 2002                                                                            

National Team: 2010-18 (9 years) 

World Ranking: 2492

Places Up: 472 (after last week)

Ranking Events: 18

HONOURS/FEATS

2010-18: Four East Africa Challenge Trophy titles

2019-Todate: 10 plus regional pro wins

2017: Uganda Amateur Open title

2023: Hole-in-one Magical Kenya Open

2023: Two cuts on Sunshine Tour

2023: Blue Label Development Tour win

2024: Magical Kenya Open cut

55^th MAGICAL KENYA OPEN

FINAL LEADERBOARD

1. Darius Van Driel           (NED) 66 69 68 67 270 -14

T2. Nacho Elvira               (ESP) 69 69 68 66 272 -12

T2. Joe Dean                     (ENG) 68 69 68 67 272 -12

T4. Adrian Otaegui          (ESP) 69 70 69 65 273 -11

T4. Matthew Jordan        (ENG) 74 65 68 66 273 -11

T4. Manuel Elvira             (ESP) 70 66 67 70 273 -11

T7. Ewen Ferguson          (SCOT) 69 67 70 68 274 -10

T7. Connor Syme             (SCOT) 67 68 70 69 274 -10

T9. Jeong Weon Ko         (FRA) 72 67 72 64 275 -9

T9. Deon Germishuys     (RSA) 71 66 69 69 275 -9

71. Ronald Rugumayo    (UGA) 72 70 71 73 286 +2