Ndungutse credits back nine for UGC Mug victory

Hillary Ndungutse has piled up 11 years of playing golf with inspiration coming from his elders in the family. 
 
And understandably so, it takes something extra to win but that’s exactly what Ndungutse had over the rest of the field to triumph at the Uganda Golf Club (UGC) last weekend.
 
Playing off handicap 16, Ndungutse proved unstoppable with a charged back-nine performance to return a score of 69 nett and thereby emerging as the overall winner from the UGC Mug of Mugs tournament by Stanbic Bank.
 
Pushed to play by his grandfather, Prof. Fred Rurangirwa back in Houston, USA over a decade ago, this marked Ndungutse’s only second overall victory at a golf tournament. “Very excited, as I didn’t expect it,” he told this paper this week.
 
“I had carded a gross of 48 on the front nine, so I had lost all hope of being in the winning category for the day. But like they say, golf is a game of two sides. I was a totally different player on the back, returning a gross of 37. 
 
“It was the ‘all or nothing’ mindset, I had accepted what had happened on the front nine, and I decided the real golfer in me needed to show up on the back nine.  
 
“Everything seemed to fall in place, I was getting good distances on my drives, hitting the sweet spots on my irons, chipping with confidence, and sinking my two putts,” Ndungutse added.
 
The man taught some years ago by coach Amos Kamya last became an overall tournament winner at the 2017 Netherlands Business Golf Cup and he produced a similar script on Saturday with a priceless birdie on par-4 Hole No.16.
 
And Ndungutse had smartly outmuscled the famous ‘Luwero Triangle’ at UGC, going by his six pars on Holes par-5 No.1, par-4 No.10, par-4 No.14, par-4 No.15, par-3 No.17 and par-4 No.18.
 
“Generally on the back everything worked perfectly, but maybe what stood out was my short game, I was chipping well, no head ups and no three-putting all through the back nine,” he added.
 
Ndungutse’s card had bogeys elsewhere and only the triple-bogey on the par-5 Hole No.5 as the toughest part of his chapter.
 
Meanwhile, left-hander Gloria Mbaguta spiced up the day by not only winning the ladies’ Group A but, she also sunk a career fourth hole-in-one in 14 years, this time on par-3 Hole No.4 using a TaylorMade sand wedge club with a TPX5 TaylorMade ball in the presence of Micheal Kijjambu and Judith Komugisha.
 
Andrew Opio and Nancy Nansubuga won the UGC Mugs’ Order of Merit, with best scores across the entire year from 10 and nine events respectively.
 
STANBIC DECEMBER MUG OF MUGS RESULTS 
Overall Winner (M): Hillary Ndungutse 69 nett

Overall Winner (L): Hisae Koshibs 65 nett

Seniors Winner (M): Steven Kitonsa 73 nett (c/b)

Seniors Runner-Up (M): Abe Luka 73 nett

Seniors Winner (L): Ruth Ssali 73 nett

Seniors Runner-Up (L): Rose Azuba 79 nett

Guest Winner: Joyce Kisembo 70 nett

2024 ORDER OF MERIT - MUG WINNERS 
Men: Andrew Opio 756 nett (10 Mugs)
Ladies: Nancy Nansubuga 715 nett (9 Mugs)

GROUP WINNERS - MEN
GROUP A 
Winner: Andrew Opio 72 nett (c/b)
Runner-Up: Charles Hamya 72 nett (c/b)

GROUP B 
Winner: Mark Namanya 70 nett (c/b)
Runner-Up: Brian Rwabwogo 72 nett

GROUP C 
Winner: Samuel Bulenzi 71 nett (c/b)
Runner-Up: Enerst Wasake 71 nett

LADIES
GROUP A 
Winner: Gloria Mbaguta 74 nett

GROUP B 
Winner: Lydia Mutesi 69 nett (c/b)
Runner-Up: Sarah Nduhukire 69 nett 

LONGEST DRIVE 
L: Sarah Nduhukire 
M: Damian Asiimwe

NEAREST TO THE PIN 
L: Patricia Nakasi 
M: Derrick Muhumuza