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| The 18th hole at the par 72 Kigo golf course. |
▶️ Leader-board - Professional category
F.Wanzala
72 P.Kasozi
75 S.Mawa
75H.Mutawe
75Joshua Seale
75D.Kato
76Ainamani
77Kigo, Uganda | LOUIS JADWONG | Kigo-based Professonal Fred Wanzala made the most of home advantage to get a three-stroke lead on day one of the 54-hole Lake Victoria Serena Johnnie Walker Open on Wednesday.
Wanzala matched the course par of 72 and indicated he might do better, even offering his opponents advice how to make the professional open more competitive.
"You just have to play regulation golf on this course if you want to overcome it. It’s an easy course if you master it, " he told Uganda Golf Times reporter Phillip Corry after day one at the Serena Golf Resort & Spa.
If the 35 other golfers competing in the 3-day event do not take that advice today, Wanzala could be out of sight when competition enters the final day tomorrow.
The Johnnie Walker Open teed off on Wednesday morning, with 33 Ugandan golfers eyeing the lion's share of the sh25 million prize money lined up.
The lake-side Victoria Par 72 Links Course will be officially launched this weekend after four days of golf starting today, Wednesday. Saturday's official launch will be preceded by an 18-hole invite-only contest by over 200 amateurs. (click to read full amateurs draw)
Serena's tournament partners are Johnnie Walker, Barclays, DSTV, PEPSI, AfriSafe, Victoria Motors.
Sh25 million pro prize
The professionals will battle over three days. The entry has nearly all Uganda's top professional golfers, fresh from battling in the Uganda Open that was won by Kenyan Dismas Indiza on Saturday.
The last Ugandans to have won the Open were Vincent Byamukama and Deo Akope in 2013 and 2014.
Byamukama did not even make the cut this year, while Akope finished 34th, with an 18 over par score.
The best Ugandans this year were Denis Anguyo 4th and Robert Happy in 5th.
They all get a chance to redeem themselves this week in Kigo.
Also on the course at Kigo is guest player, Joshua Seale from South Africa. The 2016 Uganda Professional Open champion failed to make the cut at the Entebbe Course last week, but has an opportunity not only to bounce back and regain lost pride, but prepare a year in advance for next year's edition that will be played for the first time at the picturesque Lake Victoria 18-hole course.
A history of Serena Golf Resort & Spa
Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort & Spa, located to the south of Kampala in Uganda, just recently completed a second nine holes on its golf course designed by Kevin Ramsey of Golfplan, reports golfcoursearchitecture.net.
The resort began working with Golfplan in 2008, with construction of the first nine holes beginning at the end of 2009. Work on the second nine began in 2016 and will officially be opened at this inaugural Serena Johnnie Walker Golf Open Championship.
“The holes that were completed in the first phase were a mix of front and back nine holes,” said Ramsey in an interview with golfcoursearchitecture.net
He told golfcoursearchitecture.net that “There is no difference in style, we are just pushing on to the far end of the site. The key feature of the entire site is the proximity and view to Lake Victoria. Visible on all holes and in play on three including both finishing holes."
Ramsey, who will be one of several guests at the launch on Saturday, says the course is a unique gem.
“This is a very unique one-of-a-kind golf facility in the sense that access to the marina is between the ninth and eighteenth holes. I can’t think of anywhere in the world where I have seen anything like this. The course is very natural in its feel and meanders through the site and down to the papyrus groves on the lake."
According to golfcoursearchitecture.net , the resort is owned and has been developed by Kenyan-based contracting company Cementers, and of its CEO, Kartick Halai.
“The Lake Victoria Serena golf course is one of the most beautiful courses in the region, we could not be prouder to have it on our property and simply cannot wait to be positioned as the best golf and spa resort in Africa,” Anthony Chege, general manager of Serena Hotels Uganda, told golfcoursearchitecture.net
“There really is nothing like it. Serene and peaceful,” concluded Ramsey.
*******
- Day 1 results
Business partner Kevin Ramsey off to Uganda for the Grand Opening of Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort & Spa— David M. Dale (@DavidMDale) October 3, 2018
| 1. | WANZALA FRED | 72 |
| 2. | MUTAWE HERMAN | 75 |
| KASOZI PHILLIP | 75 | |
| MAWA SAIDI | 75 | |
| 5. | KATO DAVIS | 76 |
| 6 | . AINAMANI ABRAHAM | 77 |
| 7 | .ODOKONYERO IAN | 78 |
| RUGUMAYO RONALD | 78 | |
| 9 | KAMULINDWA DAVID | 79 |
| OCHAYA MARTIN | 79 | |
| 11 | KABUYE G | 80 |
| MUUHUMUZA ADOLF | 80 | |
| BAGALANA ABBEY | 80 | |
| BAGUMA RICHARD | 80 | |
| 15 | . MAWEJJE JOSEPH | 81 |
| BUKENYA RONALD | 81 | |
| TOOLIT BRIAN | 81 | |
| ANGUYO DENIS | 81 | |
| 19 | BYAMUKAMA VINCENT | 83 |
| HAPPY ROBERT | 83 | |
| OPIO SILVER | 83 | |
| AKOPE DEO | 83 | |
| 23 | OCICI GRACE | 84 |
| LUJJA HENRY | 84 | |
| 25 | SADIA ATIBU | 85 |
| OLAYO GEORGE | 85 | |
| 27 | MANDE G | 86 |
| MWESIGWA BRIAN | 86 | |
| OGWANG EMMA | 86 | |
| 30 | OLUBA ROBERT | 88 |
| KASAIJA STEVEN | 88 | |
| OPIO EMMA | 88 | |
| 33 | BAGALANA HUSSEIN | 92 |
| 34 | MUHAMOOD ISMAIL | 93 |
Day 2 draw
| PROFESSSIONALS TOURNAMENT DAY 2 DRAW. 04TH OCTOBER 2018 | ||
| GROUP | NAME | |
| GAME 1 | KASOZI PHILLIP | 10:00 |
| MAWA SAIDI | ||
| GAME 2 | OCICI GRACE | 10:10AM |
| MUUHUMUZA ADOLF | ||
| GAME 3 | ANGUYO DENIS | 10;20 AM |
| BAGUMA RICHARD | ||
| KATO DAVIS | ||
| GAME 4 | OLAYO GEORGE | 10:30 AM |
| BAGALANA HUSSEIN | ||
| TOOLIT BRIAN | ||
| GAME 5 | OPIO EMMA | 10:40AM |
| LUJJA HENRY | ||
| MUTAWE HERMAN | ||
| GAME 6 | AKOPE DEO | 10:50 AM |
| AINAMANI A | ||
| RUGUMAYO RONALD | ||
| GAME 7 | KASAIJA STEVEN | 11:00 AM |
| BUKENYA RONALD | ||
| OPIO SILVER | ||
| GAME 8 | WANZALA FRED | 11:10 AM |
| BAGALANA ABBEY | ||
| OGWANG EMMA | ||
| GAME 9 | ODOKONYERO IAN | 11:20 AM |
| KAMULINDWA DAVID | ||
| OCHAYA MARTIN | ||
| GAME 10 | MUHAMOOD ISMAIL | 11:30AM |
| HAPPY ROBERT | ||
| MWESIGWA BRIAN | ||
| GAME 11 | BYAMUKAMA VINCENT | 11:40 AM |
| MAWEJJE JOSEPH | ||
| OLUBA ROBERT | ||
| GAME 12 | MANDE G | 11:50 AM |
| KABUYE G | ||
| JOSHUA SEALE |
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