Ladies Open Review: More work required in ladies golf

Oct 19, 2016

With a more competitive field even champion Flavia Namakula could have easily lost her title

As Flavia Namakula danced to a fifth Ladies Open championship on Saturday one more glaring fact remained; more work is required to uplift the ladies game in the country.

The tournament showed that most of the Ugandan ladies cannot cope with the demands of playing competitively over three days and containing the pressure that comes with facing, especially foreign opposition.

Most of the Ugandan ladies are used to one-day competitions while others mostly play for leisure and fitness on weekends. That is why allowing artisans and lady caddies to take part in the ladies open was a welcome move which should happen more often if the ladies game is to prosper in the country.

Jenina Nasimolo and Gloria Mbaguta who dominated one-day local tournaments going into the open failed to extend their form to the ladies tournament, finishing 7 and 8th respectively.

With a more competitive field, even champion Flavia Namakula could have easily lost her title but thanks to weak opposition her 230 gross over 54 holes saw her emerge victorious.

The UPDF Sergeant, who is fresh from a failed professional qualifying stint in South Korea, shot 78, 73 and 79 for an aggregate of 230 to win herself an air ticket to Dubai courtesy of Fly Dubai, a Cleveland golf bag and Huawei P8 phone.

Namakula carried a three-stroke lead ahead of Tanzania's Madina, going into the final round but by the sixth hole she had already given away her lead to the Tanzanian, who led the front-nine by one stroke.

irst runnerup anzanias ddi adina walks away with her prizes hoto by ichael subuga First runner-up Tanzania's Iddi Madina walks away with her prizes. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

 

ilver category winner enyas aome oseph left receives her prizes from eprographics ohn atto hoto by ichael subuga Silver category winner, Kenya's Naome Joseph (left) receives her prizes from Reprographics' John Katto. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

 

A triple bogey on the par 3 hole No.4 followed by bogeys on holes 5 and 6 sent Namakula in panic mode and was only helped by the fact her opponents were as well under pressure and failed to capitalize on her brief slump.

"I put myself under a lot of pressure on the front nine; it was tough out there but I tried to cool down thereafter, settled and won. Unlike my first two wins the competition has been growing and I thank God that I won despite my golf not being good enough," Namakula said.

"The course was hard for me having been away for some time; Madina was a tough opponent she challenged me but it was the course that bothered me most; but I also need to work on my short game and approach because it wasn't up to scratch," Namakula stated.

"The course was tough since I've been away for some time but thank God I won. Thanks to all the sponsors it has been a great tournament," Namakula remarked after youth Minister Nakiwala Kiyingi and other sponsor representatives presented her with the different prizes.

unner up rene akalembe 2nd  receives prizes from astle ites uliana sentamu and s eggie afeero hoto by ichael subuga Runner up Irene Nakalembe (2nd L) receives prizes from Castle Lite's Juliana Ssentamu and MTN's Reggie Kafeero. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

 

 

Kenya 19 year old Agnes Nyakio was the third runner-up while Eva Magala finished fifth overall.

The tournament was sponsored by Castle Lite, UAP Insurance, Fly Dubai, Access, Cwezi, DStv, Huawei, MTN, Pinnacle Security, HTC Hub, Old Mutual, Kerussi International and UMA.

Results 

Main event - top ten

Flavia Namakula 78, 73, 79 230

Irene Nakalembe 76, 80, 80 236 c/b

Iddi Madina         78, 81, 82 236

Agnes Nyakio      78, 79, 85 243

Eva Magala          85, 87, 82 248

Harriet Kitaka      88, 81, 84 253

Gloria Mbaguta    85, 84, 84 253

Jenina Nasimolo   89, 85, 87 261

Naome Joseph     90, 86, 86 262

Martha Babirye    92, 85, 86 263 

Side bets

Hole in one: Soon Yeon Hong (on hole No.6)

Longest drive: Flavia Namakula and Stephen Kasaija

Nearest to the pin: Agnes Namutebi

Nearest to the pin-Men: Dinesh Prakash

Day winners - Silver

Day 1: Gloria Mbaguta 85gross

Day 2: Harriet Kitaka 81c/b

Day 3: Rose Azuba 85

Silver Nett category

Lim Sung Park 216nett

Mululu Wayua 221 c/b

Aisha Halake Duba 221

Martha Babirye 233

Bronze category

Gross: Mi Kyung Lee Jo 176

Nett: Zura Nabulya 135

Regina Nabalemba 138 c/b

Soon Yeon Hong 138

Violet Nabachwa 143 

ilver category winner eniors enina asimolo receives her prizes from  vicecaptain aiz lam hoto by ichael subuga Silver category winner (Seniors), Jenina Nasimolo receives her prizes from UGC vice-captain Faiz Alam. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

 

ilver category third runnerup gnes yakio 2nd receives her prizes from astle ites uliana sentamu and s eggie afeero 2nd  hoto by ichael subuga Silver category third runner-up Agnes Nyakio (2ndL) receives her prizes from Castle Lite's Juliana Ssentamu and MTN's Reggie Kafeero (2nd R). Photo by Michael Nsubuga

 

Subsidiary - men (Nett scores)

Group A

Steven Kasaija 72 c/b

Rajani Tiwali 73

Michael Tumusiime 73 c/b

Group B

Li Ming Jun 72 c/b

Jadu Patel 72

Stephen Chikovore 73

Group C

Raymond Kahigi 72

Paul Rukundo 76 c/b

Patrick Kagurusi 76 c/b 

Seniors (Above 55 years)

Silver winner: Jenina Nasimolo 262 gross

Bronze winner: Ruth Ssali 152nett

Guest winner: Phillips Sheetal 161nett

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