Following his endorsement by Bridgestone, one of the big brands in golf in the US, Uganda golfer Joel Basalaine could not have asked for a better start in his professional career after he made the cut in only his second tournament.

Basalaine combined forces with his partner Troy Stribling and made the cut in the Zurich APGA two-man classic at the TPC Louisiana Golf Club, on August 3.

The tournament is played in alternating rounds of four-ball and foursomes team format with pairs competing against each other.

In the fourball, each player in the team plays their ball independently throughout the round, and the best score between the two is taken into account for each hole. For instance, if one scores a bogey on hole No. 1, and his teammate scores a birdie, then the team will register a birdie.

In the foursome format, teams will decide which player will take the tee shot on odd or even holes before the round commences. One team member will tee off on the odd-numbered holes, and the other player will begin the even-numbered holes.

Basalaine, a former Mehta Golf Club player from Lugazi and national team player, recently graduated from Livingstone College as a computer scientist and immediately turned pro, having spent the last three years playing for Livingstone College as he pursued his degree.

Despite missing out on the $10,000 top prize that was won by the pair of Christian Heavens and Quinn Riley, Basalaine must have gotten enough motivation to push him through the several tournaments that await. He shared $266 with his partner.

“Finished second tournament as a pro golfer, first top ten finish and cut. Kind of refreshing and motivating,” Basaline stated.

Heavens and Riley fired a six-under-par 66 in the alternate-shot format, highlighted by an eagle and six birdies, to overcome a seven-shot deficit and win the $10,000 first prize from the $30,000 purse.

The APGA Tour now heads to St. Louis for the APGA Ascension Classic at Glen Echo Golf Club August 8-10.  The regular season culminates August 13-15 with the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship at TPC Sugarloaf in suburban Atlanta.