Ugandan golfers have gotten a leeway to play at the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa as much as they wish following the launch of the Serena 63 Golf Series that will run over a 40-week period.

Kenyan professional Dismas Indiza’s heroics which saw him set a new course record of 63 during the 2019 Ugandan Open, has given birth to the thirty-six 18-hole rounds, a 63-themed tournament that will reward and encourage continuous improvement every quarter.

Serena will be offering pricing associated with 63 throughout the tournament like the entry fee which has been set at sh63,000/-, platters for 2 at 63,000 and single room accommodation at $163, among other offerings. Registration for the championship will last one month from March 1-April 1.

Players will be required to play a minimum of 36 rounds between March 1 and December 3 to qualify for the main prizes that will be given out on December 9. The prizes include one-year free membership worth $2500 and $1500 (sh9m and sh5.5m) for the Serena course non-members and members respectively.

Membership benefits for the non-members include unlimited access to the golf course (no green fees), a 10 percent discount at the pro shop in merchandise, 20 percent discount on food and beverage outlets at the Serena course and automatic enrolment to the Serena Prestige Club among others.

(L-R) Golfer John Muchiri, Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort’s William Mpungu, Franklin Nyakundi, marketing director Allen Ampaire and golf manager Theo Van Royen during the launch. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

The one-year free subscription for members will come with additional golf merchandise as prizes.

Other prizes to fight for include two-night accommodation for two at Zanzibar and Mombasa Serena Beach Resorts, with return flights courtesy of Uganda Airlines; Dar-es-salam, Nairobi, Kampala and Lake Victoria Serena hotels with rounds of golf for four, caddie fees, cart hire and lunch is all taken care of.

LVSGR golf manager Theo Van Royen told the press during the launch in Kigo on Friday that the golfers were eagerly waiting to tee off the action in what they envisage will be a successful tournament.

“This is the biggest amateur event in the region with prizes worth sh36m and it was born out of Indiza’s record-setting round of 63 which we decided should rhyme with this 40-week championship,” Theo said.

The country sales and marketing director of Serena Hotels Allen Ampaire said they were excited to be launching a tournament alongside their partners Uganda Airlines in what is the first of its kind event with fantastic prizes.

Uganda Airlines sales manager Sylvia Kaggwa also stated that they were very excited to partner with Serena and that they were looking forward to a fruitful and exciting partnership on top of offering good golfing packages for travelling golfers whose bags are carried free of charge.

“We shall give three tickets in the final prizes but the offer is likely to increase as the championship progresses,” Kaggwa stated.

The model of play for the championship is the stable ford-full handicap with the players free to play their rounds any time provided they don’t use the same marker for more than three consecutive rounds.

A designated scorecard box will be provided for easy monitoring of all the scores as they come in and are entered in the ‘howdidido’ online golf system in each of the rounds that will cost non-Serena member sh150,000 and sh40,000 (caddie fees only) for the members respectively.

The best 18 rounds will count at the end of the day for each of the participants in the open event for every golfer in the country.

Players that would not have completed at least 18 rounds by October 1 will be removed from the competition according to some of the conditions of play.