Uganda and Kenya could meet in the Africa Regional IV Golf Championship final

Uganda could face Kenya in the finals of this year’s Africa Region IV Golf Championships after both countries tied on 5.5 points, on the first day of competition at the Lake Victoria Golf Resort and Spa on Thursday.

After leading by half a point after the first 18 holes, the hosts wobbled in the afternoon to give Kenya a chance to level matters. Kenya improved in the second eighteen by five strokes overall as Uganda dropped by the same number of strokes to surrender their lead.

With third-placed Tanzania having trailed by 17 strokes, it is unlikely they will displace any of the joint leaders in the remaining 36 holes before the Saturday finals that will be played under the match-play format.

Dennis Asaba hit a hole-in-one during the first round of the Africa Region IV Golf Championships at Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa

The top two teams after the four rounds of stroke play on Friday will engage in the championship match while the third and fourth-placed will fight for the third place.

Uganda’s Joseph Cwinya-ai seems to hold the key to Uganda’s Africa Region IV title defense after playing exceptionally well above the rest of the field as the third edition teed off on Wednesday.

Cwinya-ai returned a scoring 143gross over the day’s 36 holes to help Uganda finish level with Kenya on 5.5pts.

“It has been a good day for me but unfortunately some of my teammates struggled, but this was just day one, we have another day to tackle where they had miscalculations and problems and we are hoping for the best,” Cwinya-ai said.

Godfrey Nsubuga and Denis Asaba were Uganda’s other scorers but performed below par despite the former hitting an eagle on hole-13 in the second-18 and the latter a hole-in-one on the day.

Godfrey Nsubuga reacts to his eagle putt on hole 13 during the first round of the Africa Region IV Golf Championships at Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa

“I ran out of batteries for my range finder and that bogged me down but generally I had a good day with 7 birdies and an eagle on hole 13. It was a fair outing which I look forward to improving on,” Nsubuga said.

Every 18 holes played is a competition in itself with the following points offered according to the following positions: First place 3 points, second place 2.5 points, third 2 points, fourth 1.5 points, fifth 1 point and sixth 0.5 points.

After Thursday’s rounds, the winning country will be determined by the highest total points in the matchplay competition.

Uganda is gunning for its third championship having won the first two editions in 2018 and 2019 when the event was held in Kenya and Burundi respectively.

Day One- Leaderboard

Kenya 225 220  445  5.5pts

Uganda 222 227 449 5.5pts

Tanzania 228 238 466 4pts

Rwanda 248 247 495  3pts

Ethiopia 256 249  505 1.5pts

Burundi 253  255 508 1.5pts