Uganda ladies settle for 6th position as AACT ends in Dar
Uganda opened their campaign in 6th position after the first round but could not improve from that, slipping to 7th after the second round before they reclaimed their position after the third after captain Peace Kabasweka’s drastic improvement in the last round.
ULGU Anne Abeja (2nd left) and Rita Apell (2nd right) pose with national team players Meron Kyomugisha (left), Peace Kabasweka and Martha Babirye (right). Photo by Michael Nsubuga
NewVision Reporter
@NewVision
Uganda’s national women's golf team settled for 6th position out of 20 countries as the 15th edition of the All Africa Challenge Trophy tournament ended at the Gymkhana Golf Club in Dar-es-salaam on Friday.
Uganda opened their campaign in 6th position after the first round but could not improve from that, slipping to 7th after the second round before they reclaimed their position after the third after captain Peace Kabasweka’s drastic improvement in the last round.
Having surrendered 6th position to Nigeria after the second round, Kabasweka’s three-over 75 lifted the team back to 6th with an improved eight-stroke advantage over the West Africans.
The Ugandans found the dry and hard course tough, failing to maneuver around it with decent scores that could help them better the country's performance from the last championship from where they finished fourth in 2018 in Ghana.
Meron Kyomugisha’s 80 gross in the last round was what counted to Uganda’s score on the day as record winners South Africa matched to another AACT championship with an overall return of 444 strokes over 54 holes from their best scorers; Brown Bobbi and Gabrielle Venter.
“Our girls couldn’t cope with the course in time, but Kabasweka finally did and played well in the last round. It was dry and windy,” team coach Irene Nakalembe noted.
“The course was not easy for all teams; they played a preferred lie, but our team did their best,” ULGU president Anne Abeja added.
Each team (country) was represented by three golfers, but only the best two scores in each round count to the country’s score per round.
Morocco finished second overall, five strokes away from the winner ahead of hosts Tanzania which finished third, 11 strokes off as Kenya finished fourth overall with a gross score of 458.
The Uganda ladies will now try to make amends in the Tanzania Ladies Open that ends on September 13.
Final leaderboard-top ten
South Africa 444
Morocco 449
Tanzania 455
Kenya 458
Zimbabwe 476
Uganda 480
Nigeria 488
Zambia 496
Ghana 498
Gabon 517