Golf: Strong cast set for Uganda Open

All is set for the 67th edition of the Tusker Malt Uganda Ladies Open teeing off tomorrow, following the unveiling of the kit by the main sponsors yesterday.

Head of Beer, UBL Estella Muzito unveiled the kit at a press conference at the Uganda Golf Club, Kitante, before the official tee off of the tournament by her and representatives of the other co-sponsors.

Muzito unveiled the kit alongside Uganda Ladies Golf Union's Katy Kabenge who represented the president Maxi Byenkya, alongside UGU president Johnson Omolo and tournament director Innocent Kihika, and a host of other co-sponsors representatives from NTV, UAP-Old Mutual, Case Medicare, HTC Hub, Pepsi, Capital FM and EKSPRESSO.

"We are very excited to be part of this tournament every year, and seeing it grow into other segments like the ladies and amateur opens, but also seeing the calibre of players taking part, we believe it is going to become a spectacle in the region and on the continent as a whole, and as Tusker we shall be around even in years to come to support it," Muzito stated.

At the same time, MAC East Africa, distributors of Isuzu and Chevrolet vehicles in the country joined the growing number of sponsors for the open with a sh15m cash offer.

MAC East Africa Sales and Marketing Manager Karim Shehata handed over the cheque to UGU president Johnson Omolo.

Uganda Open tournament director Innocent Kihiika (8th L) and UBL head of beer Estella Muzito (C) pose with some of the representatives of the co-sponsors of the Uganda Ladies Open at Kitante course yesterday. Photos by Michael Nsubuga

"We are glad to be partnering with the Uganda Golf Open for the second time and we hope for a successful event in the three tournaments," Shehata said.

Omolo said that both the amateur and professionals open being the most prestigious events in the country, will always attract valued customers of the golfing fraternity and key clients to support the event from around the country.

"We are very excited to be associated with the open once again and excited to continue enjoying this relationship with the union. We will be offering live streaming of the open for the three tournaments and we will also be unveiling different platforms to use during the open including on our biggest social media platform to the union to use for publicity and we commit to give full coverage to the event," Maurice Mugisha said.

Case Medicare will take care of the health of golfers while EKSPRESSO will offer refreshments to the golfers at the halfway house with HTC Hub offering prizes for side bets during the event.

Twenty seven foreign entries including six Kenyans, 12 Tanzanians, 6 Nigerians, two Rwandans, one Zimbabwe have registered in the main event of the handicap 0-18 while 20 foreigners for the subsidiary (HC 19-36) event has attracted 20 foreigners; seven Kenyans, five Nigerians, four Rwandans and a similar number of Tanzanians.

Over 160 players are expected to compete over the three days of the gruelling competition.