Nakalembe wins second major of the year

Entebbe Club golfer Irene Nakalembe carded 152 gross over 36 holes to win the inaugural edition of the Uganda Golf Club Ladies Open at Kitante on Saturday.

Despite trailing day-one leader Monica Ntege by three strokes, the handicap 2 golfer improved her second round score by two strokes as the leaders slipped to win her second major of the year in the ladies competitions.

Earlier this year, Nakalembe won the Entebbe Ladies Open for the fourth consecutive time and now heads to the All Africa Challenge trophy in Ghana with the national ladies team, full of confidence.

"I'm the first winner of this competition so I have to ensure I defend it. It is an annual event so I wouldn't mind winning it several times. The win means a lot to me since it is the first edition of the tournament; most of the competitions have defending champions so winning if for the first time feels good and  I thank God for it," Nakalembe said.

"It wasn't easy because the course was dry and hard. I wasn't happy with my first round 77 but I wasn't disappointed but I knew I had to improve and I was lucky my closest opponents did not improve subsequently," Nakalembe stated.

The competition was spiced up by a hole-in-one secured by another Entebbe golfer Bridget Basiima on hole-No 11. She was in the company of Caroline Namutebi, Evelyn Asiimwe and Edrae Kagombe when she achieved the rare feat.

The ladies section organised championship was sponsored by the Uganda Communications Commission, Commercial Bank of Africa, UBL through their Baileys brand, JobConnect, Century Bottling (Fuse tea), Case Hospital, Life Care Spa and Ekspresso.

The tournament was played under the medal and stable ford formats. The handicap 24 and below competed in the main event while the ladies above handicap 24 played stable ford alongside the men who competed in the subsidiary event.

Results

Overall winner gross: Irene Nakalembe 152

Runner up: Peace Kabasweka 159

1st runner up:  Harriet Kitaka 161 c/b

2nd runner up: Eva Magala 161

Silver Group

Doreen Kirabo 134nett c/b

Mi Jung Kim 134

Mary Zaramba 140 c/b

Phoebe Chandiru 140

Bronze Group

Lee Jung OK 84pts c/b

Milly Nambooze 84

Soon Yeon Hong 69

Lillian Koowe 68

Men Group A

Jammie Byaruhanga 42pts

Douglas Schreck 41

Group B

Edward Kabuchu 39pts

David Mugamba 38c/b

Group C

Azim Tharan 41pts

Nathan Mubiru 40

Seniors

Esther Okullo 146 nett

John Waigo 40pts