Why Nakalembe lost out to Eaton
Sep 10, 2017
It was not the best golf out there but Eaton seemed to have more luck than the chasing pack
Irene Nakalembe is not about to give up on winning the Uganda Ladies Open after failing to win it and coming second for the second time in a row.
All eyes were on Entebbe's Nakalembe going into the 64th edition of the tournament, but it wasn't to be as Tanzania's Angel Eaton snatched it from her by two strokes.
"I didn't have a good start and I was on and off but I later stabilised until on hole-No.15 where I got a double bogey with Eaton getting par. We all seemed to be struggling and I could have come first, but finished second, I guess it was not meant to be mine," Nakalembe said.
Still confident
"I gave it my best. Even on the last hole, I was still fighting for it. Going forward I will keep practicing and training until I win the open. I'm not just going to give up just like that," Nakalembe stated.
It was not the best golf out there but Eaton who consequently won her third Uganda Ladies Open title, seemed to have more luck than the chasing pack.
Whenever she struggled, the likes of Nakalembe, Babirye Martha and Iddy Madina who gave it their best push also fumbled with their shots.
"My scores were not impressive because the greens were a bit faster for me compared to the ones at home but I thank God I managed to play well. My driver and short game were okay. I had a bit of pressure after the first nine because Madina, Nakalembe and Babirye were playing well but I kept calm and finally got it," Eaton said.
Tanzania's Madina and Kenya's Agnes Nyakio finished third and fourth respectively, three and four strokes off, with another Ugandan Meron Kyomugisha's 78 on day three propelling her to fifth place.
This should have been Hawa Wanyeche's tournament to win but for her opening 18 strokes over par-90.
In the second and last rounds she returned the best scores (76&77) than anyone else to finish even ahead of Uganda's Martha Babirye who was trailing the top players by just a stroke going into the final round.
Babirye eventually settled for seventh place, blaming it on inexperience.