Kilembe Golf Club hosts first junior tournament

National junior golf team players Abdu Kakeeto, Amon Bwambale and Christopher Muhindo will be among the 50 junior golfers expected to vie for honours in the Kasese Junior Open at Kilembe Mines Golf Club on Saturday.

Tooro Golf Club's Abdu Kakeeto who was the inaugural winner of the Uganda Junior Golf Open played at Entebbe Club in 2018 will be eager to add another title to his collection, just like Bwambale and Muhindo who are looking to cement their places on the national team.

According to Habib Kissande, the secretary of Kilembe club, the one-day tournament is open to all juniors affiliated to different clubs in the country, aged 6-18 years.

Each junior will pay an entry fee of sh30, 000/- for the first of a kind tournament in the Western part of the country.

Early this week, 56 juniors from Tooro, Mbarara, and Kasese had registered for the event aimed at raising funds to support  and  promote  the  "golf as  a  way of learning"  project.

This  unique  venture  is  a  non-profit  youth athlete  initiative  of  the  Kilembe  Mines  Golf  Club  aimed at benefitting  aspiring young  golfers  in  Kasese  while  also  promoting  the  sport of golf in  Uganda.

"Using  the  game  of  golf  in  support  of  an academic curriculum is a  proven success.  Financial  sponsorships  for  golf  supplies  and  training  equipment; educational  school  materials;  and  student  scholarships  are  needed," Kissande noted.

The tournament has attracted sponsorship from Agri Evolve, Itech Technologies Kasese, Redeemer Junior School and individuals like Dominic Winton and Mathias Okwir.

Two years ago, a Uganda Junior Golf Academy program was launched with all participating clubs sharing out golf equipment that included standard golf bag sets and balls to use in their respective junior training programs at the different clubs.

The then UGU president Innocent Kihika said the program had been started to make the sport easier and fun for the youngsters and to ensure they can even golf play golf off the course (for those below 6 years).

The target is to have over 100 juniors playing the game by the end of last year. The main seat of the golf academy is at Mehta Golf Club in Lugazi but the other clubs also have affiliate programs for the junior academy program.


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