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Kenyan players win Uganda golf open

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-30 08:42

Kenyan players have claimed ultimate victory by winning both the amateur and professional categories at the 66th Uganda Golf Open that concluded on Sunday in Kampala.

Kenya's amateur champion Nicholas Rokoine took full advantage of the absence of South African players and clawed back from a distant fifth place to win this year's Open at the par-72 Kitante golf course. The 26-year-old garnered all his wit to outlast his country-mate Simeon Ngigi in the sudden play-offs.

The two Kenyans, who continued the foreign legion's dominance in the four-day event, began where the South Africans had stopped after 54 holes on Saturday and finished as joint leaders with an aggregate of 285 gross after the last 18 holes.

Rokoine and Ngigi were all square after the first play-off on holes 12, 17 and 18. But the eventual winner, who claimed his first title in Uganda's premier golfing event, wrapped up the game with a birdie and par in the sudden death.

Greg Snow completed Kenya's 1-2-3 finish after carding an impressive 286 for the third spot. Dennis Onyango (288) of Makerere University was Uganda's best, finishing three shots off the pace to seize the fourth spot.

Ugandan national team core players Herman Mutaawe (289) and Stephen Birungi (290) and George Olayo (291) were dwarfed into submission and only left with a top ten finish to smile about.

Former national amateur captain Amos Kamya, who didn't defend his Uganda Open title as he had turned professional after the Zone VI Championships, showed he could perfectly compete with the elite after returning an amazing debut total of 283 to finish third in the paid ranks.

"This guy played quite unbelievable and mature golf for a debutante. At this rate, he will surpass the likes of Deo (Akope)," said Kenyan Dismas Indiza, the winner of the professional category with 275 gross, quoted by the Daily Monitor on Monday.

Being one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in Uganda, the four-day Golf Open has attracted more than 250 golfers to fancy their chances of winning one of the accolades at Entebbe and Kitante course.