The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Brian Toolit’s glorious contribution to golf will always be etched in stone
Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & UGC MEDIA | The Uganda Golf Union is together with the golf fraternity mourning the passing of professional golfer and trainer Brian Toolit, which happened in the wee hours of Sunday morning after battling cancer. He was laid to rest today.
Born on August 8, 1987 to Christopher Ojok and Connie Lajara in Lacor Hospital, Gulu district, Toolit grew up as a multi-faceted sportsman who was good in the swimming pool and on court with a tennis racket. But it was in golf where he perfected his passion and talent, before growing into one of the country’s most formidable ball-strikers.
Toolit’s remarkable golf talent came to the fore as a 13-year-old when he was drawn in the inaugural Lugazi Open in the year 2000 to play alongside another teenager at the time, Denis Anguyo, Shaban Lwanga and David Okullo in a 36-hole competition at the then nine-hole Lugazi golf course. Back then, it was evident that the tiny, lanky, young teenager was destined for a fine career in the game.
Toolit was many things in the game. His iron-striking was second to none. His length off the tee was monstrous. But perhaps his greatest strength was in transmitting knowledge. Toolit’s calling, perhaps more than playing golf, was in training others. He knew how to communicate. He was patient. But he was also adept at making learners not lose interest, which is a very underrated art in coaching beginners.
It obviously helped that he was multi-lingual. He could speak his native Acholi language, obviously. But Toolit was also comfortable expressing himself in Luganda, Lusoga, Swahili and English. He was at home among different people, and it made him likeable. His down-to-earth personality was perhaps his strongest attribute as a person. He was respectful, respectable and easy-going.
When he was diagnosed with cancer last year, the golf community showed him unprecedented support which was testament to how he had touched and impacted on the lives of many around him.
“The Uganda Golf Union and the golfers in Uganda and the region will dearly miss Brian Toolit. Toolit, who has been battling cancer, touched the hearts and souls of many both as a golfer, coach and human being. May his soul rest in eternal repose,” the UGU said in a statement before his burial today.
