The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
*⃣ Magical Kenya ⛳ Open at Muthaiga 2024
Select results
✳ Driel 🇳🇱 66 69 68 67 270 (-14)
✳ Dean Joe 🏴 68 69 68 67 272 (-12)
✳ Rugumayo 🇺🇬 72 70 71 73 286 (+2)
✳ Kamulindwa 🇺🇬 76 79
*⃣ Magical Kenya ⛳ Open at Muthaiga 2025
✳ J Kruyswijk 🇿🇦 69 66 64 (-14)
✳ J Parry 🏴 63 65 72 (-13)
✳ Cwinyai 🇺🇬 81 80 Missed cut
✳ Deus 🇺🇸 77 59 RTD
Kampala, Uganda | LOUIS JADWONG & UGC MEDIA | Just how good was Ronald Rugumayo at last year’s DP World Tour event – the Magical Kenya Open?
Going by the results of our Ugandan and East African flag carriers this year, Mayo was extra-ordinary last year and there should have been a behind-the-scenes push by the UGU to guarantee his place at Muthaiga this year.
“I was eagerly anticipating this year’s MKO, having initially reached out to the tournament director for an invite that ultimately didn’t come through,” Mayo said on phone from his South African base today.
“However, the unclear qualification process for MKO 2025 and the organizers’ delayed communication further complicated my preparation. To make matters worse, the Monday 36-holes qualifiers clashed with my schedule, forcing me to reassess my participation.”
Rugumayo said he only enters events that he is well prepared for, and, is sure he will give a 100% effort.
At last year’s Open, not only was Mayo the first Ugandan to make the cut in a DP World Tour, but he was the only East African who survived the cut.
This year? No golfer from the region, not even the Kenyans playing on home ground, made it. They are all in the gallery enjoying what is turning out to be a great competition, which concludes tomorrow.
Without Rugumayo, this year’s MKO showed just how light-weight Uganda and East Africa are, on the world golf scale.
DP World Tour shows Uganda has a lot to do
Ugandan amateur and national team captain Joseph Cwinya-ai arrived at Muthaiga Golf Club in upbeat mood. Willy Deus Kitata, Uganda’s lone professional at the Magical Kenya Open, had earlier shown what a talent he is by emerging as the best golfer at Monday’s 36-hole qualifier at Vet Lab for the right to play in this year’s DP World Tour event.
But the experiences for both Cwinya-ai and Kitata were limited to two days at the par-71 course. But it wasn’t only the Ugandans who found the going too tough at the tournament. The best golfers in the East and Central African region all came woefully short. Kenya’s Riz Charania and Daniel Nduva finished day one under-par but were not in contention for the cut after day two.
That means that Uganda’s Rugumayo, now 32, who opted to skip this year’s event, remains the last East African golfer to have made the cut. We will never know whether he would have made the cut, but what is almost certain is that he did his stock no harm by sitting out this year’s event.
For Cwinya-ai who shot a combined 19-over, the level was predictably too high.
“We still need exposure and participation in many tournaments outside Uganda and East Africa to build confidence in ourselves,” he admitted.
What is now clear beyond dispute is that none of the competitions the professionals engage in within the East African region can adequately prepare them for the caliber of golf at the Magical Kenya Open.
Kitata, in his first MKO, was warned a couple of times by the tournament referees for being too slow long before he withdrew midway through his second and final round. Regardless, he wasn’t going to make the cut in his first DP World Tour event. But he leaves Nairobi with experience of this grade and some harsh lessons learnt of teeing against some of the best golfers in the DP World.
Asked if he would seize the chance to compete at the Magical Kenya Open again, Cwinya-ai had no hesitations.
“Absolutely,” he noted. “Life is all about learning and I would want to prove to every one around me that I am a better golfer that the scores I played.”
England’s Parry Jones, ranked 110th in the world, was the leader after two bogey-free rounds at 14-under.
How Rugumayo did it last year
The then 31-year-old from Kabarole, Western Uganda ended 71st on the final day of the 2024 Magical Kenya Open.
He played some stunning golf at Muthaiga that included 13 birdies, but an equal number of bogeys meant he ended on the tail-end of the battle for prize money.
An historic week is complete for Ronald Rugumayo ✅
You’ve inspired a nation and whole continent, @RonaldRugumayo 🙌#MKO2024 pic.twitter.com/vAea8JauCd
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 25, 2024
Rugumayo said then, that he hoped his performance and milestone will inspire a new generation of golfers in the region. This year’s unclear qualification method for the MKO frustrated him, and with clashes with his other scheduled events, called off an attempt.
“Each and everything I’m doing right now, I’m doing for my country. My dream has always been to inspire upcoming golfers. I’d feel really great if in the next few years, I see more Ugandans and East Africans playing in big tours and doing even better than I’m doing,” he said last year.
Last year was his third go at the Magical Kenya Open as a professional, but he participated in the 2017 edition of the tournament as an amateur.
He should have been at the MKO this year!
✳ MKO 2025 prize money:
WINNER: $425,000
2. $275,000
3. $156,500
4. $125,000
5. $106,000
6. $87,500
7. $75,000
8. $62,500
9. $56,000
10. $50,000
11. $46,000
12. $43,000
13. $40,250
14. $38,250
15. $36,750
16. $35,250
17. $33,750
18. $32,250
19. $31,000
20. $30,000
21. $29,000
22. $28,250
23. $27,500
24. $26,750
25. $26,000
26. $25,250
27. $24,500
28. $23,750
29. $23,000
30. $22,250
31. $21,500
32. $20,750
33. $20,000
34. $19,250
35. $18,500
36. $17,750
37. $17,250
38. $16,750
39. $16,250
40. $15,750
41. $15,250
42. $14,750
43. $14,250
44. $13,750
45. $13,250
46. $12,750
47. $12,250
48. $11,750
49. $11,250
50. $10,750
51. $10,250
52. $9,750
53. $9,250
54. $8,750
55. $8,500
56. $8,250
57. $8,000
58. $7,750
59. $7,500
60. $7,250
61. $7,000
62. $6,750
63. $6,500
64. $6,250
65. $6,000
****
RELATED STORIES
AKOPE: Pearl Of Africa series is dream come true for Ugandan golf professionals
Battle for Pearl of Africa glory brings back memories of Sadi Onito
