Indiza’s late surge earns him first place at Uganda Open

Going into the final day of the professional event of the 2023 Johnnie Walker Uganda Open Golf Championship, Kenya’s Dismas Indiza was three shots behind the leader then Ronald Rugumayo (207) but he remained confident. After a slow start, Indiza pulled off an incredible run of birdies plus an eagle on the front nine which helped him close the gap earlier in the day and ultimately claim victory.

Indiza wasn’t even in the pressure group of the final round played on Saturday with majority of the gallery that showed up at Uganda Golf Club following the top four after day three headlined by ‘home boy’ Ronald Rugumayo, boisterous with their post-shot shouting. Kenya’s Njoroge Kibugu, Rwanda’s Celestin Nsanzuwera and Uganda’s David Kamulindwa were also in the pressure group.

Indiza, 54 was trailing by three shots heading into the last round and after the end of proceedings, he won the championship by three strokes after shooting an overall 11 under par 277 (72, 67, 71, 67). His 5 under par 67 on day four sealed victory for him after Rugumayo who led for three opening rounds struggled when it mattered most, shooting 1 over par 73.

“I enjoyed the final round as everything was going on smoothly. My target was to get 8 under but I’m happy that 5 under was enough for me to get the victory,” Indiza said adding that; “I didn’t think that I would win because I thought Rugumayo would win it as he was 9 under by the time I finished.”

Indiza who came to Kampala by road had the services of handicap 12 caddy Isaac Sekulima. He had a dream start to the final round as he had an eagle in the par 5 hole 1. He later birdied holes 2, 3, 5, 7, 13 and 16. He had eight pars and the rest were bogeys.

With the Saturday victory, Indiza, a member of Kakamega Golf Club now has six Uganda Open titles at his grasp following earlier victories in 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2018. He is the record winner of the event ever since the inception of the professional category in 2006. He returned home with UGX 21 million from the UGX 100 million kitty.

Meanwhile, it was a heartbreak for Rugumayo after the championship slipped from him even though he looked to be in charge of the tournament. He tied for second with Namibia’s Paulino Kasoma off 8 under par 280.

Meanwhile, Indiza who has been a professional golfer for 35 years now shifts his focus to the other legs of the 2023/24 Safari Tour series. The Uganda Open also doubled as part of the Safari Tour and so does the Entebbe Open scheduled for next week, but Indiza won’t be around for the Entebbe event.

2023 Johnnie Walker Uganda Open (Pro) Final Leaderboard