Kenya national golf team player Adel Balala, on Wednesday, emerged as the day one leader of the 2024 Johnnie Walker Uganda Amateur Golf Open at the par-71 Entebbe Club.
Balala posted 2 under par 69, just a stroke ahead of Uganda national team player Adbul Kakeeto. 2021 winner Joseph Cwinyaai (Uganda) finished third off 1 over par 72. Uganda players occupy second place up to 11th place, with Kenya’s Ebill Omollo, who is tied for 11th with three Ugandans, being Kenya’s second best on day two.
The Nyali-based Balala managed four birdies (one in the front nine and one in the back nine), 12 pars, and two bogeys. He birdied the par-4 hole 4, par-4 hole 13, par-5 hole 15, and par-3 hole 16. He only dropped shots in par-4 holes 5 and 17.
“It was a perfect round,” Balala remarked adding that; “I should have done better but this is golf. I want to better the scores for the next three days.”
Meanwhile, 2022 champion Andrew Ssekibejja had a day one to forget. He played four straight double bogeys in a row on the front nine, which all but ended his hopes of lifting the title. “I don’t know what happened to me,” Ssekibejja said. “Nothing seemed to be working for me.”
US-based Godfrey Nsubuga, who is also the title holder, played a poor round of 82 and is now chasing 13 strokes behind Balala.
The Entebbe course has been a bit dry for some time, and as a result, golfers whose approach shots don’t find the green are finding it hard to score.
This year’s amateur event of the Johnnie Walker Uganda Open Golf Championship is the first outing in history in which amateurs will be rewarded with money. There is a kitty of Shs15m to be shared among the top 10. The overall winner will walk away with the lion’s share of the kitty, which is Shs3.8m. And unlike the Professionals Open, there is no cut in the Amateur Open.
Co-sponsors of the Johnnie Walker Uganda Amateur Open are ABSA Bank, NBS, Pinnacle Security, Aquafina, Orchard Interiors, MTN, Case Medical Services, Medisell, and the Uganda Golf Union.
