It is not often that two holes-in-one are witnessed on the same day of a major tournament, but on Thursday, it happened at the Uganda Golf Club in both the morning and early afternoon.
Henry Lujja is hardly considered an elite professional in the country, but he struck a peach of a shot on the short, par-3 4th on his way to a decent level-par round. However, the ace wasn’t enough to help him make the cut.
Earlier that morning, 2024 champion Dayne Moore matched Lujja’s feat on the 17th hole with what was arguably an even more exquisite shot.
Having dropped two shots on Wednesday on the same hole, Moore exorcised his demons by attacking the tricky pin at the far end of the green to soothe his nerves for the cut. Up until then, he was sitting right on the borderline.
At the top of the leaderboard, it is a two-way tie after Nigeria’s Sunday Olapade shot a 67 to go level with Ronald Rugumayo at 5-under for the championship. Olapade started the round with incredible back-to-back eagles and didn’t look back.
Despite bogeys on the 14th and 16th, Olapade’s strategy to ditch the driver for the 3-wood paid dividends. It allowed him to control his game better and press his claim for the ultimate prize.
Rugumayo, meanwhile, will be feeling sore after another wobbly back nine. After crossing at 4-under for the day, Rugumayo extended his lead with a fine eagle on the 13th, but double-bogeys on the 15th and 18th allowed Olapade a share of the lead. Rugumayo is 3-over on the 18th across the first two days and will hope for better luck on Friday and Saturday.
He missed the fairway on the last hole, duffed his second shot, and then chipped uncharacteristically poorly before three-putting. One shot behind Olapade and Rugumayo is Philip Kasozi, whose 69 thrust him right into the thick of things.
Record Uganda Open winner Dismas Indiza is two shots off the pace after a 69. The veteran Kenyan remains well in contention.
The most agonizing missed cut was suffered by Herman Mutaawe. An inexplicable triple-bogey on the final hole shut him out of the Open, opening the door for Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh and Abbey Bagalana to sneak into Friday’s round by a whisker.
