The most prevalent discussion in golf circles has been whether Uganda will have a representative at the 2025 Magical Kenya Open.
Last year, at the par-71 Muthaiga Golf Club, Ronald Rugumayo dominated news bulletins after becoming the first Ugandan golfer to make the cut.
However, with no wild card for Rugumayo, the only window for Ugandans into next week’s DP World Tour tournament is via a rigorous 36-hole, one-day qualification competition at Vet Lab on Monday.
Some of the professionals who have confirmed participation in these qualifiers are Pearl of Africa Golf series winner Marvin Max Kibirige and veteran Deo Akope.
One Ugandan, however, whose name will be on the Magical Kenya Open draw is the 2022 Uganda Open champion and national team captain, Joseph Cwinya-ai.
The Toro-born golfer will take up a slot that was initially Michael Alunga’s. But the latter will not be traveling to Nairobi for the prestigious tournament.
Alunga had earned entry into the Magical Kenya Open after defeating Cwinya-ai in the final of the Kenya Amateur Match Play Championship that was held at Windsor Golf Club last July.
With Alunga confirming his non-attendance, the Uganda Golf Union raised the matter with organizers of the Magical Kenya Open, who confirmed that Cwinya-ai could occupy the slot, having lost to Alunga after 38 holes of a historic match play final.
In the past, qualification for the Magical Kenya Open was done via an order of merit from the Safari Tour rounds.
But with a lack of activity this season, it has compelled organizers to proceed cautiously while devising alternative ways of entry into the MKO next year.
Cwinya-ai, currently in Kigali for the Rwanda Open, was elated when the news was broken to him. “I can’t wait to rub shoulders with Europe’s top golf professionals,” the man known as Okada remarked.
“Being my first time, I am destined to learn one or two things which I can share with my fellow national team golfers,” he added.
The Magical Kenya Open is the biggest golf tournament on the Kenyan calendar, and hundreds of Ugandans are expected in Nairobi either to form the gallery or to support their own.
Started in 1967, it grew into a Challenge Tour event before rising to become a world-renowned DP World Tour event.
