When John Musiimenta won the inaugural Pearl of Africa Golf Series amateur tournament, he possibly wasn’t aware that victory would catapult him to a rating by the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
The university student, who missed last week’s Entebbe series because of a tight academic schedule, is now ranked 4819th in the world thanks to the victory at the Uganda Golf Club in February.
Musiimenta beat Jinja’s Sande Lulet by four strokes to win the tournament at Kitante. His triumph earned him Shs1.7m and bragging rights as the first POA champion in history.
And now he is officially ranked by World Amateur Golf. He is thrilled by his rating. “This makes playing tournaments meaningful nowadays,” Musiimenta remarked.
“It’s an opportunity to see how my golf stands globally,” Musiimenta added. “This year, I want to enter the top 10 highest ranked golfers in Uganda,” he added.
Asked if he would compete in the next POA event in Lugazi due in July, Musiimenta was non-committal. “It will depend on my schedule in July because I have recess.”
Meanwhile, the Entebbe POA winner Michael Tumusiime, who held off national team golfer Elton Thembo for victory, spoke of his fulfillment at achieving world amateur golf ranking status.
“To be considered elite at amateur level, one needs to have a world amateur golf ranking which can only be achieved based on performances. So, this gives me satisfaction that my hard work has finally paid off,” the quinquagenarian noted.
Tumusiime, who was a very talented footballer in his youthful days at Ntare School, is ranked 4640th in the world.
The soft-spoken golfer, a Principal Air Transport Officer at Civil Aviation Authority, is measuring his ambitions and expectations of what lies ahead for him this year.
“I want to prepare to the best of my ability both mentally and physically, which hopefully gives me the best chance at success in the tournaments I will participate in. I have targets in mind but it’s never advisable to think too far ahead.”
He confirmed that he will participate in the next edition of the Pearl of Africa Golf series to be played at Lugazi Golf Hills and Country Club in July.
“It is the location for this year’s Uganda Golf Open so POA will give me a chance to assess my level of preparedness,” he revealed.
POA management have embarked on plans for the next edition which will serve as a dry-run for the Uganda Open.
It will be the first time the Open is held at the par-71 course in Lugazi, and the Uganda Golf Union will closely follow how the POA series are held to adequately prepare for the country’s biggest and most prestigious tournament.
It is a given that golfers in both the gross amateur and professional categories will reside in nearby hotels and lodges given the traffic nightmare on the Kampala-Jinja highway.
