Home players dominate Uganda Open's first round

Greg Snow

Kenya's Greg Snow lines up a putt during the opening round of the 2020 Tusker Malt Lager Uganda Open at Uganda Golf Club course on December 3, 2020.

Photo credit: Pool

What you need to know:

  • Akope picked up a birdie at the par five-first, dropped a shot at the fifth.
  • The best placed Kenyan players on day one were David Wakhu of Golf Park and Muthaiga’s Greg Snow who both posted level par 72.
  • The second round of the tournament, which is the fifth leg of the Safari Tour, starts at 7am Friday.

Home players dominated the leader-board as the 2020 Tusker Malt Lager Uganda Open got under way at the wet Uganda Golf Club course on Thursday.

Deo Akope and long hitter Dennis Anguyo shot two under par 70 to tie at the top of the leaderboard as a bunch of five including defending champion Madalitso Muthiya of Zambia tied on one under par 71.

“The course is completely wet after some long rains last week, in fact we are using preferred lie on the fairway. It is completely an unpredictable course at the moment unlike the usual conditions we have known," said John Wangai, who is also the captain of the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK).

Of the two joint leaders, Anguyo started off with a birdie at the par five-first hole, dropped a shot at the third, but regained two shots at the fifth and sixth only to drop one at the seventh, to finish the opening nine on one under par.

At the back nine which has only one par five, Anguyo birdied the 14th then parred the rest for his one under par 70.

Akope picked up a birdie at the par five-first, dropped a shot at the fifth, but managed to birdie the last two holes in the opening nine, then bogeyed the 14th and 16th at the back nine where he only birdied the 15th, to join Anguyo at the top.

Tying for the third place on one under par 71 along with the defending champion Muthiya, was Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi, Cameroon’s Nlareb Issa, and Ugandans Herman Mutebi, Ainaman Abraham and Happy Robert.

The best placed Kenyan players on day one were David Wakhu of Golf Park and Muthaiga’s Greg Snow who both posted level par 72.

John Wangai, his young brother Samuel Njoroge, Eric Ooko and Edwin Mudanyi fired one over par 73 each, leaving Dismas Indiza and Mathew Omondi by a shot.

The second round of the tournament, which is the fifth leg of the Safari Tour, starts at 7am Friday.