Ruterana upbeat ahead of Uganda Open

Rwanda's professional golfer Emmanuel Ruterana has set his sights on putting up a good show at the forthcoming Tusker Malt Lager Uganda Open which tees off on July 15 and runs until August 1 at Kitante golf course in Kampala.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Rwanda's number two ranked professional golfer, Ruterana finished 14th in last year's Uganda Open. (File)

Rwanda’s professional golfer Emmanuel Ruterana has set his sights on putting up a good show at the forthcoming Tusker Malt Lager Uganda Open which tees off on July 15 and runs until August 1 at Kitante golf course in Kampala.

In an interview with Times Sport on Sunday, Ruterana said, "I have trained hard for this tournament and I want to try my level best to finish in the best position possible.”

Ruterana, who finished 14th in last year’s edition, is expected to depart for Kampala on July 20 along with his compatriot, Ernest Ndayisenga, a week before the professionals’ competition starts.

Golfers from Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia, Tanzania, Mauritius, Rwanda, Nigeria and Ghana will fight for a share of UG Sh100m (about Rwf24m) prize money.

There will be an overall net winner for the seniors alongside other category winners. The seniors’ will compete over two days before the main amateur event.

The amateur open has attracted 90 players while 69 have registered in the professionals category with Kenya (28 entries) leading the number of entrants.

And as tee time nears for the 73rd edition of the Tusker Malt Lager Uganda Golf Open, the competition continues to gain momentum on different front with more sponsors joining Uganda’s biggest premier golfing event.

Uganda Breweries, Caesar Kingdom and NBS who earlier committed over sh300m for the open, have now been joined by Sheraton Hotel, HTC Hub, Etihad Airlines, Pinnacle Security, Roke Telecom, Le P’tit Quebec, and AAR .

According to organizers, this year’s edition will begin with the Ladies competition from July 15-18 followed by the Seniors’ on July 19-20 then the Amateurs tournament from July 21-25 before the main even for the Professionals, which will be played from July 27-August 1.

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