2007 is a year that local golfers will live to remember for a number of reasons. On top of being one of Kigali Golf Club’s most congested calendars and a turning point for Rwanda’s professional golf, Rwanda was also graced by one of the world’s most respected female golfers in Betsy King.

On the professional front

This year will definitely go down in Kigali Golf Club’s history books as a turning point for Rwanda’s professional golf. In February, Rwanda scored high when her top amateur golfer Emmanuel Ruterana joined the paid ranks courtesy of Rwanda Commercial Bank (BCR). 

And last month, Rwanda also staged her first ever professional golf tournament. With firm financial support from East African Breweries under their Tusker brand, Kigali Golf Club revamped this year’s edition of the Rwanda Open event with a special professional tournament that attracted over nine golfers from Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya.

And with home course advantage, local golfers stole the show when they finished top on both fronts. Ruterana edged Uganda’s renowned Deo Akope in the pro category while the experienced Andrew Nkwandi followed suit in the amateur category.

Lately, word has it that it won’t be long before Rwanda registers her second pro-golfer in Jean Baptiste Hakizimana. The 19-year-old who is sponsored by MTN has been Rwanda’s top amateur golfer since Ruterana’s elevation into the professional ranks.

And after this year’s Rwanda Open, he said, "It’s just a matter of time before I join my friend (Ruterana).

"Ever since he joined the ranks, he has been trying to give me a few tips about professional golf”.

New faces in the game

Since January, Kigali Golf Club registered a number of new faces at the course but one golfer who took the golfing fraternity by storm was Thierry Ntaganda.

The youngster started playing active golf in April and hardly two months down the road, registered his first silverware by wining the June BCR monthly mug.

He later went on to rewrite history as the first golfer to win four BCR monthly mugs in a row after victories in July, August and September.

According to some senior golfers, Ntaganda is certainly one of Rwanda’s golf prospects.

On the international scene

While Rwanda’s golf seemed to be firing on all fronts on the local scene, frustrations prevailed on the international scene.

Rwanda competed in two tournaments; All Africa Challenge Cup and the East African Challenge Cup but her performances were far blow par.

All Africa Challenge Cup

In the All Africa Challenge Cup that was staged in Namibia, Rwanda faced a number of challenges. On top of fielding a relatively young team, Namibia’s Rossmund golf course presented all kinds of difficulties for the golfers who were not used to playing by the sea-side (Atlantic Ocean).

Rwanda finished last in the tournament, which was won by South Africa while Zimbabwe and Namibia finished second and third respectively.

East African Challenge Cup

In the East African Challenge Cup, Rwanda went into the tournament looking to match the region’s heavy weights, Kenya and Uganda after finishing third at last year’s edition.

However, to their dismay, the team registered its worst show in the event when it finished last in the five-nation tournament that was claimed by Kenya.

Rwanda and Burundi, the hosts jointly finished bottom with 6.5 points.

On the sponsorship front

Kigali Golf Club faired well. KGC received plenty of sponsorship but East African Breweries stood out as the key sponsors after injecting over Frw5.5 millions in this year’s Rwanda Open which is Rwanda’s premier golf tournament.

Other sound packages came in from BCR, Rwandair Express, Bralirwa under their Mutzig brand, MTN, Macmillan-Rwanda, Computer Point, ORTPN, Tele-10, India Khazana and Serena hotel among others.

Other developments

Rwanda Commercial Bank (BCR) also halted its sponsorship for the renowned monthly tournament ‘BCR monthly mug’.

After one of KGC’s most coveted events; the BCR mug of mugs, the bank’s marketing manager Hannington Namara revealed that the commercial bank had temporarily halted its involvement in the monthly event to allow other interested corporate companies to come on board.

"The last two years have been incredible. They have been years of dedication and commitment between the bank and the club but we also don’t want to monopolize the sponsorship by blocking off other interested companies/sponsors,” Namara noted.

Betsy King

Meanwhile, Betsy King, one of the world’s prominent LPGA female golfers graced this year’s MTN golf tournament where she conducted a clinic alongside other LPGA golfers.

During the clinic, the American LPGA crew made stellar demonstration for both junior and senior golfers. After conducting a series of golf clinics, King handed over plenty of golfing equipment to the club.

A recap

After two years at the helm of Kigali Golf Club, John Museminali relinquished office to Ezra Bunyenyezi mid this year.

On a whole, KGC has had a busy and productive 2007 and is looking forward to an even brighter 2008.

Ends