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Lugazi Hills boy Akena holds one-stroke advantage going into the final 18 holes
Reagan Akena hits the out of the bunker on hole number 17. PHOTO/EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
Cwinya-ai has got bags of experience and is a previous champion. But Akena is in pole position, and deservedly. He holds a one-stroke lead after playing Friday’s round level.
Day One leader was Adel Balala. Day Two leader became Joseph Cwinya-ai. Day Three leader is Joseph Reagan Akena. Saturday’s final round will decide who emerges as the Johnnie Walker 2024 Uganda Amateur Golf Champion.
Cwinya-ai has got bags of experience and is a previous champion. But Akena is in pole position, and deservedly. He holds a one-stroke lead after playing Friday’s round level.
But it is not only Cwinya-ai and Akena in the hunt for the trophy and the lion’s share of the Shs15m kitty.
Titus Okwong played a 68, the best round so far in the three days of the Open. His bogey-free round had birdies on holes 3, 4 and 13.
Okwong has been a poor finisher, losing strokes in the final stretch but he managed to hold his head to leave himself with a decent chance of winning his first ever Open.
Okwong and Cwinya-ai are tied at 218 shots after three days and their final day round should be a spectacle at the par-71 Entebbe Golf Club before what promises to be a huge gallery.
Friday’s round was played under day-long Entebbe rains that soften the playing surface.
2022 Uganda Open runner up Michael Tumusiime overcame a difficult start, in which he played the front nine six-over, to finish with a 76.
Tumusiime will tee off in the second pressure group with Samuel Bazaale, Ibrahim Ssemakula and holder Godfrey Nsubuga.
The pressure group will feature Cwinya-ai, Abdul Kakeeto, Okwong and Akena.
Saturday’s round will include a subsidiary round for Group B golfers. Other sponsors of the Uganda Open are ABSA Bank, NBS, Pinnacle Security, Aquafina, MTN, Case Medical Services, Medisell and the Uganda Golf Union.
This year’s Open is the 83rd edition in history. The first was held in 1932 and was won by H. Davidson. With 12 titles, the late Sadi Onito is the most successful in the tournament’s history.
On Tuesday, the ABSA Bank Pro-Am will take place before the professionals hit the course on Wednesday to contest for a kitty of Shs150m.
The defending champion is Kenyan veteran Dismas Indiza Anyonyi.
