Prime
One-shot Open lead for Cwinyaai
Cwinyaai tees off on Day Two. PHOTO/EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
Cwinyaai is followed by teenager Reagan Akena who matched his Day One score of two-over 73 once again.
Joseph Cwinyaai feels he is not yet at his best even if he shot one-over 73 to assume the lead at halfway stage of the 83rd Johnnie Walker Uganda Amateur Golf Open on Thursday.
Despite shooting a score not better than Wednesday’s, Cwinyaai has things in his control, leading the field by a shot and he is staring at winning a second Open title in three years.
“I am not so happy because I am still a bit disappointed with my scoring,” Cwinyaai said after the field had completed round two of the 72-hole stroke-play championship.
“The reason is that the course is playing hard, the greens are and the pin placements are very tough. You have to be in regulation, chipping and putting.”
Yet, Cwinyaai had a solid start and he was two-under for the day after making an eagle on the par-5 Hole No.7, birdies on Holes on par-3 No.10 and par-5 No.11 and the bogeys at Holes par-4 No.5, par-3 No.6 and par-4 No.9.
“At the start, it looked easy but towards the end, things got tougher,” he admitted. “I wanted two more birdies after Hole No.11 but you never know what’s ahead of you.”
The 2021 champion Cwinyaai instead added bogeys on Holes par-3 No.12, par-5 No.15, par-3 No.16, a double-bogey on par-4 No.17 only to save face with a birdie on par-5 Hole No.18.
“The pace on the course was a little slow on the back nine. We had some 10-minute waits on Holes No.12 and No.13. On No.15, my ball went into someone’s stance on the bunker, I three-putted on No.16 and at the 17th; I missed a two-foot putter for bogey.”
With an aggregate +3 at the par-71 course, Cwinyaai looks to engage a higher gear with the next 36 holes to come. “The first target is winning but I have to win with decent scores. However tough conditions are tough but I am experienced enough and I can handle the pressure,” he added.
Cwinyaai is followed by teenager Reagan Akena who matched his Day One score of two-over 73 once again. “My game is at 70 percent but my only problem is chipping,” said the Senior Five student from Juliana High School Lugazi.
Akena, who surprisingly led the 2021 Open edition on Day One in Entebbe, birdied three Holes par-5 No.1, No.13 and No.18 but he was let down by five bogeys.
“I was one-under after three holes but then I think I got excited and three-putted at Hole No.5 (first bogey),” said the handicap +1 player.
Akena spent some time in Johannesburg, South Africa with Juma Abiti and national team coach Flavia Namakula on a golf high performance program in May. “I can win the Open because of the lessons I had in South Africa,” he added.
Day One runner-up Abdul Kakeeto and 2022 Open runner-up Michael Tumusiime are tied in third place on six-over par after Kakeeto carded 78 while Tumusiime shot 74 with a bogey, bogey and triple-bogey closing his round despite four birdies littered earlier.
That pair is a stroke ahead of Ibrahim Ssemakula and Samuel Bazaale who are tied in fifth place. Ssemakula fired the day’s best round of level-par 71. Titus Okwong is seventh after shooting 77 for aggregate +8.
Abdallah Kakooza and Day One leader Kenyan Adel Balala are at +9 overall. Balala, who shot two-under 69 on Wednesday, returned a wobbly 82 comprising two double-bogeys, a triple-bogey on par-4 Hole No.4 and four bogeys.
Another Ugandan John Musiimenta is a shot adrift to complete the top 10 placings. The course conditions could tilt the script again.
83RD JOHNNIE WALKER UGANDA AMATEUR GOLF OPEN
DAY TWO LEADERBOARD
1 Joseph Cwinyaai (UGA) 72 73 145 +3
2 Reagan Akena (UGA) 73 73 146 +4
T3 Abdul Kakeeto (UGA) 70 78 148 +6
T3 Michael Tumusiime (UGA) 74 74 148 +6
T5 Ibrahim Ssemakula (UGA) 78 71 149 +7
T5 Samuel Bazaale (UGA) 73 76 149 +7
7 Titus Okwong (UGA) 73 77 150 +8
T8 Abdallah Kakooza (UGA) 74 77 151 +9
T8 Adel Balala (KEN) 69 82 151 +9
10 John Musiimenta (UGA) 75 77 152 +10
