Prime
Rugumayo reaps fruits of sacrifice with first Sunshine Tour cut
Face Of Focus. Rugumayo has had to wait for six events before making a cut in South Africa. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
Rugumayo picked up a pay cheque of less than Shs500,000 for his effort but it was all smiles as he pocketed Shs2.6m for his latest effort that saw him card two-under 69 in the final round to finish 42nd out of an elite field of 125 professional golfers from 15 countries.
On his personal website https: ronaldrugumayo.com, there is a tagline; “The harder you train the harder it is to surrender.” Ugandan golfer Ronald Rugumayo does live by this mantra as justified by his latest achievement as a journeyman professional golfer.
After competing in five Sunshine Tour events, Rugumayo finally scripted history as the first Ugandan golfer to make a cut at the continent’s premier golfing series at the sixth time of asking with two solid rounds of 71 and 74 for an aggregate of three-over to make the cut at the VOG Western Cape leg of the Sunshine Tour at Devonvale Golf & Wine Estate.
The signs first started to show for the man nicknamed Mayo when he became the first Ugandan to play and make the cut at the Altron Big Easy Tour last month during its fourth leg hosted at the par-72 Huddle Park & Golf Recreation Club at Linksfield.
Rugumayo picked up a pay cheque of less than Shs500,000 for his effort but it was all smiles as he pocketed Shs2.6m for his latest effort that saw him card two-under 69 in the final round to finish 42nd out of an elite field of 125 professional golfers from 15 countries.
Solid first round
The round during which I made my first cut on the Sunshine Tour on Day was not the best round as I had a couple of bad breaks, especially on the front nine, but I managed to keep the focus on the back nine,” the RwandAir and Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort & Spa sponsored golfer said.
“My game was fair but above all, I started well on day one (level par), which is something I have been working on with my team, and we are beginning to bear fruit on that. I am happy,” added Rugumayo while paying a special tribute to his coach Slade Fick and manager Peter Mujuni.
South African Kyle Barker won the three-round format tournament with an aggregate of 10-under 203 to pocket the lion’s share of R2000 000 (about Shs395m).
Rugumayo first played in the Sunshine Tour during the Zimbabwe Open last year and he finished with an eight-over score. This year the mishaps continued with failed cuts at the Zimbabwe Open, Zanaco Masters (Zambia), Sunbet Challenge (Durban, South Africa), FNB Eswatini Challenge (Swaziland) and at the Gary & Vivienne Player event in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
AT A GLANCE
Full Names: Ronald Rugumayo
Nickname: Mayo
Born: December 28, 1992
Birth Place: Fort Portal, Uganda
Parents: Bernadette Kajumba & John Rwabwogo (RIP)
Started Golf: 2002
National Team: 2010-18 (9 years)
Sunshine Tour Ranking: 139
Points: 11.8 from six events.
