What you need to know:
With the help of NaCRRI, Kamuntu now plans to improve the course in size and also refurbish the clubhouse, men’s changing room and a new one for the women
Steven Wanderema carried the biggest smile of 139 players who graced the par-69 course on Independence Day for the third Namulonge Homecoming tournament at the Mary Louise Simkins Memorial Golf Club.
Playing off handicap 25, Wanderema broke shackles in his two-year golfing stint with a spectacular 42 points on a day where the field battled for the Suzuki A-Cross car and Yamaha motorbike staked for two hole-in-one prizes by Cfao Mobility and Afrisafe Risk Insurance.
"I feel so delighted. I have been winning but I have never been the overall winner," Wanderema told this publication on a cold Friday evening.
With great thanks to his employer Equity Bank, Wanderema began playing golf at Namulonge in June, 2024 and the progress has been tremendous.
On the nine-hole course, Wanderema had a fine start after he crossed the halfway mark with 38 points already after making seven pars on Holes No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4, No.6 and No.8.
"This year, I had a plan for three tournaments at Namulonge: Ladies Open, HomeComing and Naro Open," Wanderema explained.
"The results are not a shock for me but I have been practicing a lot on this course. My approach and putting was very good," he added.
He had played at 7am in the morning, with less traffic ahead of him which explains the mental management of his game.
For the greater part of the day, the field had set sights on the hole-in-one contests at the Holes No.5 and No.14.
"We gave the car a chance and the bike as well but the holes had their own ideas ," tournament director Kenneth Tumusiime stated.
The tournament was designed to honour the journey that the Mary Louise Memorial Club has had to undertake, calibrated by years of turmoil and survival.
Housed in the now National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), the club was conceived as part of the Empire Cotton Research Station in the 1970s by white researchers then.
The course died in the 1980s due to political turmoil but it rose again in 1987 through Chuck and Mary Louise Simkins, two agricultural experts who were working with USAID at the time, with the help of a Ugandan colleague Aggrey Kintu.
In 1991, Mary Louise tragically died and as a sign of honour, she was cremated and some of her ash laid around the tee-box of Hole No.1.
The club also took on the name in her memory and in 2019, it got recognition from the Uganda Golf Union (UGU) and currently boasts of 300 members.
"It’s more than a sporting tale. For nearly seven decades, this course has been feeding other clubs. And on this Independence Day, we want to look back with pride," club chairman Herbert Kamuntu remarked.
Kamuntu greatly honoured the past two chairmen William Esuma and his immediate predecessor Martin Nsubuga.
“Being admitted to the Union made us focus, it’s because we are organized. We want to be the best club in the country. We are a research set-up and we can lead in developing the modern turf to use on the course, as a country,” stated Esuma, a crop scientist.
“I inherited a club that had only four paid-up members. By the time I completed, we had 178 paid-up members. It was not an easy task. We would not have to find fuel to cut the grass. We were not running the golf club, we were building one,” Nsubuga said in an emotional speech read out by Kamuntu.
The late Yusuf Sentongo, who single-handed built many of the tee-boxes, most especially the one on Hole No.8, was also recognized along with the technical transitions brought by the club professional Fred Nkuranga.
With the help of NaCRRI, Kamuntu now plans to improve the course in size and also refurbish the clubhouse, men’s changing room and a new one for the women.
"In the coming year, we plan to expand the course to an 18-hole facility 40 acres have been allocated for the expansion of the course. We are signing some MoUs, looking to break ground before the end of this year,” he added.
There are plans to rework the course’s putting green and works on the tennis courts should complete by early 2027.
According to Tumusiime, there are plans to expand this tournament to two days of competition, to make it longer due to the numbers.
3RD NAMULONGE HOMECOMING
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Overall Winner: XXX
Seniors Winner: Kenneth Katarikawe 31 points
GROUP WINNERS - MEN
GROUP A
Winner: Luke Nyakarahuka 35 pts (c/b)
Runner-Up: William Esuma 35 pts
GROUP B
Winner: Kenneth Tumusiime 40 pts
Runner-Up: Hassan Kakooza 34 pts
GROUP C
Winner: Stephen Wanderema 42 pts
Runner-Up: Derrick Nuwamanya 40 pts
GROUP WINNERS - LADIES
GROUP A
Winner: Prossy Zawedde 31 pts
Runner-Up: Florence Namuganza 31 pts
GROUP B
Winner: Josephine Nakawunde 40 pts
Runner-Up: Roselyne Aine 33 pts
LONGEST DRIVE
M: Ivan Alinaitwe
L: Sarah Nduhukire
NEAREST TO THE PIN
M: Micheal Tumusiime
L: Sarah Nduhukire