The biennial All Africa Golf Team Championship, one of the continent’s most prestigious amateur events, will take place at Bulawayo Golf Club in Zimbabwe from October 27th to November 2nd 2024.
It is a competition that is now in its 23rd year and is endorsed by R&A and the Africa Golf Confederation.
Uganda will be one of the 15 countries taking part. Some of the other countries confirmed are holders South Africa, East African neighbours Kenya, Malawi, Seychelles, Egypt, Tanzania, Morocco, Ghana, Zambia and of course the host nation Zimbabwe.
Uganda’s national team will be led by captain Joseph Cwinya-ai, Open champion Joseph Reagan Akena, Ibrahim Ssemakula and youngster Elton Thembo. The latter was drafted in by national coach Flavia Namakula to replace Joseph Kasozi after the Africa Region IV tournament at Kigali Golf Resort & Villas where Uganda finished second to Kenya.
The course conditions at Bulawayo Golf Club, located 450 km from the capital Harare, are dry and Cwinya-ai says they have spent considerable time preparing their mindsets for this.
Though being relatively flat, the course also features engaging challenges, including water hazards and strategically placed bunkers, making it accessible yet intriguing for golfers of all skill levels.
“Obviously we know how golf changes with the weather and that is something that we have spoken about with the coach and amongst ourselves as the players,” Cwinya-ai noted.
“Fortunately, we played a similar course in the Uganda Open in terms of dryness and we shall take on the course as we find it. The boys are in great spirits after the time we have spent in the camp and we can’t wait to touch down in Zimbabwe to compete with the rest of the continent,” Cwinya-ai, whose first experience of this competition came in Mauritius in 2019, added.
National Council of Sports Chairman Ambrose Tashobya, who flagged off the team at Uganda Golf Club in Kitante, called upon the team to represent the country to the best of their abilities.
“As Council and as the government of the Republic of Uganda, we are aware of what a talented national team of golfers we have and we have provided the necessary logistical support to make sure that we post good results in Bulawayo,” Tashobya remarked.
“Government will continue supporting the game of golf because we want our Uganda to be known as one of the elite golf-playing countries in Africa having seen what Ronald Rugumayo, a former national team golfer, did for us this year in Muthaiga,” he observed.
