14 February 2025 | Golf

Following Ronald Rugumayo's heroics last year at the Magical Kenya Open at the par-71 Muthaiga Golf Club, another Ugandan will be on the draw this year.

The 2022 Uganda Open champion and national team captain Joseph Cwinya-ai will compete at the prestigious tournament. The Toro-born golfer will take up a slot that was initially Michael Alunga’s.

Alunga had earned entry into the Magical Kenya Open after defeating Cwinya-ai in the final of the Kenya Amateur Match Play championship that was held at Windsor Golf Club last July.

However, with Alunga confirming his non-attendance, the Uganda Golf Union raised the matter to the organisers of the Magical Kenya Open who confirmed that Cwinya-ai could occupy the slot having lost to Alunga after 38 holes of a historic match play final.

Cwinya-ai, currently in Kigali for the Rwanda Open, was an elated man when news was broken to him. “I can’t wait to rub shoulders with Europe’s top golf professionals,” he said. “Being my first time, I am destined to learn one or two things which I can share with my fellow national team golfers,” he added.

There is also a window for other Ugandans to get into next week’s DP World Tour tournament which is via a rigorous 36-hole one-day qualification competition at Vet Lab on Monday.

Some of the Ugandan professionals who have confirmed participation in these qualifiers are Pearl of Africa Golf series winner Marvin Kibirige and veteran Deo Akope.

In the past, qualification for the Magical Kenya Open was done via an order of merit from the Safari Tour rounds. But a lack of activity this season has compelled organisers to go slow on the matter while hatching alternative ways of entry into the tournament.

The Magical Kenya Open is the biggest golf tournament in every calendar year in Kenya. Started in 1967, it grew into a Challenge Tour event before rising to become a world-renowned DP World Tour event.

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