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A double bogey on the par-4 hole-3 dented his first nine, and three subsequent bogies on holes 10, 11, and 12, and another double bogey on the par-4 hole 15 subdued his other ten pars in the round.
Ugandan professional golfer Ronald Rugumayo failed to make the cut for the second consecutive time at the European Tour, Magical Kenya Open, currently ongoing at the Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi.
Despite his best efforts, the 30-year-old golfer could only improve by a stroke (75) after the second round, missing out on the UGX6.8b prize money reserved for the top 65 players and ties after the opening two rounds.
After starting poorly on Thursday with an opening five-over 76, a perfect start with par and birdie on holes one and two in the second round could not save his scorecard.
A double bogey on the par-4 hole-3 dented his first nine, and three subsequent bogies on holes 10, 11, and 12, and another double bogey on the par-4 hole 15 subdued his other ten pars in the round.
He needed an improvement of more than ten strokes in the last round to stand a chance of making the cut.
“That’s golf for you,” Rugumayo told media, adding; “There is always that bad week, and this is one of them for me.”
“There is nothing I didn’t do right before the tournament because this year I was better organized and I was playing better throughout, but things didn’t work out in this event,” Rugumayo said.
“It’s only a golfer that can understand what I’m talking about, but the hole-in-one is what I take home with a lot of pride because I’m the first Ugandan to make it to a European Tour event.”
“That feat was like an advert to the country because everyone took note, and others who don’t know will be asking where the country is,” he stated.
Rugumayo’s playing partners over the two days, Spain’s Santiago Tarrio and South Africa’s JC Ritchie made the cut.
However, he was not alone in missing the cut as, apart from Kenyan budding golfer Mutahi Kibugu, 22, who made it, all the rest of the Safari Tour players missed out.
Kibugu, who only turned pro last November, opened with a three-under 68 before completing the job with level-par 71 to enter the money bracket.
Cheered on by a passionate home crowd, he notched five birdies in the second round (11 over the two days) to match what his amateur brother Njoroge did last year when he made the cut to take the plaudits then.
The tournament continues, with the remaining two rounds seeing the golfers fighting for the top positions where the big money is.
This year’s winner is expected to take home UGX1.2b, while the second will pocket UGX811m, with the third and fourth banking UGX461m and UGX369m, respectively, whereas the fifth will take home UGX313m. The sixth-placed up to the tenth-placed will share out a combined UGX975m.
Rugumayo will now attempt to get a Sunshine Tour card when he competes in three South Africa tournaments later in the month, reasoning that playing with the best sharpens his game too.
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