Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo produced a composed opening round to finish in a tie for fourth on Tuesday, June 3, at the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing’s season-opening event held at Thika Greens Golf Resort in Kenya.
Rugumayo carded a two-under-par 70 to position himself among the early contenders in the 2025–2026 campaign. He shares fourth place with Tanzania’s Abdallah Dullah and Kenya’s trio of Dismas Indiza, Daniel Nduva, and Simon Ngige. The group trails Kenya’s Njoroge Kibugu by six strokes.
Kibugu, representing Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club, set the pace with a flawless eight-under-par 64, a round highlighted by birdies at the 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th, and 18th holes. His scorecard placed him four shots clear of his closest rival, Edwin Mudanyi, of Karen Country Club, who finished the day in solo second at four-under-par 68 following a strong back nine.
“It was a brilliant round, everything worked well today, especially my putting,” said Kibugu. “I haven’t played a tournament in two months, so I came with no expectations. It’s great to see the hard work paying off.”
Rugumayo, who recently flew in from South Africa, expressed satisfaction with his start.
“Two-under par for the round, I am happy with it, I’ll take it,” he said. “The leader has set the pace, I know what I have to work on so I can catch up.”
He also praised the significance of the East Africa Swing, urging fellow professionals to participate more actively.
“Playing in such events is a dream come true for the region’s professionals. As a region, we haven’t been playing much golf previously, hence our performances at big stages like the Kenya Open. I want to urge all the region’s pros to take advantage of this tour.”
Among the other Ugandan competitors, Tadeo Rodell and Anamani Abraham ended the day tied for 13th after returning even-par 72s. Overall, 17 players in the 76-man field returned scores of par or better in what proved to be a low-scoring first round.
Kenya’s top-ranked amateur, Michael Karanga, sits third on the leaderboard after shooting three-under-par 69, one stroke behind Mudanyi.
Round two is scheduled to tee off at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, with players aiming to make the cut and secure a share of the KES 2 million prize fund.
This tournament marks the official launch of the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing, a new regional extension of the globally recognized Sunshine Tour. Introduced in March 2025, the series aims to give professional and elite amateur golfers in East Africa consistent access to high-level competitive opportunities.
In addition to Sunshine Development Tour points, the events provide pathways to South Africa’s Big Easy Tour and award Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, helping local players advance their international careers.
