Ugandan junior golfers are hoping to bounce back after a challenging start at the Africa Region VI Junior Team Championship at Tamarina Golf and Spa Resort in Mauritius.
The competition, which emphasizes exposure and development over outright victory, has offered the young Ugandans a taste of high-level golf and first-class courses not always available at home.
Despite this, Shaka Kariisa and Banza Matsiko Gershom were left disappointed with their opening rounds of 85 and 87 on Tuesday.
“I didn’t play well,” admitted Matsiko, who is determined to improve in the coming rounds. “Tomorrow, I hope to play better.” Kariisa was equally candid. “Today we didn’t play well, but tomorrow we are going to go hard.”
The 15-year-old, with a handicap index of +2.3, will tee off last in the final group at 9:10am alongside Madagascar’s Matteo Rakotofiringa and Tanzania’s Ramadhani Yasin Mohamed.
Matsiko will play in the penultimate group with Tanzania’s Ibrahim Juma Lukuli and Madagascar’s Romain Fitahiana Gagneux.
Uganda’s team also includes Keisha Wiltsire Kagoro, who shot 86, and Elizabeth Danelle Dlexik Kawalya, who finished on 87.
Team scoring takes the best three gross scores out of four each day, placing Uganda fourth in the six-team standings after day one. Reunion leads at +10, followed by Kenya at +17 and hosts Mauritius at +27.
Coach Flavia Namakula remains confident the team can turn things around. “We had a tough day on the course, but I know they can bounce back. Today lacked mental toughness, and the course played tough with some tricky pin positions,” she said.
