Kasango wins playoff to claim Absa Chairman’s Bell

Kampala, Uganda | PHILLIP CORRY | Towering pro golfer Grace “Woods” Kasango won a dramatic playoff with Ronald Rugumayo on Friday to win the Absa Chairman’s Bell at the par 72 Uganda Golf Club.

Kasango and Rugumayo returned to the clubhouse with identical scores of 10 under par 278 and had to settle the scores with a 3 hole play-off on hole 12, a par 4 where both players struck birdies, then hole 17, a par 3 with both scoring pars, before hole 18, where Kasango played a par while Rugumayo got a bogey after landing in the bunker.

“It’s been a great week for me, and I would like to thank Rugumayo for taking this all the way,” Kasango stated. “I would like to thank the sponsors for this tournament, and it feels great to win here.”

This was the second win for the lanky golfer this year having won the POA Tour Leg 1 in Entebbe earlier in the year.

For both golfers it’s a perfect build-up for the prestigious Uganda Open due in September at the same venue.

A total of 32 professional golfers took part with 16 making the cut. The prize kitty was 20 million with the winner walking off with 4 million.

This year’s event sponsored by Absa Bank Uganda had caddies also taking part with Basil Atinoi and Joweria Namanda, winning the caddies category.

The Men’s Gross category was won by national team golfer Joseph Kasozi with scores of 6 over par 222 while the Ladies crown was claimed by Judith Komugisha with a score of 10 over par 239.

The overall subsidiary winners were Elly Tumwine and Esther Okullo, with 41 points on count back for each.