The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Ugandan boys in encouraging start at Windsor, girls struggle on opening day
Nairobi, Kenya | UGU MEDIA | Antony Otukei ended Day 1 of the All-Africa Junior Team Championship in the top 10 after he shot a one-over 73. The rest of the Ugandan junior golf team, however, struggled playing at Nairobi’s higher-altitude Windsor Golf & Country course, returning an aggregate of 230 on Tuesday morning.
The best score came via Otukei’s near-flawless Day 1 round of 73, with Peter Mayende and Shaka Kariisa returning 78 and 79. South Africa’s Andries van der Vyver leads the individual scores, after carding an opening 4-under 68.
Shaka expects a better showing in the Wednesday round. “I struggled towards the end,” he reflected on his first day. “For the second day, I will strive to maintain my stamina and stay focused all through. It is a tight course but playable.”
The top two teams will qualify for the 2026 Toyota Junior World Cup golf tournament to be held in Tokyo later in the year. South Africa, Africa’s perennial representatives, are already looking home and dry after blistering starts for both their boys and girls teams. But while Uganda is fourth for the boys, their female counterparts lie sixth.
Racheal Natukunda and Keisha Kagoro’s near-identical cards of 83 and 84 thrust Uganda into sixth, some 27 strokes behind South Africa.
Team Uganda’s team manager Paul Habyarimana retains confidence in the ability of the team to claw back. “We have spoken; they all know what to do,” he noted.
True to the prevalent unpredictable weather conditions, there were light showers that affected play in the morning. Day two is not expected to be diffedifferent,the teams, having played sufficient wet and dry rounds, know what to expect at Windsor.
Team Uganda, under the auspices of Flavia Namakula, has been supported by the National Council of Sports, Kenya Airways who are the official travel partners, Uganda Golf Union and R&A.
Leading scored after day 1
| Pos | Player | Country | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total | Thru |
| 1 | Andries Van Der Vyver | ZA | 68 | – | – | -4 | F |
| 4 | Cilliers Craig | ZA | 72 | – | – | E | F |
| 4 | Dewan De Bruin | ZA | 72 | – | – | E | F |
| 4 | Tsevi Soni | KE | 72 | – | – | E | F |
| 7 | Antony Otukei | UG | 73 | – | – | +1 | F |
| 7 | Junaid Ayaz Manji | KE | 73 | – | – | +1 | F |
| 9 | Mohammed Baouhamou | MA | 74 | – | – | +2 | F |
| 10 | Gabriel Le Court De Billot | MU | 75 | – | – | +3 | F |
Team standings
| BOYS | SCORES | GIRLS | SCORES |
| Antony Otukei | 73 | Racheal Natukunda | 83 |
| Peter Mayende | 78 | Keisha Kagoro | 84 |
| Kariisa Shaka | 79 | Elizabeth Kawalya | 96 |
| Rugumambaju JP | 81 | ||
| STANDINGS | |||
| 1.South Africa | 212 | 1.South Africa | 140 |
| 2. Kenya | 220 | 2. Kenya | 151 |
| 3. Mauritius | 229 | 3. Tunisia | 157 |
| 4. Uganda | 230 | 6. Uganda | 167 |
