8 battle for Golf Match-play Challenge Main cup 

The Stanbic Bank-sponsored Match-Play Golf Challenge at Entebbe last Saturday saw eight pairs of golfers qualify for the quarter-finals scheduled for July 6.

For some of these clashes, the pressure was palpable, stirring real tension-packed moments, as golfers continue to battle for the main cup.

Yet, even those golfers that already fell by the wayside because of the knock-out nature of this match-play tournament, they remain on course to win other prizes. Serwano Walusimbi, captain of Entebbe Golf Club is not part of the main cup, but he is still enjoying his golf.

Over the weekend, he was one of the winners in the subsidiary category, where those golfers, who are not part of the main cup can still compete with each other.

He said: “This is why the Stanbic match-play challenge remains a pretty significant event. By its nature, it has been organized to run for a whole year. So, even when one is eliminated from the main tournament, that will conclude with a final in September or October, you still have a chance to compete as a golfer.”

This, according to Walusimbi does not only enable one to remain active, defying the norm of usual sport, where one, once knocked out, cannot play until the next tournament is launched. This is an opportunity for one to keep in competition, which is also one way of improving as a golfer.

In fact, because of this arrangement, Walusimbi pointed out how Entebbe Club has been able to attract more golfers. The numbers alone are not only a good sign of how much golf is growing but are an incentive to their corporate partners to be involved with the sport.

But at the same time, the style of the match-play creates mini battles, where the pair goes up against one another. And whoever wins in such a matchup, gets the bragging rights, which according to Walusimbi, is interesting, because unlike the usual golf, where one has to beat a huge field of golfers, this one feels like a ‘boxing bout’, and it is punch for punch.

jovi@observer.ug