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Rugumayo, who is sponsored by ABSA and RwandAir, finished the first round in 143rd position out of the 156 total field registered, with a score of 5-over par 76.
Ugandan golfer Ronald Rugumayo made history at the Magical Kenya Open tournament by becoming the first player from Uganda to hit a hole-in-one on the European Tour.
Rugumayo hit the ace on the 201-yard-second hole during the first round of the tournament at the Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi.
“I had a tap-in birdie on the same hole during the practice round, so my caddie told me to play the same shot which I did to make it,” Rugumayo said of his historic shot.
Rugumayo, who is sponsored by ABSA and RwandAir, finished the first round in 143rd position out of the 156 total field registered, with a score of 5-over par 76.
He had a disappointing start to the round, with bogies on holes 11 and 12 setting the tone for what would be a bad first nine.
Despite making amends on the front nine with a two-under-score, his opening 7-over could cost him a share of the tournament's sh6.8b prize money.
“In golf, there are things you can control and those you cannot control,” Rugumayo told media after the opening day.
“There were moments I hit my ball in the centre of the fairway only for it to get ‘bad kicks’. It wasn’t that I was swinging badly but I was just unlucky.”
"In golf, there are things you can control and those you cannot control. There were moments I hit my ball in the centre of the fairway only for it to get ‘bad kicks’.”
“It wasn’t that I was swinging badly but I was just unlucky," he added.
The opening round of the tournament was led by United States of America’s John Catlin and South Africa’s Dyln Mostert, who each shot a seven-under 64.
Pierre Pineau from France and Wil Besseling from the Netherlands were joint third with a score of 65 each.
Tournament defending champion Wu Ashun is tied in the 50th position alongside 24 other players who all played one under 70.
The best Safari Tour player in the first round was the youngster Kenyan Mutahi Kibugu who shot an opening round three-under 68. The 22-year-old notched six birdies and is among the 11 players that returned the same score.
Despite Rugumayo's disappointing first round, he remains optimistic about his chances in the tournament. "I believe I can play way better tomorrow and I hope I don’t get bad breaks like the ones I had today," he said.
The Magical Kenya Open is one of the most prestigious golfing events in Africa, and the total kitty is €1,750,000 (at least UGX 6,857,284,721.00).
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