Entebbe 25th March 2025 | When the Pearl of Africa Golf Series return at the par-71 Entebbe Golf Club, there will be more than one reason to anticipate the popular four-day tournament.
For the inaugural leg at Uganda Golf Club in February, the competition was limited to gross amateurs, professionals and the subsidiary category on the final day of the event.
But for next week’s edition in Entebbe, the juniors have reason to smile. The Pearl of Africa Golf Series Tournament Director Anthony Agaba says that they have included them in the series of events to inspire the various young golfers taking up the game all over the country. “We believe that by doing this, we can motivate the junior golfers in Uganda by giving them a platform to showcase their talent alongside the professionals.,” he noted.
Coming just two weeks after some junior members of Uganda’s national golf team excelled in the Victoria Cup at Mt Kipipiri Golf Resort, the timing will be of huge relevance and significance to young talent in the various clubs affiliated to Uganda Golf Union. “We believe that by doing this challenge, we shall go a long way in strengthening grassroot development and encouraging excellence among the juniors,” Agaba, also Uganda Golf Union Vice President, added. Some of the national team junior golfers who represented Uganda in Kenya included Peter Mayende, Ibrahim Ssemakula and Anthony Otukei.
For this competition, the juniors who will take part will be selected based on their skill set, level of interest and recommendations from golf academies or club captains. Each junior golfer selected will compete with a professional group on hole 10 for a nearest-to-the-pin challenge.
The professionals will play their tee shots first, but if a junior lands his ball closest to the pin in his particular group, he will qualify for a recognition and reward.
“The Pearl of Africa Golf Series Junior Challenge is an exciting initiative designed to empower young golfers, foster healthy competition and promote the game of golf in the country,” Agaba further remarked.
The Amateurs and Professionals, meanwhile, will tee off on Wednesday next week with the former competing over three days while the latter will battle up to Saturday. The professionals will have a cut on Thursday to determine the cream who will fight for places on moving day and the final day of the competition, which will be on Saturday. There will also be a subsidiary competition for men and women across their various groups.
