With a membership of only 40 golfers, the nine-hole Mary Louise Simkins club in Namulonge remains very much a course in progress.
Like many other courses in and outside Kampala, it was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and there has hardly been a meaningful golf held or played there. But the course’s management is optimistic there are good times ahead.
“We have had a series of meetings and engagements as management and we strongly feel 2021 will be a new chapter for this club,” club captain Harry Hakiza says.
When the course was recently reopened after a six-month closure, it spotted freshly showers and toilets. The stocking in the club’s pro-shop has also been improved and the club house and kitchen has undergone refurbishment.
However, the one area that leaves the club significantly short is the fairways especially the two par-5s. The high level of the grass makes play particularly hard, even with the preferred lie option.
Hakiza says they are aware and are currently planning to generate a fund to purchase a gangmower.
“The Falcon slasher we are using is to limited to give us the kind of fairways we deserve. We are fully aware of the need for both a gangmower and a greenmower because golf is not golf without well-maintained fairways.”
Namulonge, which sits on the land of the National Agricultural Research Organisation, is a favourite for new golfers to the game because of its cost-friendly membership and green fees. There is less traffic of golfers and beginners are less likely to feel nervous when learning the basics.
Its location along the Gayaza-Zirobwe road means it attracts golfers from areas of Kyanja, Najjeera, Kasangati and Gayaza.
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