Ruterana widens lead

Day two leader board -6 E.Ruterana (Rwa) Par D. Akope (Uga) Par A. Richard (Ken) +7 S. Kasaija (Uga) Putting continues to be the major area of concern as professional golfers head into Day three of this year’s Rwanda Open golf tournament which is being staged at Kigali Golf Club. With the exception of Emmanuel Ruterana who looks to be comfortable with his home course, a large number of professional golfers have struggled on the greens. On day two, Deo Akope and Ainsley Richard kept the tempo boiling between themselves as they jointly finished second after carding 72. The pair identified putting as their weak point. “I’m struggling. I’m missing very small putts but we are just half way the journey. I’m keeping my head up because I know that 36 holes can change the course of a game,” Kenya’s Ainsley reckoned. Akope also said, “Putting is still letting me down. I have failed to get the feel. The greens are also inconsistent; some are slow while others are fast.” Steven Kasaija lost ground on the leaders with a day two score of 78. The score leaves him on 151; seven shots behind Akope and Ainsley and 13 shots off Ruterana’s pace. Meanwhile, Ruterana kept the momentum going with five birdies at the back nine to stretch his lead by six shots. Yesterday’s score of 69 pushed the 24-year-old to 138 and gave him a six shot lead over his closest challengers Akope and Ainsley as he heads into day three. Uganda’s ace professional golfer Deo Akope leads the Ugandan contingent of seven; (Godfrey Mande, Herman Mutaawe, Amos Kamya, Stephen Kasaija, Dickson Lagoro and Sadi) while Rwanda and Kenya is represented by Emmanuel Ruterana and Richard Anisley respectively. The winner of the 72-hole contest walks a way with Frw 440,000. Despite being Rwandan’s sole representative in the pro category, Ruterana believes he can challenge for top honours. This year’s Rwanda Open will go down in Rwanda’s Golf history as the first tournament to draw professional golfers. On the amateur scene, Rwanda’s new kid on the block Thierry Ntaganda played 11 shots on hole 5 to finish off with 86net on day one of the three-day competition. The 15-year-old who is part of the 83 amateur golfers was so frustrated with his performance. “Sometimes you can’t explain why things go the way they do. But today was not my day. I struggled on the course,” Ntaganda said yesterday. East African Breweries under their Tusker brand stand out as the lead sponsors after splashing over Frw5millions in the four-day event. Other sponsors include ORTPN, Rwandair Express, Serena, Tele-10, Indian Khazana and KK Security. Ends

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Ruterana widens lead