RWANDA’S national golf team finished fourth in 14th East Africa Challenge Trophy which climaxed on Friday at Bujumbura Golf Club (BGC) course, BurundiRwanda attained 11.5 points to come behind Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Kenya won the four-day tournament securing the highest points (19) in the history of the regional tournament.Uganda finished second with 13 points, half a point ahead of Tanzania. Hosts Burundi finished last with 9.5 points.A miniature course left teams in disarray. With the anticipated induction of Democratic Republic of Congo and Southern Sudan next year, the East African Golf Federation (EAGF) harbours dreams of the annual showpiece transforming into the Zone V Championship.According to reports from Burundi, poor organisational skills of the EAGF were exposed after five of the 10 four-ball better-ball matches on Thursday night.Rwanda’s captain Innocent Rutamu was quoted saying, “This has disrupted our momentum. I understand it has happened elsewhere but we were getting stronger before dusk. The tee off times should’ve been much earlier and more so observed.”His teammates, Celestine Habineza and Aphrodis Nyirinkwaya had rallied back from three-down to one-down against Kenya’s Kush Mediratta and Abdul Abraham when bad light stopped play.Jules Dusabe and Emmanuel Rutayisire were all square with four holes to play against Burundi’s Rajabu Mwafrika and Juma Minani.This was a second time for Burundi to host the regional golf championship since 2007 when they officially joined the East African Golf Federation a year before.Kenya has maintained a rollercoaster display throughout the five East African soils as the highest title winning nation in the tournament. Uganda has won the title three times, twice at home and the other in Kigali while Tanzania managed to win the only title during the historic 2002 when the tournament was hosted by Arusha Gymkhana.The team, coached by professional golfer Jean Baptiste Hakizimana, went into this year’s tournament hoping to improve on their fourth-place finish from the last three editions but failed. They returned home yesterday.
