Rwanda’s professional golfers have terminated their final preparations ahead of the ongoing Uganda Tusker Malt Lager Open following the closure of Kigali Golf Club on Tuesday. Kigali Golf Club was closed following a tax audit exercise conducted between 2007 and 2009 upon which Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) discovered that there were unpaid taxes that have since accumulated to about Rwf200 million after factoring in interest and penalties. Second ranked Emmanuel Ruterana and third ranked Ernest Ndayisenga will represent Rwanda in the professional’s category and both have been training daily at the field ahead of their first PRO-AM game on July 27 and later on July 28 the Professional’s open will tee off. In an interview with Times Sport, both golfers confirmed to have put their preparations on hold after the closure of the field and disclosed that this is going to hamper their targets at the tournament as they were in their final stages of preparations. “We were supposed to set off for Uganda on Saturday but since we are not training here, we may go on Thursday or Friday though all golf fields in Uganda are now occupied, you cannot get anywhere to train,” said Ruterana. “As per now we do not have any other alternative but we are confident we shall do well because we have had intense preparations before and we can build on that,” said Ndayisenga. The country will be represented by a total of six golfers, four in the amateur’s category and two in the professional’s category. The amateur’s category kicked off on Tuesday and the participants include Jules Mutesi, Patrick Uwumukiza, James Ndikumana and Joseph Barame. Nineteen-year-old Aloys Nsabimana, who finished second in the amateurs’ category last year, pulled out of the tournament after sustaining an arm injury during training earlier this week.
