Gaita wins Stanbic Entebbe Golf Open for the Second Time in a Row
David GOMBE
Uganda Golf Club member, Rodell Tadeo Gaita won the Stanbic Bank Entebbe Golf Open (in the professional’s category) played at the Entebbe club near the shores of Lake Victoria last weekend.
Last year, Stanbic Bank announced a three-year sponsorship package worth UGX 100 million to revive the prestigious event which was not played for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over 200 men and women from both within and outside Uganda featuring professionals and amateurs competed in various categories in the event that teed off mid-last week.
Gaita beat Phillip Kasozi during a sudden death after the two golfers had tied at 286 a piece over four grueling rounds. Gaita also successfully defended his crown in the professional category to earn UGX6, 000,000, the biggest share from the professional kitty totaling UGX40, 000,000.
The happy golfer said, “My putting was important, my driving wasn’t that bad, but my wedge was good as well for the four days round. Him being a good player, I gave myself a chance to play much better than him on day three, so that I could see myself in the pressure group on day four. I expected less. But I kept it calm thinking that, you know, keep the pace. You never know something good may happen.”
Arthur Kiwanuka, the Head of Personal and Private Banking at Stanbic Bank said Stanbic Bank is honored to be a partner with the Entebbe Golf Club. “Our commitment is three years, we’ve done it for the second year now, and next year will be our third year. We are really excited.
Kiwanuka said,” The other benefit that we see, or a beautiful thing that came through is we can now pay our amateurs. So, we put a small kitty for the amateurs this time. And we expect that to actually increase next year. What it does is it attracts more people to come through to play golf, which is good for us, good for the club, good for the golfers who come through to enjoy.”
Aggie Asiimwe Konde, the SBG’s Securities Board Chairperson also took the opportunity to encourage the golfers to think about long term investments, “If you’re looking to spend enough time on the golf course, you better make your investments in portfolios like the unit trust so that you can preserve or grow your capital.” she said