The wait is finally over. The 2025 Johnnie Walker Uganda Open Golf Championship has taken its first swing, and with it, history has been made. For the very first time, Uganda’s most prestigious golf spectacle has journeyed beyond Kampala and Entebbe, finding a new heartbeat on the rolling fairways of Lugazi Hills Golf & Country Club.
The curtain lifts with the Seniors Open, a stage where age is not a boundary but a crown of wisdom. Thirty-nine golfers, men and women who have carried the torch of the sport for decades, will contest across 36 testing holes, proving that while youth is bold, experience is timeless.
Among the women, defending champion Edrea Kagombe leads the parade, her eyes set on defending her crown with poise and precision. She is joined by Catherine Pavie, Katy Kabenge, and a determined field featuring Jennifer Opio, Monica Ntege, Rose Azuba, Grace Obua, Regina Ddamulira, and Aphra Basaliza, each swing echoing ambition, each putt whispering legacy.
On the men’s side, the spotlight burns bright on Steven Katwiremu, a man chasing more than a title, he is chasing permanence. Twice a champion, he now seeks the rare golden hat-trick. At 11:30am, he steps to the tee with Rob Heppel and John Katto, every drive a dance with destiny. Yet danger lurks in familiar form: two-time winner John Muchiri, paired with Tony Kisadha and Dominic Tumwesigye, ready to remind the field that greatness never grows old.
For Christine Kyokunda, Johnnie Walker’s Brand Manager, the significance runs deeper than scorecards:
“The Seniors embody the spirit of golf in Uganda. They are the guardians of its legacy, the living spirit of our mantra: Keep Walking.”
And so the story unfolds, four weeks of unmissable theatre. The Ladies Open follows from 28–30 August, before the grand Amateur Open, the 84th edition, takes centre stage from 3–6 September. The curtain will then fall with the Professionals, from 9–13 September.
With Absa Bank Uganda, Aquafina, Isuzu Mac East Africa, Uganda Tourism Board, Medisell Uganda and NBS Sport powering this year’s journey, the 2025 edition offers more than golf. It offers duels on dew-kissed fairways, battles carved in bunkers, and stories stitched into every green.
And now, as the sun dips behind Lugazi’s hills, the stage is set, the fairways glisten, and the players take their marks. The first ball has flown, the echoes will linger, and the march toward glory has begun.
Tonight, in Lugazi, legends do not simply play, they walk. History is watching. And so, the Uganda Open begins.
