Uganda’s boys’ and girls’ national golf teams are set to compete at the 2025 All Africa Junior Team Championship, which begins Thursday at The Residence Golf Club just outside Tunis.
The tournament, running April 24 to 27, brings together emerging talent from across the continent with a key incentive on offer: qualification for the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan later this year.
Uganda’s boys’ side features Anthony Otukei, Peter Mayende, Shaka Kariisa and John Paul Rugumambaju, while the girls’ lineup includes Rachael Laura Natukunda, Keisha Wiltshire Kagoro and Elizabeth Danelle Kawalya. The top two teams in each division will earn tickets to Japan—a stage Uganda last reached in 2022.
Uganda Golf Union president Dr. Jackson Were credited government support, via the National Council of Sports, for making the team’s journey possible.
“Thanks to government through NCS, the Union has adequately prepared for the Tunis competition,” Were said during the official team flag-off last week in Kampala. “We are confident that our boys and girls will not let us down.”
The challenge in Tunisia, however, is formidable. South Africa remains the continent’s benchmark in junior golf, having won every boys’ title since the championship’s inception 17 years ago. Their girls’ side, introduced in 2017, has never been beaten.
This year, South Africa’s boys will be represented by Dewan de Bruin, Roelof Craig, Johndre Ludick and Marno Lange—a newcomer to the team but widely regarded as one to watch. On the girls’ side, Kesha Louw and Lisa Coetzer return alongside debutant Casey Twidale. They’ll compete against junior golfers from 13 countries in the boys’ field and seven in the girls’ draw.
South Africa’s preparations have once again centered around its High Performance National Squad, a development pipeline that GolfRSA says continues to bear fruit.
“All seven players are enrolled in our High Performance program and have shown great promise,” said GolfRSA CEO Grant Hepburn. “We’re proud to give them this opportunity and have no doubt they will represent South Africa with pride. We wish them every success in Tunisia.”
The tournament venue, The Residence Golf Club, offers a picturesque but challenging layout. Designed by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones II, the coastal course is bordered by a nature reserve and saltwater lake, with the Mediterranean Sea beyond—conditions that could test the field as much as the competition itself.
For Uganda’s young golfers, the week ahead offers more than just an international contest. It’s a chance to measure themselves against the continent’s best—and perhaps take the next step onto the world stage.
