Two weeks ago it staged a social event dubbed Team Cassava vs Team Rice that was notable for both its huge attendance and a vibrant ‘19th hole’ that has been refurbished to improve the club’s post-game relaxation and socialising.
Golf and the 19th hole are like Siamese twins; you cannot discuss one without including or referring to the other. The 19th hole, in lay terms, refers to the event after golf – usually a round of drinks, a meal of nyama choma and socialising.
Namulonge Golf Club is notable for its humbleness and simplicity. It is the perfect hideout for a round of exercise golf. It is the kind of place you want to walk through hole-by-hole, because of its uniqueness, fairly-even terrain and less intensity.
While golf clubs are renowned for how expensive they are to join, Namulonge has made its fees affordable to encourage the game’s enthusiasts. The membership fee is Shs 600,000, while annual subscription goes for Shs 300,000. In comparison, Uganda Golf Club charges Shs 5.8m for membership fees.
As expected, the green fees for Namulonge are Shs 10,000 for members during the week and Shs 15,000 for non-members. On the weekends, members pay Shs 15,000 while non-members part with Shs 20,000.
Golf clubs, so goes the stereotype, are an area where social status is everything. Being a niche game that is fairly costly, people who play golf are commonly associated with elitism and a certain class. But Namulonge has taken steps to embrace people from all walks of life willing to take up the game.
“Ours is a modest club whose ambition is to promote the game, humanity, brotherhood and friendship,” Collin Bulafu, the club captain, said. “There are no egos or complexes at Namulonge because this is a game for all, whether young or old, male or female, rich or not – as long as one conforms to the etiquette of the game.”
The club’s pro-shop is also well-stocked to cater for the needs of a nine-hole course, whose membership numbers, though growing, are comparatively smaller against courses like Uganda Golf Club and Entebbe.
Works have continued on and off the course to make the club a sports complex, with Bulafu telling The Observer that the tennis courts, which had been defunct for years, are now fully operational.
“The idea is to make Namulonge a family club that will enable members to bring the children here for enjoyment and relaxation,” he said. “The tennis club now has 12 members and it will almost certainly grow.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has limited the club’s other initiatives but with government easing on restrictions, more and more golfers, together with their friends and well-wishers, have started spending time at the club.
The clubhouse is currently undergoing refurbishment, while the bar section has been touched up to give members the right ambience. For so long, the club has nurtured golfers before subsequently losing those very golfers to other clubs. But now they are working tooth and nail to enhance their capacity to induct and voluntarily retain golfers who develop and learn the game there.
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