DeoAkope is adored in a fraternity that is full of high calibre personalities, diplomats, corporates, senior civil servants and sporting icons for his ability to rise to seemingly extraordinary heights.

If you mention DeoAkope name among even non-golf lovers in East Africa, 90% of the chances are likely to relate the name to golf. Uganda’s top golf professional is adored in a fraternity that is full of high calibre personalities, diplomats, corporates, senior civil servants and sporting icons for his ability to rise to seemingly extraordinary heights.

We didn’t have equipment, so we instead used cassava stems for clubs and nuts (ebinazi) for golf balls. We dug our own holes into which we strived to hit the nuts,” Akope explained of his early days in golf.

His early life was just like that of an ordinary kid with bulging enthusiasm to exploit all that surrounded him – in his case a golf course. “We didn’t have equipment, so we instead used cassava stems for clubs and nuts (ebinazi) for golf balls. We dug our own holes into which we strived to hit the nuts,” Akope explained of his early days in golf.

From that level, he graduated into using golf balls whose source was the forest that surrounded the course. And the day he got abroken club from the forest, that was it.He dropped the cassava sticks and started using broken clubs. This was a great step but the golf course was no go area. So Akope decided to become a caddie in 1994 which guaranteed him direct entry into Entebbe Golf Club.

“They organized caddie competitions for us, but since I didn’t have equipment of my own, Edward Tumusiime (RIP) whom I caddied for, lent me his clubs. This gave me the opportunity to practice more,” commented Akope, now Uganda Professional Golfers Association captain. And with the artisanship project through which talented caddies were identified for sponsorship by the club, Akope’s abilities achieved the desired attention.

So gifted he was that in his first major competitive tournament, the Mbarara Golf Open in 1997, he won. He started off with handicap 12 instead of the normal 28. This was quickly followed by participation in the Inter-Regions Tournament in the same year in which his Region, Western, won. In the same year, Akope was sponsored by AAR to take part in his first Uganda Golf Open.

As he reminisces, “I was second after round one with 77 gross, I was then told I was part of the pressure group. I didn’t even know what it was. Many people didn’t know who I was.” Being part of the pressure group that included eventual winner, Stephen “Tiger Wood” Birungi and the legendary Sadi Onito, Akope was in unknown territory but he still took pride in his 10^th place finish.

Akope was to return three years later to claim a hat trick of Uganda Golf Open titles in a row which included a course record of 65, a feat that quenched his thirst for local glory hence opting to turn professional in 2005.

“Besides the Uganda Open, I also won the Rwanda Open twice in 2003 and 2004; and the Tanzania Open in 2005. I shot six-under par during the Tanzania Open. I was better than all the professionals that time. The Chairman of Tanzania Golf Union, Dioniz Malinzi advised me and Charles Yokwe (RIP) to turn professional since we had nothing to prove as amateurs,” said Akope.

Joining paid ranks was a problem since Uganda didn’t have a professional body and yet Kenyans were reluctant to accommodate the indefatigable duo inspite of Malinzi’s willingness to pay their membership fees.

Prior to joining professional golf, Akope distinctively captained the National Amateur Team during the East Africa Golf Challenge where Uganda finished second and third on numerous occasions.

Upon the advice of Malinzi, Akope with the then captain of Uganda Golf Club, Daniel Kagwe and Club Patron Brig. Jim Muhwezi, decided to register Uganda Professional Golfers Association (UPGA) in 2006 with six members. Today UPGA has over 40 members.

But for the man who hopes to hoist the Claret Jug (British Open title) one day, the time spent on the international circuit has very little to write about home. Save for the household name he has carved out for himself in Uganda, it has not been so glossy for Akope outside East Africa.

He has played in Sunshine Tour, Kenya Open, Dubai Classic and Abu Dhabi but is yet to make a cut. Pro golf is about making cuts but the MTN sponsored professional is yet to win cash from professional circuits outside his home region.

Last year, Akope held off competition from experienced legion of Kenyans to win the Nyali Leg, the fourth leg of Safari Golf Tour Series, earning himself $18100 (UGX.64M) in prize money.  Akope carded 282 gross over four rounds to win the fourth round of this season’s Safari Tour Golf Series events at Nyali Golf Club in Kenya.

Akope refuses to wilt. He remains highly ambitious and dreams of playing on the European Tour some day although he recognizes that it will take something special to attain the required heights.

And for a better future of the game, Akope advises that, like is the case with soccer, golf too needs academies through which the budding talents can be nurtured especially those that cannot afford the equipment.

Though he is not yet there, there is reason enough to believe that Akope can only get stronger and live his golfing dream of being among the best in the world.