Kabale Golf Club

Lovely course in Kabale, close to Bunyoni, making it a natural golf destination with the lake and gorilla trekking nearby.

Lots of bunkers, trees and roads on this course, much harder than it looks. One of those 9 holers that you want to go round twice. As an added bonus, it has lovely birds, at least two nesting pairs of Crested Cranes.

The clubhouse itself was built in the 30s, is very small but has the usual darts, pool and a bar. The club has ~40 members, hosts Hot Loaf and Crane Bank tourneys every year as well as a monthly mug. Monday is caddie day, but there are no clubs for the caddies to use. Joining costs 20k to apply and 100k per year. Greens fees were 5k, and caddie fees negotiable 5 for 18 holes seems to be the norm.

The course is in good shape, lush but maintained. There are many roads and crossroads to play over, but these are not hazards. The hazards here are trees and bunkers. Since there is no water, trees were planted to make the player hit narrow windows between them.

There are several of these "tight squeezes", most notably on #'s 1 and 9. No water, so trees were planted to make one shape their shots. You are actually supposed to drive over the small tree on the left, but under the large tree just off the tee box in the below photo of #1.

#9 is a very scary uphill 400 yard par 4. Here is the view looking back from the green, this has got to be the tightest driving hole I've ever seen

Holes 6;

7;

8;

and the tight 9 are all lovely, each of them could be the signature hole, but my favorite is 7, a long uphill par four that plays like a double dogleg par 5 on the back side.

This course is NOT easy at all, but it is a fair test of your game, especially your short game, as the greens don't hold in the dry season, despite their luxuriant growth. It's one of those 9 holers where you actually DO want to play the full 18. A cute feature is that mid-round, golfers are encouraged to buy tees and gloves at the White Horse Inn adjacent to the third green.

Would absolutely play this course again!