Rejoice, Emmanuel

As a 4-year-old Rwandan, Emmanuel Ruterana would follow players at Kigali Golf Club collecting lost balls and wondering if he would ever learn what he calls, “this game of golf.” He did, and would win two Rwanda Opens as a professional.

Practicing at Kigali last year, he met Coloradan Kevin Hollern, whose wife, Susan, founded Hope Haven, an elementary school in Rwanda. Kevin, playing Kigali for the first time, couldn’t find the first tee, so Ruterana showed him the way and struck up a conversation.

Hollern soon learned Ruterana’s life was brutally interrupted at age 12 when the 1994 Rwandan genocide claimed the life of his father. To make money to help his mother and brother, he’d go to the golf course to look for lost balls to sell. “I didn’t just go there to make money,” he says. “I also wanted to see whether I could play golf.”

[quote]“People here, they are good people, in America. They have a heart to help. Especially the people at Broken Tee. I like how they want to help Kigali Golf Club, but also me.” [/quote]

Then a member asked Ruterana to caddie, which he did for a year until the man moved away and another member took him on. He soon noticed Ruterana’s talent and invited him to play, eventually paying for his club membership and providing a monthly salary. By 2004, Ruterana joined the Rwandan National team and, later on, the Uganda Professional Golfers Association.

Ruterana also told Hollern his dream of competing professionally has evolved into something more: giving Rwandan children an opportunity to play golf—with the goal of creating a future national team. “In Rwanda we have a problem,” he says. “People think this game of golf is only for people who have money. So, I want to help kids whether their families are rich or poor… I want them to learn this game of golf.”

As an owner of MetaGolf Learning Center at Broken Tee Golf Course in Englewood, Hollern thought he could help. He and Ruterana hatched a plan where the Rwandan would join the Hollern family in Colorado for six weeks and receive the coaching to create a junior golf program in Rwanda.

“I think with golf becoming an Olympic sport, it gives a lot of people in Third World countries the opportunity to participate on a worldwide level,” Hollern explains. “When you see their love and desire for the game, you just want to help because they are really nice, good people who deserve the opportunities we have.”

Ruterana arrived in Colorado this summer. Hollern introduced him to his coach and PGA professional Scott Lane, on staff with MetaGolf. Together they worked on improving his swing, club fitting and other coaching tips he can apply to his program. “It’s pretty inspirational having him out here,” Broken Tee Golf Manager Bob Spada said. “He’s got a wonderful swing and his enthusiasm for the game has carried over. We’ve been really happy to have him out here.”

Broken Tee has also donated a large number of junior clubs and t-shirts to Kigali Golf Club. Spada and Broken Tee Program and Facility Supervisor Shannon Buccio hope to see a partnership in the future between the two courses and possibly urge the local golf community to donate junior clubs and equipment to send to Rwanda.

“Apart from providing golf equipment, the Kigali golf shop will now provide training to any individual willing to learn golf in Rwanda,” Ruterana said. “We had no qualified person here to offer that service; therefore, this training provided me with the necessary knowledge.”

None of it would have been possible without the help of the Hollerns and the Broken Tee staff. “People here, they are good people, in America,” Ruterana said before leaving. “They have a heart to help. Especially the people at Broken Tee. I like how they want to help Kigali Golf Club, but also me.”

---

This article appears in the Winter 2016 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer. Subscribe today!

RELATED:
The Colorado Golf Association Announces Players of the Year
Thorncreek’s $7 Million Facelift
Rare Bird Sightings

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.