The dates for the 18th Dubai Golf Trophy has been confirmed for the 12th and 13th of May 2018. The annual match is played in a Ryder Cup style format between the top 16 amateur and professional golfers in the UAE. Day one will be played at the iconic Emirates Majlis course in a pairs format with Foresomes in the morning and Better Ball in the afternoon. The final round will be played at the stunning Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club and is Singles format.
The Amateur Team are the defending champions after beating the Professional Team in 2017, their second victory in three years after winning in 2015. The UAE PGA Professionals will certainly be focusing on winning the trophy back come May in what is the flagship event for local golf in the UAE.
A beautiful morning for Day One of the 2017 Dubai Golf Trophy! 🏆 #goodluck #dubaigolftrophy pic.twitter.com/ZQYwWk4jkR
— Emirates Golf Club (@EmiratesGC) May 20, 2017
This year the qualification criteria has changed to ensure that each team is represented by the best possible players. The Amateur Team will be made of 12 qualifiers from the Emirates Golf Federation Men’s order-of-merit which is made up of the 36 hole Men’s Open competitions played at the various clubs in the UAE. The Amateur players’ top six performances in these events will count towards their Dubai Golf Trophy qualification with a further four players being selected by ‘Captain’s Picks’ by the 2018 team Captain Max Burrow from Dubai Creek. Any players receiving a ‘Captain’s Pick’ must have played in a minimum of two order-of-merit events.
There is no change to the Professional Team qualification criteria which will be the top 12 players from the UAE PGA order-of-merit plus the four ‘Captain’s Picks’ which will be made by the 2018 Professional Team Captain Ryan Smith from the Address Montgomerie Dubai.
The UAE PGA order-of-merit is already underway with the next event being the Dubai Creek UAE PGA Pro-Am on Monday 16th October. The first event of the EGF Men’s Amateur order-of-merit will be contested this weekend (13th and 14th October) at The Address Montgomerie Dubai.
Dubai Golf, Chief Executive Officer Christopher May commented; “We have been working hard to make this prestigious event even better so that the best players in the UAE can come together for two days of top level competitive golf over the Majlis and Creek courses. We are excited about the new amateur qualification criteria which we hope will encourage greater participation in the Emirates Golf Federation Men’s order-of-merit events played throughout the season. The 2018 edition of the match will be the best yet and we are very much looking forward to it.”
