Gold rush for UAE National golf teams in Bahrain

THE UAE National Teams clinched a historic three gold and two bronze medals at the GCC Golf Championships held at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain last month.

Al Marzooqi double

The Ladies team, led by Tara Al Marzooqi, successfully defended their gold medal while rising star Ahmed Skaik won the Men’s Individual title as he helped the Men;s Team team to third place in the Team competition. It was a double gold delight for Al Marzooqi as she won the Ladies Individual gold by a large margin while Reema Al Heloo finished third to take the bronze medal.

Team victory

Al Marzooqi fired rounds of 92-89-82 for a 263 total and a huge eight-shot victory as she led the Team to victory ahead of Kuwait by 19 strokes with Qatar in third.

“Representing the UAE and winning these Gold Medals are a great honour,” smiled Al Marzooqi. “I am so proud of my teammates as we continue to develop in this game that we love. All of the hard work with my coaches is starting to pay off. I really enjoyed the weather this week because it was a change to what I’m used to in the UAE.

Opportunities

“I think that I stayed focus this week and didn’t let the bad shots affect my game. I stuck to my pre-shot routines and drove the ball well off the tee. The UAE and Emirates Golf Federation offer so many great opportunities that hopefully others will take advantage of. With more participation we can become competitive in tournaments outside the GCC.”

Gold Medals

In the Men’s Division, Ahmed Skaik went wire-to-wire in the Individual Category as he took the lead after round one and never looked back. With rounds of 76-74-72 – 75 for a championship total of 297 (9-over-par), Skaik collected the first GCC Golf Championship gold medal of his young career.

2017 UAE Presidents Cup

Skaik has been committed to his game over the past six months, as he is currently 5th on the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) Order of Merit leaderboard after a recent third place finish at the 2017 UAE Presidents Cup.

“It feels great to have my first individual victory and to have it at the GCC Golf Championship makes it even more special,” said Skaik. “The course played very tough this week but I feel like I didn’t rush things and played to my strenghts. I was solid off the tees as I didn’t miss many fairways, but the key was my short game and making a lot of up and downs.

Team Bronze

“Winning the GCC was a big goal for me and I’d also like to congratulate my team-mates on winning the Team Bronze Medal for our country. Moving forward, I will continue to play the EGF Order of Merit and discuss with my coaches my schedule for the next few months”.

The Kingdom of Bahrain won the Team Gold while Saudi Arabia won the Silver.

Squad performance

National Team Coach Greg Holmes was delighted with the teams’ achievement. “I am so proud of our squads’ performance this week,” he said. “This is proof that hard work pays off. It’s great to see the Ladies defend their title and the Men to receive the Bronze. Ahmed and Tara have been working hard and for them to win the Gold in their respected division will boost our programme. With the dedication of the EGF, the UAE will see many more youngsters involved in the National Junior Development Programme, where we can look forward to seeing more talent emerging in the future.”

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