Raghav Gulati and Jamie Camero banked themselves precious World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points after triumphing at the first event on the Golf Events Management International Amateur Golf Tour at Arabian Ranches Golf Club.
The Tour, which is home to numerous WAGR events across the year, welcomed some of the region’s top amateur golfers to the 54-hole tournament, which was played in extreme conditions with the searing summer heat making it a challenging affair.
Gulati and Camero both rose to the challenge to top the men’s and women’s divisions respectively after producing the goods on all three days.
Gulati was in fine form throughout with rounds of 74, 69 and 70 leaving him on -3 after three days, two shots ahead of Denmark’s Valdemar Kofod-Olsen in second with Scotland’s Gordon Munro completing to top three on level par.
“It felt great to get the win,” said Gulati. “The course is in good condition; the greens and fairways are really nice so it felt really good. My first round wasn’t great, but the second round really sparked me into life because my putter was hot and everything just worked together to form a really good round of three under par. This is actually my first event so it really feels nice to win your first one!
“The team at Golf Events Management did a great job of putting on this WAGR event, it was all setup really well, everyone knew what they were doing, everyone went everywhere they had to so it was great.”
Camero’s impressive victory came courtesy of a three-stroke triumph over Aasiya Saleem after carding rounds of 75, 73 and 78 for a +10 total after 54 holes.
“It was a big battle over the three days,” said the Filipino. “The greens were really fast, so it was a good experience and I managed to keep it together throughout the tournament. It means a lot to win a WAGR event, not a lot of tournaments in Dubai or in the UAE actually have WAGR points so it’s exciting to win this one. It’s an awesome event!”
Along with the two champions, Mousa Shana’ah also got his hands on some WAGR points due to the youngster being a ranked player after victory at the JA Amateur Golf Championship earlier this year.
“It’s a great opportunity and experience for everyone,” said Shana’ah. “There hasn’t been many WAGR events held in the past so to see more of them being held in Dubai is great. The organisation has been top notch, the past three days have been really enjoyable.”
