Rayan Ahmed is 19, the No. 1 ranked amateur in the UAE, and about to become the first male Emirati to play NCAA Division I golf in the United States. He sat down with Worldwide Golf to talk about the journey from Dubai Hills to Irvine – and what he intends to do once he gets there.
There is, on the following pages, a photograph that could, in time, become the answer to a pub quiz question. A 19-year-old sat at a desk in Dubai, pen in hand, signing the paperwork that makes him the first male Emirati ever to play Division I college golf in the United States. He’s heading to the University of California, Irvine, to play for the Anteaters in the Big West Conference. It’s an historic first for the UAE, achieved by a player most readers of this magazine will already know.
UAE No.1
Rayan Ahmed has been making his presence known on regional amateur circuit for two seasons now. UAE No. 1 on both WAGR and the Order of Merit with a peak world ranking of 518 and an impressive +5.2 handicap. He was the first Emirati ever to compete at the US Junior Amateur and the US Amateur, teeing it up in both in the same summer of 2024. He fired a sensational round of 64 to help him secure this year’s RAK Amateur Open at Al Hamra. A double gold at the GCC Youth Olympics. Wins in Oman and Morocco. The Faldo Series. Yas Links. Earth course. The list runs deep.
What it does not yet tell you is who Rayan Ahmed is.
He is, technically, a fourth-generation golfer. His great-grandfather played. His grandfather played. His father plays. By the family standard, Rayan was late to the party.
“I started golf quite late,” he says. “Even though everyone in my family played, I kicked it on when I was about 13. I started at Dubai Hills Golf Club during COVID. I was there for about six months and really enjoyed it.”
He was playing almost every day. His parents, sensing that this was more than a passing dalliance with the game, decided to give him every chance of progressing by moving house…to a new place that backed directly onto the driving range at The Montgomerie Dubai.
“We moved literally on the range,” he smiles. “I was essentially living on the golf club. I would just walk out, play, come back, eat. It was just golf all day.”
At 14, he was off 24. A year later he was scratch. Twenty-four shots in twelve months – the kind of trajectory that makes coaches sit up take notice.
He still holds the course record at the Montgomerie – 65. He set it as a teenager and nobody has taken it off him.
Winning the UAE Junior Order of Merit in 2023 put him firmly in the local spotlight. The Emirates Golf Federation invited him into the UAE National Men’s Team, and a few months later he was at the World Amateur Team Championships in Abu Dhabi, paired with Gordon Sargent and Nick Dunlap and the rest of the global elite. It was here he met General Abdullah Al Hashmi, the EGF’s President, who would become as close to a mentor figure as a national federation chief can reasonably be.
“The UAE national team has been instrumental in my growth as a player and a person,” Rayan says. “Without them, I wouldn’t be here today. The EGF has given me so much – the opportunities, the equipment, the clothing, the world-class coaching. I can play any course I like in the UAE. I’m extremely grateful, and the opportunities I’ve been given are not something I take for granted for a single day.”
That coaching team has now grown into a serious operation. Faycal Serghini, the EGF’s Head Coach, works with him weekly on technique and short game. Liam James – the PGA / DP World Tour coach behind Richard Mansell, Thorbjørn Olesen and Matt Wallace – who works with him on a personal basis. Matthew Brookes, TPI-certified and coach to Andy Sullivan, runs the strength and conditioning on a fortnightly cycle. Sensei Majid Raees, the professional kickboxer turned mental performance coach, handles the part of the job that does not show up on the scorecard.
It is, by some margin, the most structured support package any Emirati amateur has ever received. The General reveals why:
“Rayan is very dedicated, committed, disciplined. He’s unique in his way of thinking. Each player has his character, his identity – and Rayan has the character and identity that makes him what he is today. He fights to get where he wants to go,” said His Excellency.
2024 was when the story stopped being a domestic one. Rayan qualified as medallist for the US Amateur at Columbine Country Club in Denver with a three-under 69. He arrived, by his own admission, in slightly rough shape.
“I reached Denver with my short game all over the place,” he says. “We spent hours the day before working on 40- to 90-yard wedge shots. I ended up winning the qualifying medal against some of the best college golfers in the region – on a tight, tree-lined course at 7,360 yards. Looking back, I’m still impressed with how I managed it. It tells me a lot about my ability to manoeuvre the ball even when things aren’t perfect.”
That medal took him to Hazeltine National for the US Amateur proper and to Oakland Hills for the US Junior Amateur – two historic firsts for the UAE in the space of a fortnight. Oakland Hills had not seen a UAE competitor in 76 years of running the championship. Now it has.
“The experience itself was surreal,” he says of the US Junior. “Tiger Woods was there. His son was there. There was security everywhere. So many spectators. Most people in the world don’t get to experience that.”
He was drawn alongside Joshua Bai, who had been runner-up the previous year.
“His mental discipline, the thoughts on the course that I didn’t have at that time – it definitely improved my golf. I wasn’t as consistent back then. I had a lot of falls. Now it’s just getting better through that experience.”
Roughly 75 percent of PGA Tour players have come through a Division I programme. That number, Rayan will tell you without prompting, is the entire reason he is going. The US college system is the closest analogue to professional golf available to an amateur – the qualifying structure, the team rounds, the carry-your-bag-for-36-holes weekend grind, the gym routines, the qualifiers run inside the team itself for the five spots on the travelling roster. It is, in his words, where you go if you actually want to be ready.
UC Irvine specifically suited him for two reasons. The first is the head coach, Paul Smolinski who boasts 28 years in the job, eight Big West Championships, nine-time Big West Coach of the Year and 11 NCAA Regional appearances. The second is academic. Irvine sent nine athletes to Paris 2024 and counts five Nobel laureates among its alumni. Rayan scored 1410 on the SAT. He will study Economics, Finance and Management.
“The biggest thing was a really good mix of academics and golf,” he says. “It’s very good academically. Getting in was a nice reminder that I can also study well alongside the smart individuals I’m going to be with. And the golf programme is excellent – they’ve won championships in the past. It’s a really good place for me to develop as a player for when I turn pro.”
He has already met Coach Smolinski. The conversation that mattered, he says, was about how Irvine would handle his existing coaches – Faycal, Liam, Matthew, Sensei Majid – all of whom stay on the team back home.
“He explained that he is going to guide me, work with my coaches remotely plus he manages all the challenges of college tournament golf, travels, training.”
That is a quietly mature arrangement for a 19-year-old to have negotiated for himself.
Being the first male Emirati to play Division I golf in the United States is a responsibility Ahmed is not taking lightly.
“Being the first means setting the standard early,” he says. “There’s no blueprint to follow – so how I work, compete, and carry myself becomes the reference point for those coming after me.
“When I see my name at number one on the Order of Merit or on WAGR, it reminds me I can actually compete at this level. I don’t really feel pressure in a negative way. It pushes me to become better. If anything, it helps me feel more at ease going into the next tournament.
“Representing the UAE and Arab golf isn’t just about where I’m from. It’s about showing that players from this region belong at the highest level of the game. For the younger Arab golfers watching, I want it to feel normal – not something distant or unrealistic. Being the first isn’t about standing alone. It’s about making sure I’m not the last
International Events
The collegiate run is the means, not the end. Rayan’s calendar will continue to include the international amateur events that have shaped him – the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, The Amateur Championship, the US Amateur, the Asian Games. The professional ranks come after, and possibly earlier if the development demands it. The Olympics is on the list. Augusta National is on the list – actually, top of it. Te Arai Links and Bethpage Black follow. Pebble, Sawgrass, Congressional and the Old Course are already ticked.
The mantra has not changed since he was a kid telling people he wanted to win the Masters before he understood what qualifying for it required.
“Dream big, respect all, outwork all, remain teachable and disciplined.”
Despite the adventure that awaits, there will be things he misses about home.
“What I’m going to miss most about the UAE is the accessibility and the safety,” he says. “This is my home, and for me it’s the best place anyone can live in the world. I’m definitely going to miss coming back, being able to relax, having such easy access to golf. You can’t find that everywhere.”
He will be back every winter. The General concluded the signing ceremony, which took place at The Montgomerie, Dubai last month, by saying:
“Home is not the passport you carry in your hand. Home is where you feel this is home. We are dedicated to supporting everybody that lives on this land and making sure they achieve their goals.”
Ahmad Skaik turned professional last year. Rayan Ahmed crosses the Atlantic this autumn. The trail the UAE is blazing in golf is getting longer, and the players walking it are going further. The future looks bright indeed.
