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UAE golf round-up: Destination Earth for club members
‘Luckiest Ball on Earth’, an initiative of the DP World Tour Championship to get members of various golf clubs across the UAE involved with the tournament, got underway last week.
Twenty-one events will be staged at 20 clubs affiliated to the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) with each winner going through to the Luckiest Ball on Earth Grand Final on the Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on October 13. The winner there gets to play in the Rolex Pro-Am.
In addition to the 21 club event qualifiers, the top three UAE nationals in The President’s Cup have also been invited to compete in the Grand Final.
The Rolex Pro-Am takes place on November 12 on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, 48 hours before The Race to Dubai reaches a dramatic conclusion with the $8 million season-ending finale of the European Tour.
The Luckiest Ball on Earth competition for 2013 started last Friday with events in three UAE clubs, while the next round will be on Friday, September 13, with events in three other clubs.
Now in its third year, the Luckiest Ball on Earth has proved to be a huge success with the nation’s keen amateurs. The annual competition is open to all golfers aged 18 or over who hold an official handicap recognised by the EGF (maximum 28 for men and 36 for ladies).
In 2012, Italian Ornella Parigi of Saadiyat Beach became the first female winner of the Luckiest Ball on Earth and won a place alongside Australian Marcus Fraser in the pro-am.
Parigi also won the Longest Drive prize, which she received at the pre-event Championship Beach Party from European Tour Chief Executive George O’Grady.
Nick Tarratt, director European Tour International, Dubai Office, said: “We are excited that more than 1,000 golfers from all over the UAE will take part in 21 events this September to be in with a chance to play with one of the top 60 golfers on The European Tour.
“Our Luckiest Ball on Earth competition gets bigger and more competitive each year and we wish them the best of luck as they chase that covered place in the DP World Tour Championship Rolex Pro-Am.”
Tickets for the event are free and can be obtained by registering online at www.DPWTC.com.
IN BRIEF
Triple delight for Morrow at Mashreq Medal event
With a superb net score of 65, Patrick Morrow not only won the third round of the Mashreq Gold Cup in association with BMW and Harvey Nichols, but also jumped on top of the series and secured his place in the grand finale of the ‘Luckiest Ball on Earth’.
At Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, Morrow won by three strokes over Craig McBride for his second win in the 2013 Mashreq Medal Championship order-of-merit series.
Morrow is now in the pole position now after nine events with a total of 401 points, but with both Mark Bishop on 386 and John Fellingham on 346 still lurking, it could prove to be a very tight end to a thrilling series.
The best gross score of the day came from Dubai Creek Junior Rayhan Thomas who carded a superb 2 under-par 69 to beat Max Burrows in a countback. McBride’s net 68 saw him collect first prize in Men’s Division A. The runner-up spot was awarded to Peter Stapleton after a countback with four players finishing on net 70.
The Ladies Division was won by new Dubai Creek member, Amelie Burty, who shot a net 70, and the Senior Division prize went to SG Nair, who managed a net 73.
DDF Seniors title for Delacourte and Ramage
Alain Delacourte and Eddie Ramage were crowned overall champions in stableford and gross divisions respectively at the Dubai Duty Free Seniors Cup, which was held at the Arabian Ranches Golf Club recently.
As many as 56 players competed in the much anticipated event which was open to men, 50 years and above and ladies, 45 years and above.
The card of Delacourte was very impressive, with 11 gross pars and a gross birdie. A front nine of 21 points followed by a back nine of 24 and he won by a big margin of four points from Tony Stroud (41).
Stroud settled for the Men’s Division title winning by one point over Brian Hollis. Ramage fired a two-under par 70 to win the best gross. In the Ladies Division home player Emma Rooms returned a card of 41 to edge out Karen Evans by five points.
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