By Kent Gray
The Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) amateurs are on the cusp of yet more Dubai Golf Trophy glory- and this time with a feel-good silver lining.

Following an afternoon of near utter dominance on the Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club, the EGF team will take a formidable 11-5 lead over the UAE PGA Tour pros into Sunday’s singles at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

The Mike Bolt-captained UAE PGA pros will need something special on Earth to reverse the six-point deficit in today’s 16-singles showdowns if they are to avoid a sixth successive loss in the Ryder Cup-style matches administered by Dubai Golf.

It will be no mean feat given the EGF players are also determined to seal Ahmed Skaik’s place in folklore as the event’s first Emirati – and winning – captain.

Things started well enough for the desperate pros as Saturday’s morning foursomes were shared 4-4 despite a mammoth 8&7 socking for Dong Lee and Jonathan Craddock at the hands of amateur talisman Josh Hill and Jay Mullane.

But it went horribly pear-shaped in the afternoon fourballs on the Faldo as the EGF amateurs won 7-1. Only Luke Plumb and Louis Gaughan saved the pros from an embarrassing whitewash courtesy of their 3&2 win over Max Burrow and Arjun Gupta. At the top of the order, their was another lesson for Lee and Craddock who were beaten 5&3 by Hill and Mullane.

Lee and Craddock will be happy to see the back of Hill and Mullane with veteran Dubai Trophy player Malcolm Young handed the task of taking on Hill in the singles while Mullane will face Pro Sports’ Graham Forbes.

HISTORY-MAKERS: Hyeonji Kang, Natalii Gupta, Anneke Strobach and Olivia Jackson.

It was also a tough day for the UAE Pro women who are playing the Dubai Trophy for the first time – this year in an exhibition match ahead of being incorporated into the event proper in 2022.

Olivia Jackson and Anneke Strobach were edged 1up by Hyeonji Kang and Natalii Gupta in the morning foursomes and then beaten comprehensively, 5&4, in the fourballs.

Jackson will play Gupta and Strobach will meet Kang on Sunday knowing they need to both win their singles encounters to level the exhibition.

But the focus will be on how Bolt’s pros responded to being cornered on Earth.

The post What on Earth can the UAE pros do to prevent a EGF amateur six-peat? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Can Michael Bolt finally be the captain to halt the amateur’s five-year Dubai Golf Trophy dynasty?

We’re about to find out with the teams for the April 10-11 Ryder Cup-style matches between Bolt’s UAE PGA Tour pros and the Ahmed Skaik-captained Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) amateurs released.

REWIND: UAE PGA captain Luke Plumb on fifth straight Dubai Trophy loss: ‘The EGF top 5 did a number on us’

Bolt’s 16-man team for the 22nd edition at Emirates Golf Club (Faldo course) and Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth course) features a number of familiar faces including freshly minted UAE PGA Championship winner Luke Plumb and David Gray who edged Bolt 1-up to win his third UAE matchplay championship recently.

UAE PGA Championship winner Luke Plumb is set to be a key member of the professional team.

Skaik, the first Emirati to captain a Dubai Trophy team, will partner UAE national teammate Khalid Yousuf in the Saturday foursomes against Purna Sharma & Malcolm Young.

There are some particularly juicy top of the order match-ups with amateur team talisman Josh Hill teaming with Jay Mullane to take on Dong Lee and Jonathan Craddock while Arjun Gupta and Yash Majmudar take on Bolt and beaten UAE matchplay semifinalist Sujjan Singh.

For the first time, women will compete in the Dubai trophy with Olivia Jackson and Anneke Strobach representing the UAE PGA and Hyeonji Kang and Natalii Gupta, Arjun’s sister, the EGF amateurs. They will play a separate competition this week ahead of the women being incorporated into the full Dubai Trophy in 2022.

The Faldo will host the foursomes and fourball matches on Saturday ahead of the singles on Earth Sunday.

[divider] [/divider]

UAE PGA Professionals v EGF Amateurs

Saturday Foursomes
Match 1: Dong Lee & Jonathan Craddock v Josh Hill & Jay Mullane
Match 2: Michael Bolt (Captain) & Sujjan Singh v Arjun Gupta & Yash Majmudar
Match 3: Luke Plumb & Phil Waine v Viggo Sorensen & Zubair Firdaus
Match 4:  Graham Forbes & Louis Gaughan v Toby Bishop & Sam Mullane
Match 5: David Gray & Ryan Smith v Steve Kelbrick & Max Burrow
Match 6: Purna Sharma & Malcolm Young v Ahmed Skaik (Captain) & Khaled Yousuf
Match 7: Bishnu Sharma & Sam McLaren v Dan Byrne & Niklas Korjonen
Match 8: Michael Major & Thomas Ogilvie v Gordon Munro & Jake Wiltshire
Ladies: Olivia Jackson & Anneke Strobach v Hyeonji Kang & Natalii Gupta

The post Bolt, Skaik name teams as EGF amateurs chase Dubai Golf Trophy six-peat appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Ahmad Skaik joked last week that his best chance of overhauling his good pal for the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) Order of Merit (OOM) title would be if Dan Byrne sat out the final two events of the season.

“I am 20 points behind Dan with two events to play and I always joke with him, tell him not to play the last two because he played two events more than me this season,” the 23-year-old Emirati international said in an interview featured in the September edition of Golf Digest Middle East.

“Dan is a solid golfer so I would say that the only way to do is for me to get two wins in the last two events because I don’t see him finishing outside the top 5. Dan is a very good friend of mine and I will be very happy for him if he wins it but I will try and take it away from him.”

As it turns out, Byrne won’t play the last two events scheduled for Yas Links and Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, nor will +3 handicapper Skaik get a chance at last gasp glory. Indeed, no one will tee it up with the EGF announcing it has been forced to end the 2019-20 season prematurely due to the uncertainties created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Ahmad Skaik. (Photo courtesy EGF)

The national body has also cancelled the end of season Order of Merit Championship, a double blow as the 54-hole (36 for juniors) event carried precious World Amateur Golf Ranking points.

“It’s always a tough decision to end a season early or cancel events but with the current environment and restrictions around the UAE we feel that this is the right and safe decision for the golfers,” said EGF Secretary-General, Khalid Mubarak al Shamsi.

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For the record, Byrne won what turned out to be a 12×36 hole-event season with 220.6 points. The Els Club youngster racked up six top-5 finishes in his 11 starts. Skaik, who won the Monty and Trump Dubai Opens, was second on 199.5 points with Dubai Hills Golf Club member Barry Pavic third on 147 points.

Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Hyeonji Kang won both the women’s gross and net season titles with three wins in her tally of 179 points from a possible 8, 18-hole events.

Trump Dubai’s Natalii Gupta also won three times to finish runner-up in the gross division with 159 points. Chantal El Chaib (Abu Dhabi Golf Club) was third with 135 points. For all the season OOM results, click here.

The EGF said in a media statement that it hoped to start the 2020-21 season next month.

“With the 2019 – 2020 UAE golf season officially over, the EGF will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and the closure of boarders in the country. The 2020 – 2021 season is expected to start in early October.”

The post Byrne, Kang crowned champions as EGF season cut short appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But the 51-year-old Englishman has one final domestic commitment before he sets out for the likes of fabled Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York and Hillside Golf Club in Southport, England – this weekend’s Dubai Trophy.

The Trump Dubai member will take some serious confidence into the annual Ryder Cup-style matches between the EGF’s best and the UAE PGA Tour’s top teaching pros as well after waltzing the 2019 EGF Order of Merit Championship by five strokes at Al Ain Equestrian Shooting & Golf Club last weekend.

Kelbrick had already captured the season-long EGF title before Al Ain but capped another consistent campaign with his first win of the season after firing rounds of 68-68-67 for a 7-under-par, 203 aggregate. He collected a total of 17 birdies during the 54-hole event where Ziang Xu (Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club) was runner-up following rounds of 71-67-70 for a two-under-par, 205 total. UAE National Team Member Ahmed Skaik was third on 215 after scores of 74-71-70.

A job well done to the 2018 – 2019 Order of Merit Season & Championship Winners. Full report to follow. @aesgc pic.twitter.com/6YwScGURNk

— Emirates Golf Fed. (@EGFuaegolf) April 20, 2019

After the Dubai Trophy at Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf Club, Kelbrick will begin gearing up for the 83rd Anderson Memorial at Winged Foot from June 6-9. The John G. Anderson Memorial Four-Ball is one of America’s premier amateur invitational events. Created in 1933 to honour Winged Foot founding member and two-time U.S. Amateur runner-up John G. Anderson, the event consists of a 36 hole qualifier followed by two days of match play competition in both Championship and Senior divisions.

Kelbrick, who missed the cut at the recent Jordan Mixed Open, is also eyeing the June 13-15 European Senior Men’s Championship at Golf Patriziale Ascona in Switzerland ahead of Senior Open qualifying at Hillside G.C., also the venue for next month’s British Masters (May 9-12) being hosted by Tommy Fleetwood.

2018 – 2019 Emirates Golf Federation Order of Merit Winners

Hyeonji Kang, meanwhile, won the Ladies EGF Order of Merit Championship by an even more commanding six strokes. Kang shot rounds of 73-66-66 for a five-under-par 205 total while runner-up Chantal El Chaib (72-69-70, 211) and Natalli Gupta (72-74-69, 215) rounded out the podium in Al Ain.

Kang has enjoyed a historic season by winning the not only the overall Ladies OOM title but also winning the Junior Girls Gross Division while also sharing first place in the Junior Girls Nett Division.

The Junior Division was played with the girls and boys combined. Jay Mullane started strong and maintained that lead over the two rounds firing 70-74 for a winning total of 144. Asanka White (75-74) and Viggo Sorensen (77-73) were second and third respectively.

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