But the magical five under circuit, matching the feat of now European Challenge Tour player James Allan in the same event five years ago, wasn’t enough to prevent Burrow repeating as champion at the Emirates Golf Federation order-of-merit event.

RELATED: EGF secures WAGR status for series decider, suddenly making whole season more meaningful

That had a little bit to do with the fact Dunn had so much ground to make up after a Friday 75 but a whole lot more to do with Burrow’s near faultless golf over 36 holes. Capitalising on the immaculate condition of Al Hamra in the final event before the course hosts the Challenge Tour’s season-ending Ras Al Khaimah Challenge Tour Grand Final beginning Wednesday, Burrow dropped just two shots all weekend in rounds of 68 and 71.

His five-under par 139 total was good enough for a three stroke victory margin over Dunn (142) with Ahmad Skaik third on 145 following rounds of 72 and 73.

Burrow had led by two after the opening round from David Guinee (70) while past winners Khalid Yousuf and Saif Thabet (72s) were also in the hunt. But Guinee, Yousuf and Saif all fell away with Saturday scores of 75, 76 and 76 respectively.

Ahmad Naim won the net title with a 143 total on count-back from Al Hamra member Byung Jin Woo. Adam Zahri was third, a further shot adrift.

13th RAK Men’s Amateur Open – Results

Gross
139: Max Burrow (68, 71)
142: Simon Dunn (75, 67)
145: Ahmad Skaik (72, 73)

Net
143: Ahmad Naim (72, 71) on count-back
143: Byung Jin Woo (67, 76)
144: Adam Zahri (71, 73)

The post Dunn applies blowtorch with Al Hamra course record but Burrow remains cool to claim RAK repeat appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The Emirates Golf Federation amateurs are seven points away from an historic Dubai Trophy hat-trick after dominating the opening day of the annual Ryder Cup-style matches against the UAE PGA’s finest.

Max Burrow’s EGF team lead Ryan Smith’s pros 10-6 heading into Sunday’s singles matches after capturing Saturday’s morning foursomes and the afternoon fourballs on the Faldo course at Emirates G.C. by identical 5-3 margins.

It means the amateurs need to win just six of today’s 16 singles matches at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club to guarantee a halved match and retention of the trophy as defending champions. But they’ll want to do it in style with seven or more points and Smith’s team are up against it in more ways than one; not only do they need to win the singles 11-5 or better, they will have to overcome a confident team and a suffocating sandstorm that has swept across Dubai.

World amateur No.17 Rayhan Thomas and experienced Bayhaan Lakdawala combined for two wins for the amateurs on Saturday, easing past Jack Woods and Jordan Gallagher 4&3 in the foursomes and David Gray and Mikael Gartner 3&1 in the foursomes.

Newly minted EGF OOM Championship winner Nathan Fisher and Mike Mezei, the latter a captain’s pick like Lakdawala, are also unbeaten after 3&2 and 2up victories over Malcolm Young and Jonathan Craddock in the foursome and fourball matches respectively.

Tough conditions for Day 2 of the Dubai Golf trophy @DubaiCreekGolf | For live scoring: https://t.co/GUeQhE6cxT or download the Golf Genius Software Application and log in using the code DUBAIGOLFTROPHY pic.twitter.com/rEel5NUVFu

— Dubai Creek Golf (@DubaiCreekGolf) May 13, 2018

Teens Josh Hill and Arjun Gupta are also unbeaten (as were Lawry Cook and Bradley Mogire), coasting past Trump Dubai’s Luke Plumb and Mike Bolt 3&2 in the foursomes before an epic halved fourball match against the same opposition.

“We were rubbish in the morning but in the afternoon we were seven under better ball to halve,” said Plumb. “We played out of our skin to halve with them,” the UAE PGA chief executive continued before admitting he was pleased to avoid Hill in today’s singles. “Arjun was good too to be fair.”

Shane Peacock has drawn the short Hill straw for the singles which began at 11.30am. The Al Ain pro will fancy his chances; he was unbeaten alongside club mate Tom Buchanan on Saturday.

Also recording a pair of wins for the pros were Joe Way and Mike Major who will enjoy home course advantage on Sunday.

For those wanting to follow the scores you can download Golfgenius app and can log in with the GGID code DUBAIGOLFTROPHY

— UAE PGA (@uaepga) May 12, 2018

The post EGF amateurs on brink of Dubai Golf Trophy treble as UAE PGA pros left with it all to do in Sunday singles appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
By being good at their day jobs, the UAE PGA’s finest have inadvertently done themselves few favours as they look to avert a hat-trick of Dubai Trophy losses this weekend.

The pros will be confronted by one of the youngest, and certainly one of the most in-form, Emirates Golf Federation amateur teams in the 19-year history of the Ryder Cup-style matches. For context, know that EGF captain Max Burrow has the luxury of selecting world amateur No.17 Rayhan Thomas as one of his four picks – Bayhaan Lakdawala, Mike Mezei and Craig Vance are the others – for the showdown at Emirates G.C. and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

But it’s the boy wonders in Burrow’s 16-man line-up – red-hot Josh Hill, Arjun Gupta, Toby Bishop and Bradley Mogire – that pose perhaps the biggest potential banana skins for captain Ryan Smith and his pros.

Related: Fisher chalks one up for the ‘old guys’ at EGF Championship

The talented teens are all products of the increasingly prolific junior development production lines at the various clubs the UAE PGA pros teach out of it. It’s really a win-win scenario, unless of course you’re been charged with beating the confident, treble-seeking whippersnappers, no cinch for teaching professionals who do far more coaching than playing, as Burrow acknowledged.

“We play in events across the region and you now have to score under-par, or significantly under-par to even have a chance of winning,” said Burrow, pointing to the noticeable lift in intensity during amateur tournaments this season.

“This shows how much the amateur game in the region has developed in recent years and it has certainly been a contributing factor to our recent successes in the Dubai Golf Trophy. I am confident the amateur team can continue our vein of form in this competition due to the strength-in-depth…we have a youthful team on exceptional form…”

Related: Thomas thrilled by India call-up for 18th Asian Games

No kidding. In Hill and 51-year-old Steven Kelbrick, the amateurs have the past two EGF Order-of-Merit champions while the performance of Emirati national squad member Ahmad Skaik will also be watched closely.

While the amateur team is made up of the top-12 players in the 2017-18 EGF OOM plus four picks, the pro team features the top-14 players from the UAE PGA Tour plus two picks – Al Ain’s Shane Peacock and The Monty’s Martin Robinson.

Steven Kelbrick

Cen Mills is a noticeable absentee from the pro line-up, the former UAE PGA champion having left the Creek to return home to Wales. But Smith’s team still oozes class, headed by 2017-18 OOM champion Stefan Wears-Taylor and Al Ain’s Tom Buchanan who teed it up in the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January.

The Dubai Trophy will be Wears-Taylor’s Middle East swan-song before he pursues a fulltime playing career back home in South Africa. The 21-year-old will partner Smith (Monty) in Saturday morning’s opening foursomes (alternate shot) matches against Mogire and Lawry Cook. Jack Woods and Jordan Gallacher also face a tough opener against amateurs Thomas and Bayhaan Lakdawala but the standout clash pits UAE PGA chief executive Luke Plumb and his Trump Dubai colleague Mike Bolt against Hill and Gupta.

Related: Wears-Taylor sets sights on Sunshine Tour after defending UAE PGA’s flagship title to seal regional OOM race

Emirates G.C. will also host a round of afternoon fourball matches on Saturday before the singles matches and prize-giving dinner at DCGYC on Sunday. The pros lead the overall series 14 wins to four but Smith knows his UAE PGA brethren are in for a tough weekend.

“This will be my 8th Dubai Golf Trophy and I feel honoured to be the captain of the professional team this year. Based on the previous two years we are definitely coming into the event as the underdogs, but are more determined than ever to regain the trophy this year.”

It’s not quite the Ryder Cup but it’s as close as it gets in the UAE. And all the pressure is on the UAE PGA pros who won’t want to turn up to work on Monday having to explain a third successive loss.

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