Pan Arab Championships Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Medal haul for UAE in Ladies and Junior Pan Arab Golf Championships

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 06:36:47 +0000

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) captured three team medals and four individual medals in their respected divisions at the 2023 Ladies and Junior Pan Arab Golf Championships at Riyadh Golf Club, Saudi Arabia.

Winning gold for the UAE in the Girls 15 and Under Division was Sara Abubaker, Maya Gaudi, and Aasiya Saleem. Aasiya was the front-runner for the team with rounds of 75-67-72 to finish two under par and claiming the silver medal in the Individual Category. Maya took the bronze medal in the division also. While back in the team category, Tunisia took silver, and the Egypt team bronze.

UAE Girls 15 & Under Team – Emirates Golf Federation

The UAE Ladies Team with Intissar Rich, Jamie Camero, and Alia Alemadi won the silver in the Ladies’ Team Division. Jamie led the way for the UAE with rounds of 70-74-72 and also taking home the silver in the Individual Category. Team Morocco came out on top overall and Lebanon won bronze in the Ladies’ Team division.

The medals kept coming for the UAE. In the Boys 18 & Under Mohammad Skaik, Rashid Aljassmy, and Sayed Ahmed came away with silver. Morocco impressively ran away with division winning gold by more than 30 shots. But the competition between the UAE and the eventual bronze team Egypt was a tight race with the UAE pipping them by just three shots.

Abdulla Darwish won silver in the Boys 13 & Under Individual Category after firing an impressive three under par 69 for his second round which gave him enough to win via countback. Egypt won the gold and Jordan took bronze in the team category.

Competing in the UAE Boys 15 & Under Team division and placing fifth in the Team Category were Marwan Alemadi, Abdulla Salmeen, and Mohammed Thabet. Tunisia won gold, Egypt won silver, and Saudi Arabia won bronze in the team category.

Moving forward the teams and players will focus on playing the Emirates Golf Federation Order of Merit events. Some of the players will even travel and compete in World Amateur Golf Ranking events to continue to develop their game.

Images: Emirates Golf Federation

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Team Egypt win Pan Arab Junior Boys 13 & Under Division

Harry Grimshaw — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 05:34:59 +0000

Team Egypt Junior Boys 13 and Under have won their division in the Pan Arab Championship at Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia.

The Egyptians ran away with the 36-hole tournament, in a format where the two best stroke play scores from each team are combined at the end of each day. They matched their opening days combined round of 155 with the same on Thursday for a tournament total of 310.

Second place in the Division went to Tunisia followed by Oman, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and finally Libya.

In the events other divisions, which have the final round today, the UAE Junior Girls 15 & Under are still leading their group with Maya Gaudin, Sara Ali, and Aasiya Saleem having set a very high bar with a fantastic combined team score of one over par.

Tunisia are in second spot followed by Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Morocco have overtaken the UAE in the Ladies Division after their best two combined second rounds of 67 and 72 to sit at five under par.

In third is Lebanon with Tunisia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia finishing out the six teams competing.

The Junior Boys 15 & Under Division is being led by Tunisia with Egypt and Saudi Arabia completing the top three as we head into the final day.

While in the Junior Boys 18 & Under the Moroccan Team are running away with their division after a stunning tournament score of ten under par with just 18 holes remaining.

The UAE Team of Mohammad Skaik, Rashed Al Jassemy, and Rayan Ahmed are in second spot with Egypt currently in third.

These exceptional achievements not only highlight the individual talents of these Pan Arab champions but also underscore the growing standard and competitiveness in the championship.

Main Image: Egyptian Golf Federation

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Flying the flag: Saudi Arabia’s Faisal Salhab and Saud AlSharif ready for next step in their careers

Matt Smith — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 06:49:57 +0000

By Matt Smith
Over the past 18 months, you could say Saudi Arabia has been making something of a name for itself in global golfing circles.

With concerted promotional efforts and considerable backing from Golf Saudi and the Government’s Public Investment Fund, the game has expanded greatly in the Kingdom in recent times, from global events such as the LIV Golf Invitational Series, and the flagship Saudi International on the Asian Tour, to a growth in golf tourism as well as an upturn in Saudis of all ages and abilities — both male and female — taking up the game for the first time.

There are two young men who are enjoying the ride first-hand — amateur golfers Faisal Salhab and Saud AlSharif.

The pair have risen to prominence in the Middle East thanks to some outstanding performances, and their dedication to the cause is reaping dividends.

Salhab, at 24, is the slightly more experienced of the two, and his recent achievements include victory in the 2021 Saudi Open, another title at the 40th Pan Arab Championships in Cairo, second spot at the GCC Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi and a third consecutive invite to the stellar Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City.

“The game is coming together nicely,” Faisal told Golf Digest Middle East after competing at the Tillman Trophy in England in late July, where he scored a first-round 65 to top the leaderboard before settling for 15th in a talented field. “It’s still not completely there but things are going in the right direction.”

While still only 22, AlSharif is also showing similar promise, as he builds on his triumph at the Jordan Open late last year.

He has been honing his game in England alongside Salhab this past month — all under the watchful eye of Golf Saudi Senior Professional Grant Smith, who is helping mentor the duo, who are based at the Claude Harmon III Academy at Els Club in Dubai. Smith offers first-hand coaching on the boys’ travels, with three more Asian Tour events on the horizon very soon ahead of the Eisenhower Trophy — the World Men’s Amateur Team Championships — in Paris.

Thanks to their progress and Golf Saudi’s backing, Salhab and AlSharif are getting more and more opportunities to shine, with multiple events on the Asian Tour‚ including the new International Series which took them to Slaley Hall, Newcastle, for the Tour’s first-ever event in England.

Faisal Salhab has been gaining vital experience at the Saudi International and Asian Tour tournaments in Europe

“With the Asian Tour events we have been given the opportunity to play in, those have really sharpened up our game,” said AlSharif, embracing the journey the pair are on together. “Speaking of myself, they have been a very important reason behind my being comfortable out there in any tournament I have been in, or any situation I have faced, because I am now in these bigger fields with more to play for and playing alongside all these professionals.

“It is a massive plus for my game and I am so grateful for that. It is really showing in how we both perform and also how we feel more confident and comfortable in some of the other amateur events — it is such a positive thing. We certainly don’t take it for granted and are very grateful to Golf Saudi and the Asian Tour for these opportunities.”

Salhab is happy to concur.

“What is happening with the Asian tour is great,” he added. “Especially with the International Series as it’s giving an opportunity to both me and Saud to test ourselves with some of the top players. The field was so strong in Newcastle and there was the added incentive of a spot at the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series up for grabs, which made the competition even more intense.”

Intense is also a word you could use to describe the elements in the UK for these two, who are much more used to the sunshine and warmth of the Middle East.

“The weather was certainly different,” laughed Salhab, who found the course layouts more of a challenge than the wind and rain.

“It was much colder than we were used to but very enjoyable. It is nice to escape the heat sometimes. The biggest difference were the types of courses over here, whether it would be links or heathland or parkland, it’s very different to the courses back home.”

With Golf Saudi’s links to Greg Norman’s innovative LIV Golf adventure, the series has inevitably caught the attention of the Saudi pair, who would love to play alongside the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed and Henrik Stenson at the ground-breaking, 54-hole tournaments in the future.

“I am very hopeful — whenever it happens — to tee it up with those guys,” said AlSharif. “They are some of the best players in the world, and LIV Golf is a very cool format, if you ask me. It would be very cool to be part of that environment.”

Salhab also thinks it is a welcome addition to the golfing calendar. “To be able to be competing in the Asian tour and in the International Series is already a bonus,” he said. “Of course, if I get the opportunity with LIV Golf, it would be incredible, and I would be interested in competing there.”

Saud AlSharif is based at CH3 Academy in Dubai, where he works with Jamie McConnell

NEXT STEPS
Back to the immediate future, and CH3 coach Jamie McConnell has been helping out from afar as Faisal and Saud continue their travels.

“We have done some online lessons with Jamie when being in the UK with the supervision of Golf Saudi’s Grant, and implemented what needs to be worked on,” explained Salhab. “Also with the support of the national team we were able to do a training camp at Centurion in Hertfordshire, England, and keep playing events to not get too rusty.”

Soon the pair will be back in Dubai after their summer trip to the UK, but that doesn’t mean the work stops, even if the heat is unrelenting, as there are the Asian Tour’s remaining 2022 events coming up thick and fast.

“My plans over the next few weeks when I get back to the UAE are training with Jamie at Claude Harmon III Academy at the Els Club in Dubai for the upcoming Asian Tour schedule,” said AlSharif. “We obviously haven’t seen Jamie in a while as we have been on the road, so we are heading back his way now for some prepping in Dubai. It might be in the heat, but we are used to that these days!

“We are looking forward to the fully packed schedule for the rest of the year on the Asian Tour and beyond. I feel like it is going to be a good year for all of us and, hopefully, we get a lot of chances. But we will go out there, enjoy it and give it our best and see what happens.”

Despite the travel and hard work, Salhab is also eager to keep going.

“I’m keen to play all the International Series events on the Asian tour, also I have never competed in the Eisenhower Trophy which I’m very excited about,” he said. “There are also a few Asian Development Tour events and I am hoping to play in the Saudi international again next year. I want to use all the knowledge from the upcoming season to try to compete at that event. It would mean so much to me to do well at an event on home soil.

“I believe I have the game it takes to be competing out there. It still has not come together on the Asian Tour but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and just have to keep at it and something good will happen.”

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Faisal Salhab spearheads promising performance surge by Saudi amateurs

Kent Gray — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 10:03:41 +0000

By Kent Gray
Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, the rise of Saudi Arabia’s elite golfing stocks is a predictable slow burner. But thanks largely to Faisal Salhab, the embers have burned a little brighter since November.

The 25-year-old has risen to No. 70 in the official World Amateur Golf Rankings on the back of victories at the 6th Saudi Open and 40th Pan Arab Championships in Cairo.

Salhab’s victory in the individual standings at Dreamland Golf Resort in Egypt also spearheaded Saudi Arabia to just its second teams gold medal– by a whopping eight strokes over Qatar.

The victory at the Saudi Open, which included a course record 66 around Riyadh Golf Club, earned Salhab an invite to the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers. Though he missed the cut by six strokes after rounds of 75-75, the experience gained teeing it up in a field including the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Bubba Watson and eventual champion Harold Varner III cannot be underestimated.

It was Salhab’s third Asian Tour start in as many months and he has been the leading Saudi amateur at each stop: 113th at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship and T109th at both the Laguna Phuket Championship and the Saudi International.

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A post shared by Saudi International (@saudiintlgolf)

A stroke average of 74.83 in his six Asian Tour rounds thus far is a benchmark to work with, just as the eye-catching performances of Ratchanon Chantananuwat are something to aspire to. The Thai 14-year-old amateur has impressively made the cut in all five of his Asian Tour starts thus far, including both Phuket events and the Saudi International where he finished T71.

Salhab is grateful to Golf Saudi for the opportunities to learn at the highest level.

“This is all thanks to the continuous support us National Team players receive, whether that’s from the Saudi Golf Federation or Golf Saudi, their backing enhances our chances of performing to the best of our abilities.”

Saud Al Sharif is up to 371st in the WAGR chiefly on the back of his Jordan Open victory late last year. Al Sharif went on to finish 141st, 130th and 115th at Blue Canyon, Laguna Phuket and Royal Greens respectively.

Jamie McConnell, the Director of Instruction at the Claude Harmon Performance Academy Dubai, coaches Al Sharif and is pleased with the progress of the entire Saudi national team.

“The team have been working exceptionally hard over the last few months with some fantastic results including three victories from Saud and Faisal which was fantastic to see, and more than earned through their hard work and dedication,” said McConnell.

“I think this year the biggest help has been the schedule that they have been able to play. Mixing a full summer of amateur events with some more recent Asian Tour events allows them to really feel what it is like to play, travel and adapt to different scenarios, climates and courses. This is a huge part of learning to compete at the highest level and I must compliment Golf Saudi on not only backing them to play in these events, but also opening the doors required to do so.”

“The next few months will involve a sit-down review of what we have been through and achieved over the last few months, while also reflecting on what needs to be improved before what will be a hectic period in the late spring and through the summer.”

The Kingdom’s leading amateurs have pushed Saudi’s pioneering professional Othman Almulla all winter long with the world’s 1697th ranked player recording 113th, 126th and T100 finishes at the two Phuket events and the Saudi International respectively.

Like the amateurs, Almulla continues to work tirelessly towards his dream and posted a poignant message during the Saudi International entitled “keep going”.

“It will take time; it will take pain; it will break you down and force you to become stronger. But everything you are going through right now will take you to places you could have never imagined. Have faith in your journey and trust in yourself because one day, you will get there. – Walk the Earth.”

golfsaudi.com

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