By Kent Gray
Indian businessman Sudesh Aggarwal dreamed the Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL) into reality with the goal of spicing up the stock standard corporate day. On the evidence of Sunday’s ‘Mini-Series’ dress rehearsal at Jumeirah Golf Estates – and social media since – the EAGL looks a winner for the region’s amateurs and as a business concept.

As with any new undertaking, there are wrinkles to iron out before the league proper launches in November but for a high-powered endorsement, look no further than Robert ‘Bobby’ Fiala’s Facebook page.

The Emirates Golf Federation Operations and Marketing Manager has a vested interest with the EGF officially endorsing the IPL-cricket style franchise league. But the comments from the playing captain for Team Emirati Players highlighted a key reason why Aggarwal’s gamble is set to fly – the live stream footage  from Fire has already begun circulating around the globe.

“…Pretty cool that my dad got to watch in [the] States on Father’s Day,” Fiala wrote of his father Tom.

“Team Emirati Players finished 2nd overall and probably my best nine holes of the year (+1). Looking forward to seeing how this type of format will continue to push the development of golf in the region and worldwide. Well done to all involved.”

Check out Fiala’s post here:

That’s a decent commendation and a far from shabby pitch into the Fire’s 18th green. Nice shot Robert!

As EAGL ambassador, Shiv Kapur was on hand to hit the ceremonial first tee shot. The Asian Tour winner and European Tour player reckons the day gave the players a genuine taste of tour life just as Aggarwal envisaged.

“I think it’s fantastic to be able to replicate what a proper tournament feels like,” said Kapur. “I was feeling some butterflies on the first tee, so I can imagine what the amateurs were going through; to be live on TV and the nerves that they feel, it’s very different from Pro-Am. The whole idea of EAGL was to give them the experience of pro tournaments for team competitions so it’s kind of like the Ryder Cup and a Tour event all in one.

“I have never seen an amateur golf [event] like this, not even professional golf across the world. The idea is that team golf is always more exciting than individual formats; the colourfulness, the uniforms, you are playing for a team, it’s a nine-hole shootout…It’s very exciting and I think it’s here to stay.”

Founder and CEO Aggarwal was relieved and happy to have pulled off such an ambitious project.

“It has been quite a challenging thing to do, with the course setup and managing everything, particularly being the first of its kind in the world in the amateur golf,” said Aggarwal. “But it has also been very satisfying and interesting. Everybody’s so happy, including the course management, they have never seen anything like it.”

For the record, MENA Golfers won the Mini-Series title by collecting 10 of a possible 12 points in the 9-hole dress rehearsal. Check out the highlights from Fire here:

If you’ve got some serious time to kill – or had a mate playing – here’s a full replay of the day, all 4hrs and 01min of it. Enjoy:

If you are interested in playing the EAGL from November, register at www.eagl.ae.

The post EAGL dress rehearsal leaves ‘everybody so happy’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
How good was the experience of being inside the ropes as an amateur at the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic?

For Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) Operations and Marketing Manager Robert Fiala and Emirati national team players Khalid Yousuf and Abdulla Al Musharrekh, it was priceless and not simply for the obvious reason.

Captained by effervescent English LET and LPGA Tour winner Charley Hull, the trio won the teams portion of the innovative LET Pro-Am at Emirates Golf Club. Representing Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA V), Hull’s quartet edged the Marianne Skarpnor-skippered OMEGA I team of Beatrice Galeppini Salani, Edoardo Galeppini and Max Burrow by a stroke, -45 to -44 in the scramble format. Gabriella Cowley’s JA Resorts & Hotels IV team of Natalii Gupta, Scott Flewellen and Peter England completed the podium on -43.

Fiala normally scripts and distributes media releases promoting the deeds of others at EGF events or when UAE reps such as +4-handicapper Yousuf are representing the UAE at Middle East and world amateur events such as the Eisenhower Trophy. It was sure fun being the news creator rather than a recorder of history for a change.

“Wow…super excited, said the South Florida seven-handicapper. “The format worked in our favour and playing with Charley gave us an edge. Khalid and Abdallah were perfect off the tee and that really paired nicely with my iron game.”

Winning was sweet but the ring-side seat with Hull for the opening 36 of the Moonlight’s 54-holes was what made the week for Fiala.

“Charley is impressive. We fed off her focus and competitiveness,” he said. “Her caddie Adam controlled the pace and force of the group very nicely. It’s completely different from other Pro-Am formats because the rounds count for the pros as well. It gives the amateurs a more competitive feel knowing your pro is playing for the ‘real prize’. The engagement between the pros, caddies and amateurs was amazing given the current COVID situation. Wearing the mask all the time between shots was tough but being able to play with a professional is worth it.”

For 32-year-old five-handicapper Al Musharrekh, the older brother of the only Emirati professional Ahmed Al Musharrekh, playing the Moonlight was an “absolute privilege”. He likened it the AT&T at Pebble Beach and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland that he watches on TV every year.

“Charley was fantastic to be honest,” said Al Musharrekh, a UAE national team rep since the age of 15, a 2011 Pan Arab teams gold medallist in Qatar in 2011 and a regular Pro-Am starter.

“Of course, she is playing the main tournament, obviously one of the top pros on the tour, ranking’s right up there, so what I initially thought is, okay, she’s going to be very serious, she’s not really going to talk to us, greet us obviously but that’s it, she’s going to be completely focused on her game throughout.

“I was wrong. She was fantastic. She was chatting with us, she was cracking jokes, she was asking about the UAE, about the heritage, what [tourist] things she should be doing, food, how the culture really works, so that was intriguing.

“When we asked her any questions she would happily answer so very, very friendly. Obviously she would zone into her circle when she was approaching her shots but beyond that she was very, very amazing to play with, such a pleasure to be honest. We got really, really lucky to play with Charley.”

A COVID-19 survivor, Hull entered as one of the pre-tournament favourites but had a topsy-turvy week, struggling to bounce back from a triple bogey 8 on the 16th in her opening round. The world No. 30 eventually signed for rounds of 72-69-78 to finish on 222 — 16 shots adrift of winner Minjee Lee — in a share of 35th place with Dame Laura Davies and German Esther Hensele who was runner-up at last year’s Moonlight.

Hull’s game still thoroughly impressed Al Musharrekh.

“I don’t think she played her best golf but what really impressed me about her, like if she made bogey, I would look at it and she made a bogey from such an easy situation, you’d say, ‘oh wow’, this is such a silly bogey, you know. With amateurs, if we make such a silly bogey, with me, I’d probably struggle to come back and make a string of pars and birdies. But she would come back and birdie the next hole. If you look at her scorecards, she did it so many times.

“What I also found really interesting about her game is, I think she hits it a very long way to be honest. I mean, I would consider myself a very long hitter and when I really catch it, I am longer than her but not miles longer. I’ve played in one or two other ladies Pro-Ams before and honestly my driver would be a comfortable 50-60 yards ahead of the pro on average but with Charley I think she is one of the longer hitters. She hits it really, really hard, you could see that in the swing.”

The post Charley Hull proves captain ‘fantastic’ as EFG infused team win Moonlight Classic Pro-Am appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.