By Kent Gray
Steven Kelbrick works hard at his game and golf continues to reward him richly.

Consistency – as in eight top 5s in 12 starts including a pair of runner-up finishes – saw the Trump International Golf Club Dubai member (pictured centre) capture the 2016-17 Emirates Golf Federation order-of-merit title last season.

His reward was a trip to the Thailand Amateur Golf Championship. After showing the EGF whippersnappers how it’s done, Kelbrick is now looking forward to an even more prestigious prize, a start in the 2nd Sharjah Senior Golf Masters presented by Shurooq next month.

Kelbrick earned the right to tee it up with former European Ryder Cuppers Des Smyth, Ronan Rafferty and Costantino Rocca after winning Sunday’s Amateur and Professional Qualifier at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club.

Mark McNeilly also carded a 75 but Kelbrick’s superior back nine saw him edge the Jumeirah Golf Estates member on count-back. McNeilly needn’t fret – he’s through to the Staysure Tour (formerly European Senior Tour) event from March 8-10 as well, along with SGSC’s Namir Al Naimi who snared the final spot with a 79.

“I’m happy that we have such a prestigious event here in Sharjah,” said Kelbrick of the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters where South African Chris Williams is poised to defend his title.

“Shurooq is doing an incredible job to attract 13 Ryder Cup players here and a very good quality of field. The facilities in the Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club are excellent for the tournament to take place so I’d say that I am extremely excited to take part in such a great event with a lot of golfing greats.”

McNeilly is excited too.

“This was a great experience for me,” said McNeilly. “This is my first time in a Senior qualifier and I have been working hard for a long time to be where I am today.

“The course was in great shape, the greens were immaculate and everyone here is doing a great job so I am very impressed. Now that I am going to play with the shining names of the Staysure Tour, I am just going to enjoy my time in the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters and do my best.”

Entry to the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters is free of charge.

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The former Ryder Cupper is leading the call to action for volunteers ahead of the Staysure Tour (formerly European Senior Tour) event at the nine-hole Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club on March 8-10.

Jobs are available as caddies, marshals and scorers and Rafferty, 54, promises a unique “fun-filled” experience for those willing to give up their time.

“It’s not like when you’re at the Dubai Desert Classic or the DP World Tour Championship where the players aren’t really approachable. The merry band of over 50s are just the opposite, the atmosphere is completely different,” said the seven-time European Tour winner who is searching for his maiden Staysure Tour title.

“That might not have been evident in Sharjah last year because the golfing public in Dubai are used to things like ‘keep quiet, there are some golfers over there’. It won’t be like that at Sharjah. So get involved – name your group, call yourself the ‘merry bandits’, get a name tag on everyone so we can build up a relationship and get on first-name terms and we’ll interact for the week.”

The Northern Irishman, who played the 1989 Ryder Cup at the Belfry after topping the European Tour moneylist that season, says the Staysure Tour players are ready for a bit of banter.

“At events like the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, certain ‘teams’ of volunteers will work on each hole, and players then get to know those people day by day and year after year. They walk up onto the tee and they see a familiar face in a marshal’s uniform, and they recognise you and greet you.

Volunteers at last year’s Sharjah Senior Masters with winner Chris Williams.

“It would be great to get a bunch of people down from the local golf clubs or involve a group of people from a social club. Because every club has its groups of friends who play in a regular four-ball on a certain day. It’s more appealing to do things in a group, rather than on your own as an individual, so if you’re interested in volunteering – bring a friend or two.

You can register as a volunteer for the Sharjah Senior Masters here.

The deadline is February 16. Those who apply for roles will be contacted on February 23.

South African Chris Williams, who pipped Englishman Gary Marks in a playoff last March, is poised to defend his title. Rafferty, for the record, finished in a share of 43rd place at the inaugural 54-hole event featuring a field of 57 and no halfway cut.

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The 53-year-old Northern Irishman is heading to the UAE early to mix business with pleasure as he prepares for the European Senior Tour season-opener, to be hosted by Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club from March 16-18.

“I have a daughter who lives in Dubai,” the former Ryder Cup star said. “So it will be good to see her and I’ll be heading over to Jumeirah Golf Estates to spend some time at the wonderful European Tour Performance Institute so I’ll be raring to go at Sharjah.”

It is believed the 54-holer is the first main tour event to be played on a 9-hole course. The Ulsterman knows, both as a third year Senior Tour player and from previous experience in Sharjah, that the desire to win while having fun needn’t be mutually exclusive.

“It’s a good course with some tricky greens but it doesn’t feel like a 9-hole course because you’re going in at a different angle on the ‘shared’ holes,” said Rafferty who described the European Senior Tour as “a bit like attending a series of old reunions”.

“The [Sharjah Senior Invitational] Pro-Am last year was a lot of fun and the banter between the players and spectators had everyone inter-acting with each other. That’s one of the features of the Senior Tour.  We’re all totally focused on winning but that doesn’t stop us sharing a few jokes and having a laugh with the galleries.

Rafferty was the European Tour’s No.1 in 1988 thanks to three wins that season, which earned him a place in the 1989 Ryder Cup at The Belfry where he captured a crucial point with a 1-up win over Mark Calcavecchia in the singles to help Europe to a 14-14 draw and successfully retain the Cup.

“The Ryder Cup has a fantastic atmosphere and let’s hope we can create some friendly noise at Sharjah next month,” the seven-time European Tour winner said.

Rafferty (far right, top row) was a star of the 1989 Ryder Cup at The Belfry

“As Senior Tour players we’ve got to do everything we can to give spectators a reason to attend the event and join in and the two days of Pro-Ams on the Tuesday and Wednesday, prior to the main event on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, has all the hallmarks of an outstanding week of fun-filled top-class golf.

“It would be great if next month’s Sharjah Senior Golf Masters were to lead to another Senior Tour event in the region.”

Entry to the tournament, the first European Senior Tour event in the UAE since 2000 and to be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, is free.

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Des Smyth, Ronan Rafferty, Jose Rivero, Gordon J Brand, Steven Richardson, Gordon Brand Jnr, Philip Walton, Costantino Rocca and Barry Lane are all confirmed for the opening event of the 2017 European Senior Tour season at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club from March 16-18.

Another former European Ryder Cupper, reigning Senior Open champion and senior tour order of merit champion Paul Broadhurst, is also expected to compete for the $63,750 winners’ cheque in a field set to include the top 20 from last season’s money list.

Also confirmed are two-time senior major champion Roger Chapman, former moneylist winners Peter Fowler and Paul Wesselingh and Welshman Stephen Dodd, who won the 2005 World Cup of Golf.

“We are all very excited about the inaugural Sharjah Senior Golf Masters and would like to extend our grateful thanks to Shurooq for enabling our very first event in Sharjah to see the light of day,” said European Senior Tour chief David MacLaren.

“We believe that this may be the very first time that a full European Tour event of any description has been played over a nine-hole layout and this is sure to add a different and exciting dimension to a tournament that we would urge all local golf fans to support.”

Joining the elite European Senior Tour stars are Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club’s Ramli Sulaiman and Rene Larsen of Jumeirah Golf Estates who triumphed in a recent “Amateur and Professional Qualifier”, along with another local player, John Mills.

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The 51-year-old Englishman will be joined by three other Ryder Cup blasts from the past – Mark James, Ronan Rafferty and Barry Lane – at the European Senior Tour event at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club from March 16-18.

“I am greatly looking forward to starting my defence of the John Jacobs Trophy [order of merit title] in Sharjah in March,” said Broadhurst who won his first senior major at Carnoustie in July by two shots from American Scott McCarron before going on to capture the US Champion Tour’s Pure Insurance Championship in September.

“I have always enjoyed playing in the United Arab Emirates, and it’s great that the Senior Tour golfers now have a chance to return to a country where a number of us will have very fond memories.”

Broadhurst, who finished second at the Wales Senior Open, WINSTONgolf Senior Open and the season-ending MCB Tour Championship and had two other two 10s, easily captured the the 2016 order of merit title with €399, 285 from nine events. Swede Magnus P Atlevi, tied third with Miguel Angel Jimenez at Carnoustie, was second with €211,557 to tie up rookie of the year honours.

Atlevi will also tee it up in Sharjah which is one of five European Tour events scheduled for the UAE in 2017 alongside the this month’s main tour Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, February’s Tiger Woods-headlined Omega Dubai Desert Classic, November’s DP World Tour Championship and the Challenge Tour’s Ras-Al Khaimah Golf Challenge in October.

It’s the first Senior Tour event in the region since 2000 but a first professional tournament for Sharjah and the emirate’s Peter Harradine-designed nine-hole course.

James, a former Ryder Cup captain and two-time Senior Tour winner, won the inaugural Dubai Desert Classic in 1989, the very first European Tour event held in the UAE.

Northern Ireland’s Rafferty, winner of the European Tour Order of Merit in 1989, will go in search of a maiden Senior Tour title, adding to the seven he won on main tour between 1989 and 1993.

Lane will land in Sharjah fresh from winning the MCB Tour Championship.

Former Desert Classic champion Eamonn Darcy, a hero of Europe’s 15-13 Ryder Cup win in 1987, fellow Irishman and two-time Ryder Cupper Des Smyth and five-time Senior Tour winner and 2011 OOM winner Peter Fowler (Australia) have also been linked with to the Sharjah bow.

Photo – Getty Images

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