Ahmad Skaik, the first Emirati captain in the 22 year history of the Dubai Golf Trophy, shares the inside story of last month’s historic 18½-13½ victory over the UAE PGA Tour pros as the EGF amateurs made it six successive wins in the UAE’s answer to the Ryder Cup.

With Kent Gray

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I’m very, very proud of my team for this achievement and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to be the captain of. I think this was the youngest team in the history of this trophy and we had seven new players so I am very proud of each and every one of them as they all contributed.

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This event means so much to me. I love team events and it’s one of the rare tournaments where I have to think of the team, give my all to the team before thinking about myself. 

• • •
To be the first Emirati captain is a very big achievement for me and I gave it my all and tried to make everyone confident and comfortable. Basically, I tried to be the best captain I can possibly be and the win is a big bonus for sure. It was a tough and stressful season as I wanted everything to be perfect so we could win. I think that just shows how much it means to me.

• • •
I felt a lot of pressure going into it because you obviously don’t want to be a losing captain in general let alone being the first captain to lose in the last six years.

• • •
I got a lot of positive feedback from the Emirati golf community and a lot of them told me that they want to follow in my footsteps. This drives me and motivates me to work harder and harder. The best was from my team telling me that I was a very good captain.

• • •
They are a group of young players so they were already pumped going into it but I reminded the new players of how good they are and that no one deserves to be in the team more than them. All that was left was to go out and show everyone what you’re made of. After a great result on day one [the EGF lead 11-5 after the foursomes and fourballs], I had to remind the players that it still was far from over and that showed on day two as it was much closer [the EGF edged the singles 8½ -7½] than I would have liked but it makes the win feel much better.

• • •
I was worried for sure [after the opening foursomes were shared 4-4] but I was also confident that we had a strong team and I thought I did the round two fourballs pairings very well and we saw that with the score of 7-1. I made sure to match the players well together and change a few pairings from the morning match and I was very happy that it worked out the way it did.

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To be honest, when I checked the leaderboard in the [afternoon] fourballs matches, it was still very close and myself and Khalid [Yousuf] had a tough match against Ryan Smith and Malcolm Young so me and Khalid decided not to look at it and just focus on winning our point for the team. 

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Josh Hill [EGF No.1] has shown that he is levels ahead of the rest this season and that is a good thing for us to push ourselves to get to that level. I was very confident that he would get all three points and he gave me a hard time telling me he can’t play then yes, then no, then yes. He ended up changing his math test and flight dates [to the UK] to play which I really appreciate.

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The guy that impressed me the most was Niklas Korjonen because it was his first time playing this event and he went 3-0. That doesn’t usually happen. Usually, the ones that play for the first time barely contribute.

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Me and Steve Kelbrick have a very special bond together and I look up to him a lot as he inspires me. He chose me to be his vice-captain so we worked a lot together in the last two years and we did our practice rounds together leading up to this one. After I won my singles and saw how close it was, I went to support the players and I saw that Steve was 4 down at one point and got it to 1 up and I watched his last 3 holes and when he won on 17 to put our team in a very good position, we had a very special moment together. I think we hugged for like one minute. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.

• • •
It was very exciting to see the ladies play an exhibition match for the first time. I mean they weren’t fully part of it this time as their points didn’t count but I hope that they enjoyed it and I’m sure that next season will be very special for them as they will actually be part of the teams. I hope the ladies in the UAE national team set that as a goal for them in the future.

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Khalid [Yousuf] was my vice-captain and also my partner. It was special for us to be together in the UAE team for all these years and then become the captain and vice-captain in the same year. I am sure that he will be a great captain because he is the captain of the UAE national team so he has experience with that. I think he will bring his experience into play as he played many of these and I will be there to help him with anything that he wants.

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We have a lot of players in the EGF amateur team that want to make it on tour and we have a lot of almost full-time golfers in the team which will always be a factor and the difference when the pressure is on, even though the pros always give us a big fight.

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Yes, I think that we can make it seven in a row for sure. If everything goes well and we get the right players in the team, then I don’t see why not.

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Skaik leads EGF to sixth successive Dubai Golf Trophy
Bolt, Skaik name teams as EGF amateurs chase Dubai Golf Trophy six-peat

The post Sweet 6: Ahmad Skaik on leading the Emirates Golf Federation appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The glorious answer to this random pub quiz-style question is that all three have squeezed into the 144-man field for this week’s 33rd Senior Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes via final qualifying.

It’s a dream come true for Trump International Golf Club Dubai club member Kelbrick who like Gary Nicklaus advanced at Hillside Golf Club in Southport, also host venue of the recent British Masters, on Monday. Kelbrick, who has won the Emirates Golf Federation’s season-long Order-of-Merit title two times in the last three years, qualified with a two-over-par round of 74, a shot worse than the Golden Bear’s oldest son who is giving professional golf one last shot.

Chamblee, who worked behind the cameras as Shane Lowry captured last week’s 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush, was one of 14 successful qualifiers from Fairhaven as he carded a one-under-par round of 72.

More than 500 starters chased the 49 remaining spots for Royal Lytham & St Annes at Monday qualifiers held at Hillside, Fairhaven, Southport & Ainsdale and St Annes Old Links.

Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez will defend the senior claret jug from Thursday in a field overflowing with former major (main and senior circuit) champions.

Kelbrick will be especially excited about the opportunity to join the same fabled fairways as his boyhood hero Tom Watson who has three Senior Opens to go with his five Open Championship wins in 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983.

After going within a stroke of qualifying for the 2017 Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl, Kelbrick set his heart on qualifying last year after being promised a practice round with the eight-time major champion if he could qualify for last year’s Senior Open at St. Andrews. He couldn’t quite achieve that – missing by two – but may yet achieve that dream on Wednesday.

“I set out to do this not knowing if it was possible but to say to my children that I have played in the same tournament as Mr Watson,” Kelbrick told Golf Digest Middle East. “It’s a dream realised. I could possibly even play a practice round with him [Watson] on Wednesday but we shall see.”

Kelbrick’s outlined his dream of playing alongside Watson in an interview with Golf Digest Middle East last year.

“I first saw him play at Royal Troon in ’82 when he beat Nick Price [to hoist the Claret Jug for the fourth times] and from that day on…it’s just the way he’s lived his life, conducted himself,” Kelbrick said of Watson. “I’ve had the chance to meet him twice but I’ve never played with him. He’s a hero as man and as for his golf, his record speaks for itself.”

Interestingly, Watson has never won on the famous Lancashire links of Royal Lytham & St Annes.

“My record at Lytham could use some polishing but I would love nothing more than to play well with a chance to win at this iconic and historic venue. I am looking forward to this Major Championship with great anticipation,” Watson told the Staysure Tour.

“Royal Lytham is one of the premier links courses in the world and it always presents the players with a tough but fair challenge,” said the two-time Ryder Cup Captain who has collected wins at Carnoustie, Turnberry, Muirfield, Royal Troon, Royal Birkdale and Royal Aberdeen.

It will be interesting to see if Kelbrick gets his dream practice round and who the Dubai Trophy mainstay is grouped with for the opening two rounds on Thursday and Friday.

Bernhard Langer (1985 and 1993 Masters), who like Watson has won the Senior Open three times, and Fred Couples (1992 Masters) have seven Senior Open titles between them.

Other major champions confirmed for Royal Lytham & St Annes include Michael Campbell (2005 U.S. Open), Retief Goosen (2001 and 2004 U.S. Open), Paul Lawrie (1999 Open), Sandy Lyle (1985 Open, 1988 Masters), Larry Mize (1987 Masters), José María Olazabal (1994 and 1999 Masters), Ian Woosnam (1991 Masters) and Darren Clarke (2011 Open) who hit the opening tee shot at last week’s Open at Royal Portrush.

Perhaps the most dangerous major champion competing this week will be Tom Lehman. The American won the 1996 Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes by two strokes from Ernie Els and Mark McCumber.

Other names to watch this week are Ryder Cup-winning player and captain Paul McGinley, 2016 Senior Open champion Paul Broadhurst and eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie, who is chasing his fourth senior major title but first on British soil. 

The post Dubai amateur sensationally qualifies for the Senior Open; eyes warm-up round with boyhood hero Tom Watson appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.