UAE golf round-up: Advantage Creek as they win all four first-leg matches

Joy Chakravarty 15:40 14/05/2014
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  • Before the battle: Members of both Creek and Els Club teams pose for a picture.

    Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club used the home advantage superbly to win all four matches in the first leg of their two-leg final of the UAE Men’s Scratch League against The Els Club Dubai.

    The tournament, which runs throughout the year, sees teams from various clubs across the region compete in a Betterball Scratch Match play format.

    From the group stages, teams qualify to battle it out in the knock-out stage before two teams – Dubai Creek and Els Club this year – make it to the two-leg final. The second leg of the tournament will be played at the Els Club at the end of May.

    The Dubai Creek team produced a superb performance and won all four matches. Max Burrow and Rayhan Thomas produced a 4&3 victory to put the first point on the board for the Creek before Miki Mirza and Michael McGinley sealed the second point with a 3&2 win.

    Captain John Fellingham sealed victory in his match with a six-foot par putt on their last hole, while Edoardo Galeppini and Bayhan Lakdawala closed out a 2-up victory on the 18th and sealed a 4-0 Creek win.

    After play, captain John Fellingham commented: “What a superb result. I would like to thank all of the Els team for a great game and an even bigger thank you to all of my team for their great individual performances and teamwork today.

    “It’s great to get a 4-0 result against such a strong team and I’m very proud of the team. It gives us a real confidence boost ahead of the final leg at The Els Club.”

    Team Exxon Mobile win Doha Xerox Qualifier
    Team Exxon Mobil Qatar, comprising of Naynesh Desai and Douglas Grote – won the Doha qualifying round of the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge with a fantastic score of 63.

    At the Doha Golf Club, Qatar, the third qualifying round received a brilliant response with 62 teams participating in the tournament.

    Team Golfnuts (Tim Miller and Neil Flanigan) beat Team Apollo Engineering 1 (Frank Harrigan and Alan Crozier) for the runners-up spot on the basis of a countback after both teams finished with scores of 64.

    Team Exxon Mobil Qatar will join winners of the first and second qualifying rounds and compete in the 36-hole two-day grand final, to be played at Tower Links and Al Hamra golf courses, with an overnight stay at the Waldorf Astoria in December 2014.

    The fourth qualifying round of the tournament will be on Thursday, May 22, at Yas Links, Abu Dhabi.

    Farrell and Clarke record close wins at Yas Seniors
    Bill Farrell and Catherine Clarke won the top honours in the men’s and ladies’ sections respectively when they won the Yas Links Seniors Open by the narrowest possible margins.

    A brilliant response from players saw as many as 72 players tee off despite the hot weather conditions, and it was Farrell, who shot the best gross score – a three-over par 75 on the Kyle Phillips-designed golf course. That gave him a oneshot win over Takao Matsutani.

    It was a similar story in the ladies gross with Clarke (77) edging Jo Higgins for the trophy.

    The men’s nett championship was won by Aart Lehmkuhl (69), while Jackie Stewart won the nett title for ladies with a score of 69.

    TORO to host seminar on water conservation
    The TORO company, market leaders for irrigation and turfcare machinery, will host a seminar, followed by a golf day for general managers and course superintendents of the various golf clubs in the Middle East. 
    The programme takes place tomorrow at the Doha Golf Club.

    The $2 billion company, in association with their partners in the region, Hydroturf International, have provided their irrigation system and machinery in several leading golf courses, including all four European Tour hosts venues – Emirates Golf Club, Doha Golf Club, Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Jumeirah Golf Estates.

    The focus of the seminar will be on TORO’s ground-breaking Lynx Central Control System, TORO Turf Guard and the Infinity sprinkler heads, which can combine to reduce water usage on a golf course by as much as 40 per cent.

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