Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club beat The Els Club by 3.5-0.5 in the second leg of the final to add to their 4-0 first leg lead and complete a dominant win in the 2013- 2014 UAE Invitational Scratch Golf League final at The Els Club.
The newly-crowned champions won the title for the first time in the eight-year history of the event.
The pair of Paul Moir and Michael Fournie were the only ones from the Els Club to secure half a point when they halved their match with John Fellingham and Bilal Bilaid.
Miki Mirza and Mike McGinley were 4&2 winners over Dean Cheesley and Gerhardt Pretorious, and that was enough to ensure Dubai Creek the title with their fifth straight win.
Max Burrow and Steve Barker beat Maz Nubani and Xavier Farrington on the final hole, and Bayhaan Lakdawala and Edoardo Galleppini 5&4 win over Mark Hay and David Voller completed the emphatic win.
Bob Driver, League Coordinator, said: “Dubai Creek have been the outstanding team this season in the league.Their record speaks for itself with four wins and a draw as well as a walkover loss in the divisional qualifiers before big wins in the semi-finals and final. It is exciting to welcome a new name on the trophy.”
McGinley was the most successful player for Dubai Creek during the season, and they were also helped by solid performances from Lakdawala, Burrows and Mirza.
Mirza was unbeaten in the six matches he played, garnering six points for Dubai Creek, as did Lakdawala and Burrow, who lost one match in the seven they played.
McGinley won six of his eight matches and halved another, contributing 6.5 points overall.
Winners show their matchplay prowess in Sharjah
After over 100 club members competed since October in four different categories of Matchplay format – Net Singles, Net Pairs, Gross Singles and Gross Pairs – the four winners of Sharjah Golf & Shooting Clubs Air Arabia Matchplay Championships were finally identified last week.
Mark Dupree beat his regular playing partner Chandan Vaidya 3&2 in the final of Net Singles.
Dupree established a 2-up lead early on in the contest and managed to keep his nose in front until the pair reached the 16th tee.
With two holes in the match, Vaidya’s wild tee shot tee resulted in a seven to Dupree’s regulation four and a title win.
SGSC professional Joe Marshall and member Ian Delahunt claimed the Pairs Net with a thrilling extra hole win over Ian Plant and Dupree.
A birdie on the first extra hole from Marshall earned them the title and denied Dupree a double.
In the Gross Singles, Ricky Dominguez beat Hassan Yazdi 4&3 in their final, while the Gross Pair was a new edition this season with the field limited to the 16 lowest combined handicap pairs.
The final was competed between Scratch League team regular Paul Nightingale and SGSC Head Professional Ben Derbyshire and four-handicapper Roy Holmes and another pro, Steve Chambers.
All square on the final hole, only Chambers and Holmes found the green in two shots.
Holmes then held a 12-foot par putt to win his first major title in six years of membership at the club.
Captain Barbara closes her season with a title
In a fitting finale to the season at Emirates Golf Club, Lady Captain Barbara Head and partner Marian Pavy took top honours with 36 points in the 2014 Ladies End of Season tournament.
Their card included net scores of eight pars, five birdies and an eagle on the second hole.
Martha Wong and Lynne Dickinson also match 36 points but lost out on a count back and were runners up on the day.
