On the day he launched the MENA Golf Tour in 2011, Mohamed Juma Buamaim spoke passionately about his dream of crowning an Arab champion on the Tour one day.
That day finally arrived in the fourth year of the Tour and in its 26th tournament when Morocco’s Ahmed Marjane won the Ras Al Khaimah Classic last week.
Given the considerable role played by Buamaim and his company ‘golf in DUBAi’, the organizers and promoters of the MENA Golf Tour, in developing and shaping Marjane’s career, it was apt that the 22-year-old Moroccan repaid his debt in the finest possible manner by becoming the first Arab champion of the Tour.
“It really was the happiest day of my life,” said a proud Buamaim. “The plan was there and we see the result in just the fourth year, which I think is great.
“The fact that we now have one of our own players winning a tournament, this will surely encourage all the other kids to do better. And as for Marjane, hopefully, he will now be able to win on bigger Tours.”
Buamaim said the reaction has been terrific in Morocco.
“I have got so many messages from Morocco. And I am sure this news will slowly filter down in GCC nations and they will soo realise the importance of it,” he added.
“I got a very nice message from Dr Ahmed Sharief of Dubai Sports Council. When someone like him and the governments start taking interest, we would think that the Tour has delivered what we set out to do.”
Not only did the MENA Golf Tour give Marjane a chance to compete against the professionals and get better during his amateur years, they also awarded him the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation scholarship in 2012 for winning the amateur Order of Merit.
As part of that intensive five-week plan, Marjane was invited to Dubai to fine tune his abilities not just on the golf course (he worked with Mark Gregson-Walters), but also on his physical side and language skills to communicate better.
Armed with his new knowledge and with his game getting better, Marjane turned professional this year, and immediately struck gold.
“Of course, Ahmed is very special for us. We have done some things for him, but let’s not forget that these guys were trained by Morocco and they have been looked after very well by the Federation and the government. I think we did make some difference to his game and life, but then he earned the scholarship by being the best amateur,” said Buamaim.
The RAK Classic also saw Ahmed Al Musharrekh, the only golf professional in the UAE, jointly leading the tournament after the second round before being unable to hold on to his position on the final day.
“Yes. That was amazing from Al Musharrekh. He has done very well in all the previous tournaments this year and has posted good scores. I won’t read too much into what happened on the final day in RAK, because this is typical with young professionals and this is what they have to learn,” said Buamaim.
“But I am very pleased for Ahmed. It is very evident that he has changed his attitude towards golf. There is more seriousness and intent in him. I think he will only get better in the future.”
Gregson-Walters, who along with Alan Walters, worked with Marjane for three months, said: “It’s great to see Ahmed win on the MENA Tour.
“We evaluated his game and dec-ided what help we could give him to take him from a good amateur to competing as a professional.
“For three months, we worked on a process to improve his delivery of the club and develop his body to be stronger with Alan, so that he is more efficient in movement.
“I must say Ahmed gave 110 per cent commitment to us. The results were 20 meters more distance on his shots. He is now hitting at least four clubs less in to a par-4 green.
“The part we were especially proud of is that Ahmed developed his distance without losing control or feel in his game.”
