Craig Vance dominated the 2015 BMW AGMC Men’s Amateur Open from start to finish, adding another title to his growing list of achievements.
Vance, who is a member of the Tower Links Golf Club in Ras Al Khaimah, fired a stunning course-record six-under par 66 on Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Fire Course on the opening day in the two-day tournament which is part of the Emirates Golf Federation Order of Merit.
The opening round gave him a commanding lead, and he never looked like letting go of it on the second day, when action shifted to the Earth Course. A solid even-par 72 round made his victory official – by a stunning margin of 11 shots.
aan Lakdawala Bayhfinished second with scores of 74 and 75. Third place was taken by Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Chris Alderman, who produced a score of 74 on day two to add to his 77 on day one.
The nett division was closely fought with Ayaz Afridi coming out on top with scores of 71 and 73. Afridi also had a hole in one on the opening day.
Kevin Roy was a close runner-up in the nett division with a rounds of 73 nett on both the Fire and Earth course, followed by Sidney De Souza, who posted nett 75 and a much improved nett 72 on the Earth Course to take third place.
In the day prizes, Andy Hull and Martin Zika took the best gross on the two days, both scoring 75. In the nett category, Mark Nosworthy took the day 1 prize with a 72 and Paul Murphy was the best on day two with a nett 73.
Bakal wins Dubai Creek Open
Anastacia Bakal, a member of the Els Club, shot a two-over par round of 73 to claim her second Dubai Creek Ladies Open title in three years.
Bakal’s effort was seven points better than Arabian Ranches’ Kim Chiang, who finished runner-up for the second straight year after a round of 80.
Bakal said: “I am very happy to win the Dubai Creek Ladies Open 2015. Even though the weather conditions were not perfect, which is pretty unusual for Dubai, I felt like I played pretty well.”
Dubai Creek’s Aashka Desai took the Silver Division title with a one-over par nett 72, while another Els Club junior member, Alkyonie Aharidis, finished runner-up two shots behind with a 74.
In the Bronze Division, Dubai Creek junior member Eshna Bhargava came out on top with a solid one-over par nett 72.
Mini Philip used the knowledge of her home course and claimed the nearest the pin prize on the eighth hole, whilst Aharidis became a double winner on the day as she claimed the same for her accurate tee shot into the 14th.
Lee and Oh go low to win SGSC
A record-winning score for an International Pairs qualifier took Kwang Jae Lee and Jun Seok Oh into the UAE Final at the end of an exciting day’s play at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club last week.
In the 12th of the 18 qualifiers in the 2014-15 Daman Investments UAE International Pairs, it was Lee and Oh who took the honours with an amazing score of 46 points, and will represent SGSC in the UAE Final in Dubai.
Ramli Sulaiman and David Yeo were runners-up with 42 points, while last year’s winner – Vinod Arya with new partner Chandan Vaidya – were third with 41 points.
Also in the prizes were JP Simon who took the nearest the pin prize on the 17th hole, and KJ Lee who recorded the longest drive on the seventh hole on his way to victory.
The Daman Investments International Pairs is supported by AGMC/BMW, Standard Chartered Bank, Mediclinic, Visa, TaylorMade and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
The next qualifier takes place at The Els Club on Friday, February 27.
Wong overcomes difficult conditions at SGSC
The fifth Orient Travel–Malaysia Truly Asia Monthly Medal at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club was hit by stormy conditions last week, but SP Wong withstood the appalling conditions.
The morning flights played in better conditions, and yet Wong’s 66 nett was an incredibly good score as he won by seven shots over Rory Thomson, who
finished on 73.
After making the turn with nett 35, Wong sizzled the back nine, making three nett birdies and an eagle in a six-hole stretch from 11th to 16th holes.
Young Zubair Idris took third place with 74, while Mike Robson had the best gross of 79.
In the afternoon’s competition, JS Park was the best with a 73 nett, while YD Kim was runner-up with 76. Korean Golfer SS Son won the gross prize with 81.
The sixth Orient Travel–Malaysia Truly Asia Monthly Medal will take place on Friday, March 13.
Hurdon and Saxena grab Dulsco honours
Graham Hurdon recorded the best score of the day in the individual Division A category (Handicap 0-15), while Mudit Saxena was the best in Division B (Handicap 16-28) in the 12th edition of Dulsco Classic, one of the oldest corporate sports tournaments in the UAE.
In the team event, David Burns, Babu Subramanian, Paul Maycock and Mudit Saxena were crowned the champions with a total of 75 points.
Hurdon inspired his team of wife Carmen, Steen Hartwig and Andrew Fullerton to a second place with 74 points, while Ali Ahmed Karam, Khalid Al Halyan, Jamal Bin Marghoob and Mohammed Al Banna were third a further point behind.
Over 75 golfers participated in the tournament, which was played at Al Badia Golf Club in Dubai Festival City.
