Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s junior member, 17-year-old Jung Bin Kim produced two solid rounds in difficult conditions to win the HSBC Club Championship at his home course.
As many as 60 players teed up at the famous golf club, with competition spread over two days.
Faced with strong winds and teeing off the black championship tees, Kim returned successive cards of 77 to win his first HSBC Club Championship trophy.
Sung Jin Hwang, who carded rounds of 79 on each day, edged out Bilal Belaid by just one shot to claim the runner-up place.
The women’s competition was not as intense, with Paromita Mukherjee defending her title in a rather one-sided affair with rounds of 85 and 79. That gave her a massive 13-shot winning margin over runner-up Lina Tyson.
In the men’s 0-14 handicap division, Chris Rossmeisl won with a net score of 150, while Tariq El Chaib finished second, two points behind.
In the men’s 15+ handicap competition, Thomas Dauer was the champion with a net score of 129.
Cathy Siegel won the Ladies Net Division by two points after carding a net score of 148.
Burts reign supreme
Catherine and Ian Burt proved too strong for their rival couples in the Emirates Palace Mixed Open competition, also played on the National course of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
The husband and wife pairing claimed first place by just one point with a score of 44 in the Betterball Stableford competition.
It needed a countback to decide the second and third places, with Tammy and David De Angelo claiming the runners-up spot with a better back nine despite finishing on 43 points and tied with Anette Rigo and Jean Pierre Billgren.
In the on-course competitions held during the day, Sung Jin Hwang won the men’s ‘Nearest to the Pin’ contest, whilst Miho Uchida won the women’s.
The Longest Drive contest was won by Livio van Hellenberg Hubar and Lina Tyson.
A total of 39 pairs participated in the tournament which offered a selection of fantastic prizes from the sponsors, Emirates Palace.
Tufail completes hat-trick of successes at Yas Links
The talented Sana Tufail secured the Yas Links Ladies Club Championship for the third consecutive year with two brilliant rounds of 75 and 71.
The 17-year-old, who will be competing in the NCAA Division I in the USA later this year after securing a golf scholarship there, was in her element on day two, when the conditions were the toughest.
With wind picking up on the back nine on the final day, Sana responded with two fine birdies on holes 10 and 11 and finished with a superb one-under par 71 on a course regarded as the toughest in the region.
Executives set for XCGC qualifiers at Faldo Course
The second qualifying round of the 16th Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge (XCGC) will be played on Thursday at Emirates Golf Club’s Faldo Course.
Multiple two-person corporate teams will participate and the winners will compete in the two-day grand final hosted on two iconic golf courses, the Tower Links Golf Club and Al Hamra Golf Club, along with overnight stay in the magnificent Waldorf Astoria, in Ras Al Khaimah.
Alongside the main prizes, this year’s XCGC gives the chance for the best-placed corporate team, consisting of two executives from the same company, to also claim a prize.
Xerox Emirates general manager Andrew Horne said: “We have had a great kick-off to this year’s challenge with 96 executives participating in the first qualifier, and are keen to see the numbers swell with each progressive qualifier.”
