Dubai : Naela Al Attar and Maha Haddioui will showcase the emerging Arab talent on the global stage when they line up for honours at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at the Emirates Golf Club, starting from tomorrow until Saturday.
The duo will join a star-studded field led by veteran Laura Davies, defending champion In-kyung Kim and charismatic Michelle Wie among other big names in the season-ending Ladies European Tour event, fully confident that their participation will provide a major boost to women's golf in the region.
"I think it's a great opportunity for us to put Arab women's golf on the sporting map It's definitely important for people from other countries to see us and to know we are playing golf," said Al Attar, the only women professional from Egypt who will be making her second appearance in the 500,000 euro (Dh2.46 million) tournament.
"I don't feel the pressure. I'm just more motivated to succeed and to go back to Egypt and help get more juniors playing," said Al Attar, who learned the basic rudiments of the game at Alexandria Sporting Club course, built in 1898 by the British.
"It's all in the soul. If you believe you can do it, you can," said Al Attar, who has represented Egypt in the 2004 and 2006 Women's World Amateur Team Championship besides winning two British Girls' championships, the 2006 All-African Challenge Trophy, and the 2007 Women's Arab Championship.
Like Naela, Morocco's Haddioui is also taking small strides towards her dream of playing professional golf on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. The number one player on Florida's Lynn University team, Haddioui first touched the golf club when she was 13, but quickly gained proficiency in the game.
Haddioui, who earned Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year in 2007, finished the 2010 season as the highest-ranked NCAA Division II golfer. "My dream has always been to play on a tour, and I am really grateful to ‘golf in DUBAi' for inviting me to compete at the highest level."
