Major sponsorship boost for National Day golf

Dubai: The forthcoming UAE National Day golf tournament has received a big boost with National Marine Dredging Company joining hands with organisers UAE Golf Association.

The tournament, to be held at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club on December 2, has already created quite a buzz among the golfing community here with both the morning and afternoon shot-gun starts being oversubscribed.

The tournament is in line with instructions from Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, exhorting all government bodies in the emirate to celebrate the 37th anniversary of UAE National Day.

With UAE nationals and expatriates from different countries signing up in big numbers, the event will have a carnival atmosphere to it, although there will be no dearth of intensity on the course. One of the major highlights of the tournament is the morale-boosting presence of Shaikh Fahim Al Qasimi, the chairman of the UGA board.

Shaikh Fahim will join Adel Zarouni, Khalid Mubarak and Tariq Baker, his colleagues in the board, in a four-ball in the afternoon shot-gun start. Khalid Yousuf, the first UAE national to bring his handicap down to scratch, will be a player to watch in the strong field which is studded with a string of single-digit handicappers.

Ahmad Abdullah Al Jabir, assistant general manager of National Marine Dredging Company, said company was delighted to be part of the prestigious event. "It's an honour and privilege to be associated with an event of this stature," he said. "The very fact that the tournament has attracted over 200 golfers amply reflects on the growing profile of the tournament which has now become a permanent fixture on the UAE calendar."

A celebration

"We would be more than keen to continue our association with the tournament which also provides a great opportunity for different communities living in the UAE to celebrate the UAE National Day as one family."

Darwish Al Qubaisi, UGA Board member and Head of the Sponsorship Committee, thanked the National Marine Dredging Company for their support to the UAE National Day. "Without their backing it wouldn't have been possible to organise the event on such a scale," said Al Qubaisi. "We at UGA have chalked up various plans to promote the game, specially among juniors, and for that we need the support of the corporate world."