Sport | Golf
Team spirit rules at National Day event
Laura Davies, England's most successful female golfer, has set her sights on winning next week's Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:16 December 3, 2008
Dubai: Laura Davies, England's most successful female golfer, has set her sights on winning next week's Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club.
The seasoned star wants to cause an upset by beating defending champion Annika Sorenstam in her farewell tournament.
"I'm playing well and I'm going to try to win it. I'm going to try and ruin Annika's party," said Davies ahead of the Ladies European Tour's season ending event, being promoted and organised by golf in DUBAi.
Making the trophy even more enticing to Davies is the fact that Sorenstam is targeting her third straight victory at the tournament and her 90th win worldwide.
After Dubai, the Swede will step away from the game to pursue business interests and start a family with her fiancee Mike McGee, whom she is to marry in January.
"She is trying to win three on the trot so it will be hard for everyone to beat her," Davies added. "She obviously likes the course and is playing well but you've got to set your sights high."
Davies has won three titles herself this season. The first was the New South Wales Open in February, which was an Australian Ladies Professional Golf event. She then retained her Austrian title at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen on the Ladies European Tour in September and completed the hat-trick with a win at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco in November, a non-official invitational tournament.
Calling Dubai, "brilliant, absolutely brilliant," Davies said it was a great experience playing in the emirate last year. "Everything about Dubai has excellence written over it - the course is superb, the hospitality is second to none and, above all, the organisation of the event is quite professional.
"I am really looking forward to playing in Dubai. I hope I can go the full distance this time. I just love winning trophies," said Davies, winner of over $12 million (Dh44.08 million) in earnings in a career spanning over 23 years.
Not done yet
At 45 she has been playing 10 years longer than Sorenstam but unlike the Swede, there are no signs of her giving up her career just yet.
"I want to be ready to go again next year and be in the Solheim Cup. That is a big thing for me next year," she said. If she can win the 75,000 euros (Dh348,590) first prize at the Dubai Ladies Masters next week or add a few top- ten finishes, then an 11th Solheim Cup appearance next year will be a very likely bet.
Mohammad Bu Amim, vice chairman and CEO of golf in DUBAi, applauded Davies' longevity.
"She is still giving the younger players a run for their money and that speaks volumes for her talent and her determination to stay on top.
"Laura will bring a wealth of experience to the tournament and her performance will inspire and encourage more youngsters to take to golf. No doubt, women's golf here is picking up steam steadily, but the presence of players of the stature of Laura will help proliferate this trend," he said. "I wish Laura and all other players a very pleasant stay in Dubai."
Dubai Team spirit was the name of the game as the National Day golf tournament, sponsored by National Marine Dredging Company, produced some impressive scores in benign conditions at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club on Tuesday.
Craig Finlayson, Simon Shirreffs, Richie Davidson and Craig McLovin, carded a brilliant 81 points to win the morning shotgun event while John Fellingham, Tejan Fadludeen, Paul King and Joel Neale combined well to take the honours in the afternoon session with a sizzling 87 points.
Team stableford
Both the morning and afternoon shotgun starts followed the team stableford format (three quarter handicap allowance) with the best two scores in a team of four counting towards the scores.
The tournament, organised by the Emirates Golf Federation, generated an overwhelming response with over 200 golfers signing up for the event held to celebrate the UAE's 37th National Day.
The top three teams in each shotgun were presented with prizes by Shaikh Fahim Al Qasimi, chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation, and Saeed Albudoor, general manager of the federation.
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