Dubai: The UAE’s Under-16s junior golf team won gold at the GCC Championships in Muscat with a gross score of 322, 12 shots clear of second-placed hosts Oman, while favourites Bahrain finished a further two shots behind in third.
Ahmad Skaik and Abdullah Al Qubaisi shot 79 and 83 respectively on day one, before Ahmad Al Budoor teamed with Al Qubaisi to shoot 81 and 79 on day two. The trio also won the net category by 11 shots over the host nation at The Waves’ Al Mouj Golf Club on Monday.
In the individual categories, Al Qubaisi came third in the gross and second in the net standings, while Skaik took third in the net.
This was only their third international appearance together as a team after finishing third in the GCC Championships last March and fifth in the Pan Arab Championships in November.
Coach Jason Froggatt even told Gulf News heading into this competition that “gold may be out of our reach”, stressing the need for the team to gain more experience. However, following their prize-giving ceremony on Tuesday, Froggatt was happy to stand corrected.
“The boys did well to set their stall up on day one and lead going into the second day,” he said. “So long as we improved by one or two shots on day two, we felt we’d do okay.
“Abdullah Al Qubaisi put in the best performance of the weekend under difficult conditions with a level par back nine to put 79 together on day two, with the last five holes crossing into breeze.
“This win is testament to a group of boys who have only been with us two years. But to have represented their country just three times and to have walked away with gold already shows we are on the right track.
“The boys are committed and are doing all the right things with regard to strength and conditioning. The Emirates Golf Federation has also made a big investment in grassroots golf to ensure the next generation of golfers reach the next level.”
In two more years this junior side will start to filter into the seniors, which last year completed a GCC Championship and Arab Games double under coach Chris Vallendar.
However, Vallendar’s seniors didn’t fare as well in this year’s competition, which ran parallel to the juniors.
Khaled Yousuf, Abdullah Al Musharrakh, Said Malik and Suhail Al Marzouqi finished third in the gross category on 729, behind winners Bahrain on 677 and Qatar in second on 681. They also finished third in the net on 711 behind winners Qatar on 662 and second placed Bahrain on 677.
Yousuf recorded the UAE’s best individual gross and net score of 240, which left him eighth out of 24 participants overall. Al Musharrakh was tenth with a gross 248, net 242, Malik was 12th on gross 252 and net 240, while Al Marzouqi finished 14th with a gross 256, net 250.
