Dubai: The UAE national golf team are holding an Eisenhower Trophy post-mortem on Tuesday, after finishing a disappointing 61st out of 72 nations at the World Amateur Team Championships in Turkey, last week.
Khalid Yousuf, Abdullah Al Musharrakh and Sohail Al Marzouqi combined for a 60 over par score of 490, after four rounds of strokeplay were shortened to three due to lightening at Antalya Golf Club.
The UAE had targeted a top 30 finish to buoy the team ahead of the forthcoming Asian Amateur Championships in Bangkok, Thailand from November 1-4 and the Pan Arab Championships in Bahrain from November 24-30.
But instead, 61st is a step down from their ranking of 58th from their last Eisenhower Trophy outing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2010.
UAE coach Chris Vallendar dismissed the loss of best player Ahmad Al Musharrakh — who turned professional last month — as the main reason for the poor performance. He also wouldn’t blame the adverse weather conditions, which saw the event shortened to 54 holes and insisted knowledge of the course and practice over the greens was adequate.
“We need to sit down and discuss exactly what went wrong and how the players are feeling,” said UAE coach Chris Vallendar. “I don’t know why it’s happening, but we head into events having practised so well only to crash in the tournaments.
“There was no pressure on the players and they have enough big tournament experience not to get overawed or nervous by these events. I simply can’t explain it. It’s difficult to fathom but it has happened a few times.”
Vallendar added: “One suggestion is that there’s no consequence if the players don’t perform. We don’t have a big enough squad to be able to drop people. Players can guarantee selection to the next event regardless of how they play.
“There isn’t competition for a place in the team or 100 players waiting in line to take your place like in other national squads. This situation will probably take another three or four years to improve by the time our youth development programme starts graduating talent. Despite this, I still believe small teams can perform with the right approach and dedication.”
Vallendar is now aiming to bounce back with a better showing in the Asian Amateurs, where Abdullah Al Musharrakh and Sohail Al Marzouqi will represent their country at the start of next month.
“You don’t suddenly become a bad player overnight,” said Vallendar. “I’m hoping the players can redeem themselves in Thailand. And I hope we can get to the bottom of our problem. The target in Thailand is to make the cut after two rounds. A score lower than five over should be adequate.”
A strong showing in Bangkok is necessary in order to mount a challenge for the Pan Arab Championships, which, if the UAE won, would secure an historic treble of regional titles after having already claimed the Arab Games and GCC Championship titles last season.
