Dubai:
The 21st edition of the annual Gulf News Merchants Cup, a social golf tournament played between members of the UAE’s business community, makes its return to the Emirates Golf Club, where it all began.
An impressive field of 92 ardent golfers will compete for honours on Thursday, over the club’s Faldo course.
The format is a Pairs Stableford (3/4 Handicap) with the best Stableford score to count on each hole. Men will tee off from the Blue tees and ladies from the Red tees.
In an innovative move, the Golf GameBook that will be provided will be the official scorecard. The GameBook will be programmed with the player’s handicap and format of play. Players will enter their gross scores and the system will calculate the Stableford score.
The broad range of trophies includes those for the top five finishers, Nearest to the Pin, Longest Drive, and several ‘fun’ prizes, including ‘Most Golf’, ‘Married to Golf’ and more.
“We are very excited at returning to the Emirates Golf Club for this 21st edition of our tournament”, said Rajeev Khanna, Commercial Director, Al Nisr Group, who is an enthusiastic golfer himself. “The field looks particularly good and it will be a pleasure to welcome all our golfing friends once again. We wish them luck with the game today and may the best pair win!” he further added.
The popular tournament was first introduced in 1996 as a four-ball team Stableford event and was changed to a two-man betterball format in 2003.
PROGRAMME
• 11am onwards — registration
• 12.45pm — Group photo and briefing at Le Classique Lawn
• 1pm — Shotgun start
• 5.30pm onwards — Round finishes
• 6.30pm — Prize presentation followed by dinner
