44 junior golfers all set for The Robert Rock Abu Dhabi Championship

The Robert Rock Abu Dhabi Championship will be held over the National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club tomorrow (Tuesday) 11th – Thursday 13th April.

The 54-hole event is associated with the Robert Rock Junior Golf Tour and is a qualifying event for the R&A supported World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).

Robert Rock, 46 years-old, is a recently retired tournament professional on the DP World Tour, having won twice: the 2011 BMW Italian Open and the 2012 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

In the Abu Dhabi event over the National Course he shot 13 under par over the four rounds, to beat Rory McIlroy (NI) by one shot, with Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Graeme McDowell (NI) and Tiger Woods (USA) a further shot behind in tied third. His highest Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is 55th following his Abu Dhabi victory.

Honorary Life Membership of Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Rock earned £291,646 for this win, along with an Honorary Life Membership of Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Robert is regarded as one of the top golf coaches in England and has a number of top professionals in his stable, especially on the DP World Tour. He now has the Robert Rock Golf Academy at Silvermere Golf Club, based in the South East of England with former DP World Tour player Benn Barham, heading up as Head Coach at Silvermere.

Robert also runs and supports the Robert Rock Junior Golf Tour that started in 2016 as a single event that soon grew to a Junior Tour held at golf clubs in the England’s Midlands. It has since been expanded and gone from strength to strength.

44 junior golfers, aged 21 and under on the day of the tournament are entered for this week’s tournament, 30 boys and 14 girls.

The youngest player is Irum Kim (Jumeirah Golf Estates), playing for the girls aged 11 years-old and the oldest player is Can Gurdenli from Turkey, aged 21 and playing off a +2 handicap.

A strong entry from the UAE

Kieren Pratt, Director of Instruction at Abu Dhabi Golf Club said at the entry list publication, ‘We are excited to have partnered with Robert on this initiative. It is the first Robert Rock Junior Tournament in the Middle East. We are pleased to have junior golfers entered and travelling from seven countries to Abu Dhabi participating: Bulgaria, England, Poland, Qatar, Turkey and Wales, with a strong entry from the UAE, with players from nine golf clubs in the UAE plus Emirates Golf Federation representation. Nine of the players have a + handicap, with the lowest handicap in the field at +5.7.’

Tee times for the first round to be played tomorrow (Tuesday) are from 10 am to 12 noon with a redraw after round one with the leaders out last for the second and third rounds at 12 noon.

The course set-up will see the boys play from 7,100 yards and the girls from a 6,000 yards.