Gulf News Senior Open to be held today

Dubai: The 2009 men's Gulf News Seniors Open Golf Championship will be launched with a shotgun fire at the Arabian Ranches Golf Club at 12.30pm Friday.

The tournament is an individual strokeplay event for male amateur golfers in the UAE, aged 50 years and above, and is supported by TNT, Xerox and Ecco.

The tournament has been deemed a Handicap Qualifier by the organising Club with play over the 6,531 Blue Tee Course which is in very good condition.

Two champions

Francois Wolfaardt, on behalf of the organisers, said: "We look forward to welcoming all competitors to Arabian Ranches for this Open Golf Championship.

"We have a good mix of handicaps for the event. We will be crowning two champions of equal status at the tournament — both a net and gross champion and thanks to the support sponsors — TNT, Ecco and Xerox — we have agreed to present five gross and five net prizes to create a fair and balanced array of prizes for all entrants."

Favourites for the gross title are home player Steve Bennett (1) and ARGC Club Champion John Mills (0).