The ICC is the Ladies Interclub Championship Challenge. A female only golf league that is currently made up of 12 different golf clubs across the UAE. Gulf News exclusively caught up with Pia Fleury, the Ladies Interclub Championship Challenge (ICC) UAE organiser about this community building Ladies golf group.
Pia, thanks for your time on a busy day here, can you start by explaining why the ICC was formed?
“The main goal of the ICC was to build a ladies golfing community. The ICC had been around for a while it has just never been developed, so when I first started taking over the organising of the ICC I wanted to get this to attract more ladies to come and play and to get more people interested in us. So I thought lets brand it. So we got a logo and we invited more clubs and we got the Ladies to then play all the different clubs.
“This past season we have got 12 golf clubs involved. We have four golf clubs from Abu Dhabi and then the rest are from Dubai.
“Each golf clubs team is made up of 10 players, and the format is the best of eight scores with Stableford points within that group of 10. The ladies and clubs put forward their best 10 players obviously because they want to win! We have the 12 clubs and divide them into four pools to play against each other. So 30 ladies playing in each event!
“I am still hoping we can get some teams from Ras Al Khaimah, Al Zorah and Al Ain in the future.”
And today at the Emirates Golf Club, how great is it to have your final event of the season here?
“Yes today we are at the Emirates Golf Club and we were very lucky to be hosted by the club. Today there are 120 ladies competing out on the Faldo course. We have four clubs that are playing for the ‘Annual Cup’ and the rest of the teams are playing for the ‘Day Cup’.
“The ICC is actually sanctioned by the Emirates Golf Federation. All the players here have an EGF handicap which regulates their handicap. The EGF have been great with when we need prizes they will step in and help out. And obviously today we have the UAE National team here playing which is great to see all these young Emirati players coming to play for the ICC as well.”
What is the future of the ICC?
“The overall goal of the ICC is community building. I make sure that all the ladies know each other. The captains get to meet the other captains. All the players get to play against different clubs and have the opportunity to play at the other golf clubs in the UAE as well.
“It’s a non-profit organisation and it’s all about the passion for golf. There are actually a lot of lady golfers in the UAE. These ICC events are good events for them and shows other ladies about the ICC, but unfortunately at the moment there is only space for 10 ladies per team! It’s a great way of building a community which is the main thing.
“I would love to have more golf clubs and more teams involved in the ICC. It would just be great to have more ladies playing golf all at the same time.”
Ladies ICC UAE Final Results:
When it came to the final results on the day at Emirates Golf Club, the winners of the ‘Annual Cup’, capturing the event for the fourth time in a row was the team from Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club with 269 points. The team consisting of Shiba Wahid (36 points), Janet Kim (35 points), Yujung Seo (35 points), Mini Philip (34 points), Roma Khanna (34 points), Beatrice Galeppini (32 points), Maureen Platt (32 points) & Kiyono Taniuchi (31 points). Team players not included in the scoring Joy Lirio (30 points) & Retna Schepens (27 points).
Playing alongside, the winners of the ‘Day Cup’, taking it from the defending EGF team, was Abu Dhabi Golf Club with 252 points. Team consisting of Sungbae Yoo (36 points), Kyungsook Kim (34 points), Youngmin Lee (33 points), Jira Souza (32 points), Isabelle Jeanselme (30 points), Sally Hardman (29 points), Chorom Park (29 points), Hyunjung Jung (29 points). Team players not included in the scoringHanna Byun (28 points) & Stephanie Bochet (27 points).
Annual Cup Champions:
1 – Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club – 269 points
2 – Emirates Golf Club – 267 points
3 – Emirates Golf Federation – 248 points
4 – Els Club – 230 points
Day Cup Champions:
1 – Abu Dhabi Golf Club – 252 points
2 – Montgomerie Golf Club – 247 points
3 – Jumeirah Golf Estates – 246 points
4 – Trump International Golf Club – 209 points
5 – Dubai Ladies – 199 points
6 – Abu Dhabi City – 177 points
