Professional Ugo Coussard and his Team Arena 1 won the Abu Dhabi Challenge Pro-Am at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
19 Teams, each with one professional and three amateurs saw the winners shoot an impressive 33 under par over the National Course.
30 year-old Coussard, the current leader of the season long Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca, captained the Team of: Martin Nicol (18), Neal Large (14) and Tony Bagall (16).
Teeing off on hole 1A, the Team started modestly with a front nine of 13 under par in this Team Shambles ‘Par is your Friend’ format with the Professional choosing the best drive of the four, with the Amateurs playing from that spot with their own ball until holed, with the Pro always playing his own ball. Coussard started with a birdie three on the opening hole, but the Team did not trouble the scorers on holes two and seven with no pointers.
On the back nine the team came alive.
Coussard birdied holes 10 and 15. Nicol made four contributions on the back nine, Large five and Bagall six.
This gave Team Arena 1 a three stroke winning margin from runners-up Team ADGC 2 led by Dubai based Professional Renato Paratore, who represented Italy in the 2020 Olympics in Japan.
In third place losing on a countback was Team Arena 3, captained by Alvaro Quiros winner in 2011 of the Dubai Desert Classic as well as the DP World Tour Championship.
Abu Dhabi Challenge Pro-Am Team Results
ARENA 1: U. Coussard, M. Nicol, N. Large and T. Bagall -33
ADGC 1: R. Paratore, T. Webb, KS Kim and S. Park -30
ARENA 3: A. Quiros, R. Meyer, T. Gradwell and T. Moussababa. -30
ARENA 2: B. Stone, J. Burgess, A. Maddock and D. Hartley -29
Nearest the Pin Hole 12: A. Skaik
Longest Drive Hole 2: I. Rich
