Shiv Kapur
Shiv Kapur, ambassador of Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL), is excited at the surfeit of young talent on display. Image Credit: Asian Tour

Dubai: This Saturday sees the first event of the Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL) Business Series which takes place at The Track Meydan. This follows the successful nine-hole EAGL Mini-Series pilot event held on Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in June.

Nine sponsored teams, each consisting of eight players and competing in this EAGL Corporate Invitational that is unique to golf in the region and beyond, with a live TV broadcast: 12.00 noon – 5.30 pm on both Dubai Sports Channel and the dedicated EAGL YouTube channel.

Tee times from the first tee are at 12.10 pm – 3.00 pm, and will see all 72 players in 18 groups of four players in this 9-hole event over the 3,492 yards, par 36 course, with two players paired from the same team in the same flight.

The participating teams are from Bentley, Emirates NBD, Shapoorji Pallonji, Satoshi FX, Wealth of Wellness WOW, Atari Chain, Three Comma Capital Advisors, Just Golf, and GRP Industries.

MORE OF GOLF IN UAE

The format for the tournament is individual Stableford with full handicap allowance (Course handicap) and a maximum of 18 handicap with the entire day’s golf supported and sanctioned by the Emirates Golf Federation.

The winning team of the EAGL Corporate Invitational will be calculated by the aggregate of all eight team member scores. A networking launch reception for the event for players, guests and officials takes place tonight (Thursday) at the horse racing at Meydan, Dubai. The afternoon event follows the EAGL Junior Championship hosted by Dubai resident, Dubai Golden VISA holder and Asian Tour player Shiv Kapur.

The morning EAGL Junior Championship tees off with an 8.30 am shotgun start on Saturday with 10 flights of four players, played over nine holes, each representing the following UAE golf clubs and organisations: Al Ain Equestrian Shooting & Golf Club, Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, EAGL, Emirates Golf Club, Emirates Golf Federation, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Montgomerie Golf Club, The Els Club (CH3 Team 1), The Els Club (CH3 Team 2) and The Els Club (GEMS First Point Elite).

Good juniors

There are six juniors in the field (at the time of going to press) boasting a handicap of scratch or better: Peter Whittaker (AESGC, + 2.5), Tiaan Labuschagne (AESGC, + 1.3), Raghav Gulati (DCGYC, Scr), Jay Chinkchankar (JGE, + 0.6), Trystan du Plassis (TEC GEMS, + 1.3) and Victor Kofod-Olsen (EGC, + 2).

Shiv Kapur, EAGL Ambassador, said at the draw: ‘‘I am excited to see the standard of golf amongst the juniors. The handicap list in the draw is impressive and let’s see how they play, score and conduct themselves on the day. I cannot wait to see and meet these juniors in Dubai and the UAE, most of whom have learnt the game here. All the players are 18 and under on the day of the tournament with many of the juniors aged well under the maximum age with some as young as 11 and one player competing aged just 9 years old.’

The Emirates Golf Federation junior team are represented by Sultan Aljasmi (4), Rashid Aljasmi (8), Mohammad Skaik (10) and Abdullah Alswidi (5).