Ras Al Khaimah: Today (Tuesday), I played in the nine-hole two player HERO Challenge Scramble with my playing partner and fellow Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia.
Alfredo is an old friend from our amateur days way back in Spain. He lost his card and playing privileges a few years ago and it is great to see him back playing on the main Tour again.
Our opposition in our group in this gross medal event this afternoon was last week’s winner of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital over the same golf course, Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark) and his substitute partner Niklas Norgaard Moller (Den).
We played the back nine holes, which were quite a challenge in the freshening breeze.
I plan to play the front nine tomorrow and do a little practice.
This is my fourth week on Tour in a row, so I am mindful of fatigue perhaps hitting me, not on the physical side, but on the mental side. We all have our limits.
Tee times have been published for Thursday and Friday for Round I & II of this week’s Ras Al Khaimah Classic. I am playing at 8.10 am on Thursday morning, so fingers crossed the wind is down and I can post a decent round and start the week on a positive note.
I was happy with my game today in the Team Scramble, you get a feel for the course in a nice competitive way, where aggressive golf is the order of the day.
At the end of the day, I had some media preview commitments in both English and Spanish about my love for Dubai and the UAE as my home and where I met my wife Sofia.
I never mind being a ‘wanted man’ by the media as it means I am doing something right. It is when I play golf and no one wants to speak to me, is the day I start worrying.
See you all soon. No Pro-Am tomorrow, which is very unusual for a DP World Tour tournament week.
- Rafa Cabrera-Bello is a 37 year old Spaniard, a Dubai resident as well as a JA Hotels and Resorts Global Ambassador. He has four DP World Tour titles to his name, including the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic and his home Open, the ACCIONA Open de Espana last October in Madrid. He made his Ryder Cup debut in 2016. Rafa currently lies in fourth place in the 2021-2022 DP World Tour Rankings.
