Dubai: Dubai American Academy rode on a great team performance to win the first event of the Dubai Schools Golf League when they defeated Dubai College at Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa.
With each member of the team making a useful contribution to the total, Dubai American Academy carded a superb 164 points to take the honours, just five points ahead of their equally-impressive opponents.
Chris Fransson (47 points), Diya Chopra (42), Katy Rutherford (36) and Sanjit Chakravarty (39) played some solid tee-to-green golf for the winners while Daniel Hendry (38), Conor Seabrook (45), Henry Turpie (38) and Rahul Dungarwal (38) excelled for Dubai College.
Rahul Dungarwal won the best individual prize for Dubai College on a countback with 38 points while Katy Rutherford (36 points) was judged the best individual for Dubai American Academy.
Young enthusiast
Organised by Chopra, the first tournament of the league could well be the springboard for a major inter-school tournament which the young golfing enthusiast plans to start.
"There is no dearth of enthusiasm for golf among juniors, thanks to Emirates Golf Federation's Junior Development Programme, but we also need an inter-school tournament to create more playing opportunities for these youngsters," Chopra said. She believes golf is a unique sport because it allows a diverse mix of ages and genders to compete together fairly.
"Golf is the only sport that I know where players of different age groups and levels can play together and there is this sense of camaraderie on the course. That is exactly what happened ... tournament," said Chopra. "There were two girls and six boys, aged between 11 and 17, and also the handicaps ranged from plus three (Dubai's best junior golfer Daniel Hendry) to a 20," she said.
