The 24^th staging of the Dubai Duty Free UAE Nationals Cup attracted a strong field of players from all age ranges and it was the 10-year old, Abdulla Kalbat who emerged as the Overall Champion with 38 stableford points at the Arabian Ranches Golf Club on Saturday, 5th May.

Kalbat, the youngest known winner of the tournament clinched the Best Junior as well.

The tournament was tightly contested having a tie for 1st runner up with Rashid Al Emadi narrowly edging out Adel Zarouni on a countback with 35 points. The gross champion on the day was Khalid Yousef, shooting a brilliant gross 75.

Commenting on the UAE Nationals Cup, Salah Tahlak. Executive Vice President – Corporate Services of Dubai Duty Free said: “The tournament has grown popular among UAE nationals since 1995 including junior Emirati golfers and we are delighted to have our youngest winner to date. Congratulations to all the winners and special thanks to all our participants and to the Marketing team at Dubai Duty Free and to the Arabian Ranches Golf Club for their efforts in ensuring a great day was had by all.”

The tournament was a great success, with Dubai Duty Free continuing their support for all sports and golf in the region. At the prize presentation, Tahlak was joined by Dubai Duty Free’s Senior Vice President for Marketing, Sinead El Sibai.

(Dubai, UAE) – The Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) Order of Merit (OOM) final results have been calculated. Now, top adult and junior amateur golfers across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have less than a week to prepare for the EGF OOM Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

The EGF OOM Championship is a two-day event that will take place on May 4-5, 2018 at Jumeirah Golf Estates. This event hosted by EGF will have representing divisions for Men, Ladies, and Junior golfers. The fields will be composed of the top supporters of Men’s and Ladies’ qualifying rounds and top-placed Juniors in EGF OOM Season.

The EGF OOM Men’s Division, played in a Gross format, was composed of 14 events, starting on October 13, 2017, and ending on April 21, 2018. These two-day, 36-hole, events proved to deliver a test for every golfer participating.

With 339.5 OOM points, Josh Hill was the 2017 – 2018 EGF OOM Men’s Division Season Champion. Hill had a dominating season, as the young 14 year old won 7 out of the 14 Men’s Opens across the UAE for this season. Hill will be a favorite heading into this weekend’s OOM Championship as he not only won the last event but will also be playing at his home club.

Finishing as the Runner-Up in the EGF OOM Men’s Division was Arjun Gupta with 268.5 points. Playing out of Emirates Golf Club, Gupta won 2 OOM Events this season while placing in the top 5 in 4 other events. Taking the Third Place position was Tody Bishop. Bishop played 10 events collecting 159.75 points.

In the EGF OOM Ladies’, Division there are two different scoring categories, Gross and Net. The Net category includes the calculation of the golfers’ handicap. The ladies started the season on October 27, 2017, and finished on April 14^, 2018. There were a total of 10, one-day, 18-hole, events throughout the season.

Winning the EGF OOM Ladies Gross Category was Natalii Gupta from Emirates Golf Club. Natalii played in all 10 Ladies OOM Events, winning 1 event, collecting a total of 227 points.

Sara Engsig, a direct member of the Emirates Golf Federation, took the Runner-Up position in the Gross Category with 197 points. Sara was also the winner of the Net Category with 166.5 points. Sara played in all 10 events collecting 4 victories in the Gross Division.

Wrapping up the Gross Category, Chantal El Chaib won the Third Place prize in with 197 points. Playing out of Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Chantal played in all 10 events and had 10 top 10 finishes.

With Sara Engsig winning the Ladies Net Catagory, Jamie Roslyn Camero from Saadiyat Beach Golf Club finished second with 158.25 points. The Third Place winner was Sara Engsig with 142.5 points. Chantal El Chaib also came in Third Place in the Net Division with 153.5 points.

The EGF OOM Junior Divisions consists of two divisions, and two categories, for each division. Both, Boys and Girls Junior Divisions had a Gross and Net Category. The season started on October 28, 2017, and ended on April 28, 2018. Each division was played over a total of 10, one-day, 18-hole, tournaments.

Winning the EGF OOM Boys Gross Category with 200.5 points was Max Cashmore. Playing out of the Jumeirah Golf Estates, Max played in 9 events with 2 victories and 3 top three finishes. Hill also played in 3 Men’s events.

Niklas Korjonen from The Els Club finished as the Runner-Up in the Boy Gross Catagory with 183.5. Niklas also came in Third Place in the Boy’s Net Category with 147 points.

Jay Mullane of The Els Club came in Third Place in Boy’s Gross Category (169.5 points) and First Place in the Boy’s Net Category (161 points). Jay won 1 Gross Event Championship will playing in all 10 events.

Moussa Shana’ah came in Second Place for the Boy’s Net Category.

With the same format in the EGF OOM Girls’ Divisions as the Boy’s, the Girls Gross EGF OOM Season winner was Hyeonji Kang. Hyeonji plays out of the Emirates Golf Club and collected 244.5 points for the season. Hyeonji won 3 Gross Events out of the 10 she played.

The Girls’ Gross Runner-Up was Natalii Gupta with 241 points and the Third Place finisher was Ailsa Brannoch from Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club with 182 points.

Winning the Girls’ Net Category was Jamie Camero with 209.5 points. The Runner-Up was Snigdha Goswami from The Els Club with 206.55 points and This Place was Ailsa Brannock with 188.25 points.

To find the complete results of the seven-month long OOM season please visit the EGF website at www.egfgolf.com.

Now that the 2017 – 2018 EGF OOM Season has ended and now the top amateurs are gearing up for the EGF Order of Merit Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Following the EGF OOM Championship, the EGF will celebrate the 2017 – 2018 season by hosting an award presentation for all winners.

To follow the EGF OOM Season and Championship find the EGF on social media and the EGF Website. The EGF will post daily updates and photos from the event.

(Ras al-Khaimah, UAE) – The Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) in conjunction with the Ministry of Education are providing United Arab Emirates (UAE) National students the opportunity to try and learn golf at three different Northern Emirates golf clubs. Starting this week, six different Ministry of Education National Schools were introduced to the game of golf to kick off a four-week grassroots program that will lead over 400 students towards the National Junior Development Program and UAE National Golf Teams.

Al Zorah Golf Club, Tower Links Golf Club, and Al Hamra Golf Club will all be hosting over 50 kids a week for the next four weeks in a goal to identify and develop young National golfers while building good character through the structure of rules from the game of golf.

“Students will be transported directly from schools to the golf clubs during their Physical Education classes. Instead of playing the same sports [Football, Basketball, Rugby] the students will have the opportunity to try and play golf at the golf club,” said Khalid Mubarak Al Shamsi the Secretary General for the Emirates Golf Federation.

“Our relationships with the northern golf clubs and the Ministry of Education has been a focus for the National Junior Development Program over the past six months as the EGF feels that our National database is stronger in these areas. Over next four weeks, these golf clubs will be introducing the game of golf to over 400 students. In return we will expect to get a handful of these students to start taking up golf as their everyday sport,” Al Shamsi added.

The EGF has seen an increase in the number of golfers joining the National Junior Development Program and with a larger number of golfers to choose from the more competitive the UAE National Golf Team will be.

John Frost, Lead Physical Education Trainer for the Ministry of Education has this to say about the initiative. “It’s wonderful to see local children being introduced to the game of golf who may not necessarily have had the provision or opportunity to do so before. This project in conjunction with the EGF has already developed their skill set and confidence in the game. For some, this could be their first step on a pathway to excellence, and for others, we hope that it will instill a passion for lifelong learning in physical activity.”

To find more information about the EGF’s National Junior Development Program you can contact the EGF at info@egfgolf.com or revert to www.egfgolf.com.

(Dubai, UAE) – On Saturday, February 24, 2018, the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) hosted a United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Foundation Squad Skills Challenge ) presented by DP World at Jumeirah Golf Estates – European Tour Performance Institute (ETPI). This event showcased the skills and fundaments that the UAE National Foundation Squad players have developed over the past six months following the EGF Arabic School Initiative supported by DP World, which has seen much success of the past year-and-a-half.

17 members of the UAE National Foundation Squad broke up into three groups where the players were then tested on different challenges showing the improvements that the kids have made since September. The challenges consisted of putting, chipping, longest drive, straightest drive, and the feared flop shot.

Winning the Putting Challenge after a playoff was Sultan Al Owais while Salem Al Maazmi came in Second Place.

Sultan Alolama won the chipping and Abdulla Kalbat finishing as the Runner-Up.

The Longest Drive Challenge was a close battle with Sa’ad Zarawani just beat Runner-Up Abdullah Al Suwaidi by only 6 yards difference.

Hitting a very impressive straight drive and winning the Straightest Drive Challenge was Lateifa Al Jassmey. Humaid Al Suwaidi came in Second Place.

Winning probably the toughest challenge of the day was Shahd Al Suwaidi who during the Flop Shot Challenge hit his ball over an 8-foot wall to two feet from the hole. Sultan Al Jassmey finished at the Runner-up for the Flop Shot Challenge.

“This Skills Challenge is a great team building activity that not only showcases the kids’ development but also gives the kids a fun competitive atmosphere. We wanted to host this activity to not only show our partners DP World and the European Tour that their National Junior Development Program support is still driving UAE golf development but many of the kids are starting to perform with some great skill. We look forward to tracking these players progress and continuing our partnerships while growing the game of golf within the UAE”, said EGF Secretary General Khalid Mubarak Al Shamsi.

The Foundation Squad will be back in competition next month at the March National Monthly Medal at Jebel Ali Golf Resort. In the meantime, these players will continue their weekly lessons at the UAE golf clubs and with the UAE National Junior and Ladies Coach Samir Wallani.

To keep up to date with the Foundation Squad and the latest EGF News follow the EGF on social media or on the EGF website at www.egfgolf.com.

 

(Abu Dhabi, UAE) – The 6^th United Arab Emirates (UAE) Presidents Cup sponsored by HSBC will be hosted by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) this weekend February 2 – 3, 2017 at Yas Links Abu Dhabi. With 82 players registered in the main event and over 15 grassroots juniors prepared for the Par 3 Championship, this will be the largest UAE Presidents Cup since the event started in 2013.

EGF is thrilled to work alongside with HSBC for the sixth year. HSBC is a globally recognized organization in banking with an event management sector that has a purpose to be where the growth is. HSBC is certainly on the right track with impressive golf events like the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and worldwide influence on junior golf programs.

EGF Secretary-General, Khalid Mubarak Al Shamsi had this to say about the 2018 UAE Presidents Cup. “It is always great to work with HSBC and their knowledgeable events management staff. With the continued support from HSBC, we are seeing this event grow year after year. The EGF has added a Par 3 Championship that will give our Foundation Squad the opportunity to showcase their skills while bringing the young and old generations together. Building the national golf community is a goal for both the EGF and HSBC, this event is proof that both are reaching that goal”.

With a strong field in all three divisions (Men’s, Ladies, and Juniors) of the main event and kids from the Foundation Squad trying to make UAE National Team the competition should be exciting.

The EGF encourages any and all spectators to visit Yas Link Abu Dhabi this weekend and support this fantastic event. You can see the results and follow the event updates on the EGF website and social media pages.