Emirates Amateur Open Tees off for 54 holes for the first time

The 22nd edition of the Emirates Amateur Open will tee off tomorrow at Emirates Golf Club. The previous 21 events have been contested over 36-holes on the iconic Majlis course, home to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

This year, for the first time, the championship will incorporate the Emirates Golf Club Faldo and competitors will play their opening round on Nick Faldo’s layout with the final 36-holes on the Emirates Golf Club Majlis course.

The championship will now count towards the World Amateur Golf Ranking Order of Merit for 2011 and as always amateurs from all over the globe have signed up to compete in this prestigious event. Past winners include Gary Wolstenholme (1995) and Ryder cup star Peter Hanson who won the Amateur championship in 1997 and finished 9th in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic last weekend. Michael Hoey followed up his amateur win in 2000 with a 15th place finish last week in the professional version.

The 141 amateurs competing this weekend will follow in the footsteps of legends such as Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Ernie Els, Seve Ballesteros, Rory McIlroy, Annika Sorenstam and most recently the 2011 Omega Dubai Desert Classic winner Alvaro Quiros. Strong contenders include Scott Nightingale (Worthing Golf club) who triumphed in 2007 and took runners-up position last year. Other home favourites include Ahmed Al Musharrekh (Dubai Creek), Michael Harradine (Emirates Golf Club) and Daniel Hendry (Emirates Golf Club).

The Championship will get under way at 7:00am tomorrow morning on the Faldo course with the concluding 36-holes over the Emirates Golf Club Majlis on Friday and Saturday. In total 57 golf clubs are represented including Calcutta Golf Club, Shadow Hawk Golf Club (USA), Gezira Sporting Club (Egypt), Keeple Golf Club (Singapore) and Worthing Golf Club (UK).