Abu Dhabi Golf Club Pro’s reclaim annual ‘Beat the Pro’s’ tournament held on National Course
Professionals at Abu Dhabi Golf Club breathed a sigh of relief as they narrowly pipped club members for the top spot in this year’s ‘Beat the Pro’s’ tournament.
The annual event, sponsored by Cristal Salam Hotel and Pro Sports, saw the top four club professionals take on the Abu Dhabi Golf Club members in a Texas Scramble format on the famous National Course.
After suffering a comprehensive beating by their amateur rivals in 2012, the group of professionals, consisting of Scott “Magic Man” McCaw, Danny “The Iceman” Jakubowski, Phil “The Dark Knight” Waine and Steven “Shooter” Outlaw – self-named “The Money Team”, set out to reclaim their pride.
After a comical ‘Hollywood’ entrance in front of a large crowd formed at the bottom of the iconic Falcon Clubhouse, the professionals made their way to the first hole to commence their battle against an impressive 17 teams who entered into the event.
Despite excellent scores from the members, the professional team was able to clinch the win, shooting a gross score of 15 under par (57) to beat the field and eclipse the disappointment of 2012’s result.
Members’ first place went to Daniel Venter, Laurie Burkhardt, Tony McKay and Richard Goldsmith after they posted a fantastic score of 57.8.
Competition was tight for second place with two teams carding a tied score of 59.6. Paromita Mukherjee, Louis Gosselin, Karen Black and Rory Black narrowly prevailed as the winners on a back nine count-back and the team of Joe Howell, Alastair Crombie, Ian Ranking and Aart Lehmkuhl took third place.
“We’re thrilled with the victory,” said Daniel Venter. “This tournament is a lot of fun – the best event of the year.”
The 2013 event marked McCaw and Jakubowski’s third appearance in the Beat the Pro’s event as Waine and Outlaw made their tournament debuts.
Troon Golf Abu Dhabi’s Head of Instruction, Danny Jakubowski said: “Beat the Pro’s is such a fantastic event year after year and we are just glad we were able to win back the bragging rights until 2014!”
