UAE Golf Societies News

An ace from Ali seals Proclad Golf Society victory at Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Mazen Ali poses with his putter but had absolutely no need for it on the 12th hole at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the opening event of the Proclad Golf Society’s annual Invitational Series on October 30. The 10-handicapper aced the 169-yard hole with a seven iron to produce the defining moment of the oil and gas industry supplier’s shambles tournament on the National Course.
 
Recent eye-surgery meant Ali turned away from the sun and didn’t see the ball drop into the cup on the water-guarded par 3. But his delighted team-mates – Abdullah Al Marzouqi, Faisal Al Seyagh and Jim Birnie – witnessed the chemical engineer’s shot-of-a-lifetime and loved it even more when the final scores were tallied.
 
With each team of four selecting the best drive on each hole and playing their own ball out from there under the shambles format, Al Marzouqi, Al Seyagh and Birnie also claimed theoretical holes-in-one. It meant the team recorded a staggering nine stableford points for the best two counting scores on the hole; four points courtesy of Ali and five points from 18-handicapper Al Seyagh who took full advantage of his shot on the hole which is ranked the 16th toughest on the National.
 
It proved pivotal come prize-giving with Ali’s team finishing on 100 stableford points, six clear of runners-up Hassen Amarneh, Tareq Hatem, David Neill and Euan Glen.
 
Coincidentally, it was the second successive year the Proclad Golf Society’s opening event has been highlighted by a one-in-one. Last year Mark Laws aced the seventh hole at Abu Dhabi GC.
 
As a founder member of Abu Dhabi GC, Ali is no stranger to the 12th hole on the National Course which is already in fine shape ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, the opening leg of the European Tour’s annual Desert Swing scheduled for January 15-18. 
 
But he’d never come close to an ace there in the 14 year history of the Peter Harradine-designed layout and it wasn’t until he plucked his ball from the cup that he truly believed his excited team-mates.
 
“I didn’t see it go in…I’ve had Lazik eye surgery so I can’t look into the sun,” said Ali, Gas Co-Ordinator Team Leader for Abu Dhabi-based offshore oil and gas company Adma-Opco.
 
“I hit it and the guys said ‘it’s gone in the hole’. I said ‘I don’t believe you’ but sure enough. It feels great, a very special moment topped off by the win. We all played excellent golf.
 
“It’s been a great round and I want to thank [Proclad General Manager] Jim Littlejohn and his team. I really look forward to playing in the Proclad tournaments. It’s one of the best tournaments we play…very enjoyable and friendly.”
 
The next event in the Proclad Golf Society Invitational Series, an individual stableford, will be hosted at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club on November 20.
 
The seven tournament series culminates with a pairs tournament at Saadiyat Beach next April where the winners will earn a spot in the World Corporate Golf Challenge UAE Final. The winners of that 18-hole decider at Jumeirah Golf Estates in May will go on to seek company, country and global glory at the WCGC Grand Final at Oitavos Dunes Golf Course in Cascias, Portugal in late June-early July, 2015.

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