Birthday Boy Kraemer and Mullen back into Swing at Al Hamra

Friday the 8th of October 2010 not only saw 's John Parry hold the halfway lead in the Dunhill Links Championship after firing himself to a 12 under par total, following a second-round 65, but also the break of the new golfing season at Al Hamra.

With the golf course beginning to blossom and the greens as impeccable as ever it was time for the golfers to get ‘Back in the Swing’. After half the field had wiped the cobwebs off their clubs following their summer’s rest the teams headed back to take on the championship course in near perfect weather conditions.

The Tournaments format was an 18 hole Betterball Stableford with each player receiving ¾’s of their course handicap. With a cunning course setup and cheeky pin locations there was always the possibility of some great scoring with pitfalls along the way, and that is exactly what happened as the day culminated with the top three teams being separated by a mere 2 points.

An intense battle for glory had the pairing of Vicki Rogers and Steve Dunnage finishing a very creditable third with a solid point’s total of 39. They coolly played round the testing Al Hamra setup collecting 3 points along the way at holes 2, 3, 6, 12 and 18, however, a stumbling start to the back nine cost them dear as points were dropped at the 11th and 13th holes. The visiting pairing of Mark Stannard and Fred Watts claimed second place with a great score of 40 points. Following a very consistent front nine that saw the pairing turn with 18 points, they tore it around the back nine with 6 gross pars and 2 gross birdies, which gave them a total of 22 points and an overall 40 point total. 2010’s ‘Back in the Swing’ title was the reward for the Al Hamra pairing of Byron Kraemer and Lesley Mullen after a consistent and solid team performance. It was quite fitting that Kraemer should be in the winning pair as he was celebrating his 26th birthday, although he did owe a lot to his Betterball partner Mullen for holding their team score together in the early stages of their round. The Kraemer Mullen team returned halves of 20 and 21 points for the victorious 41 points winning total.

ERGO SPORTS kindly sponsored two special events for the tournament. The special events were nearest the pin on the par 3 15th hole and longest drive on the 16th hole. The twos winners of the events who received Ergo Sports prizes were Rae Kondes and Vicki Rogers respectively.