Bishop continues form to win second Mashreq series event at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
The first edition of the Mashreq Gold Cup, in association with BMW took place this past weekend at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.
The Mashreq Gold Cup consists of four events that will run throughout the season alongside the Mashreq Medal Championships, at both Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, and Emirates Golf Club.
The Mashreq Gold Cup will have its own Order of Merit standings, but points earned in Gold Cup events will also count towards the current Mashreq Medal Championship Order of Merit. The event was again extremely popular with members and boasted another full field of over 100 players. BMW again added extra value this month in the form of a BMW 3-Series that was up for grabs as a Hole-in-One prize on the Par 3, 14th hole. Windy and hazy conditions would present an additional challenge to the already tricky Dubai Creek course.
Mark Bishop continued his form of late to pick up his second victory of the Mashreq series with a superb net 66. This win would see Bishop move to the top of the Oder of Merit standings, overtaking current leader Vanessa North who didn’t participate in this month’s event. After being presented his prize Mr. Bishop commented; “It’s a great pleasure to win again in the series. I would like to say a big thank you to the sponsors along with the all of the staff at the Creek for all their hard work in making this great event so available to all us members. The course was fantastic once again, and the greens the better than ever, so another thank you to the golf course maintenance team for all of their hard work”.
Ishwar Jodha took the Men’s Division A title with a fantastic 4 under-par net 67. The runner-up spot for the division was to be decided on a count-back after Peter Stapleton and Mike Estafanous finished tied on net 72. In the end it was Stapleton who clinched the runner-up position on a better last 6 holes. Ramon Navea also finished under par with a solid net 69 to take top spot in Men’s Division B whilst Mitesh Desai finished as the division’s runner-up with a net 72. Nantivan Sukkhasantikul carded 2 birdies on the back 9 to finish with a 1 under-par net 70 and take the Ladies Division title by 5 shots.
Current Dubai Creek Men’s Amateur Open, and Back to Black Open Champion, Bayhan Lakdawala again showed some fine form as he carded 5 birdies in extremely tough conditions to take the best gross prize for a fantastic 2 under-par 69. Young Junior member Eshna Bhargava put in arguably the best performance of the day, as she made a superb net 63 to win the Junior Division by a massive 8 shots.
Paul King, Bayhan Lakdawala, Adhip Shankar and Miki Mirza were all rewarded for their birdies in the 2’s Club whilst David Gowans and Russell James had some good fortune in the Captains Raffle.
After conducting the prize presentation, Dubai Creek’s Head Professional Stephen Hubner commented; “It really is wonderful to once again witness and enjoy such a well supported event. The series has been a great success so far and I would like to thank Mashreq and BMW for their continued support, and also the additional value they have added for this inaugural Mashreq Gold Cup”.
Also on hand to say a few words was Mr. Caetano Fernandes, Head of Mashreq Gold who commented; “Dubai Golfers have a new incentive to finish their 18 holes with instant free for life Platinum Elite Credit Card, which comes with a gamut of unbelievable benefits. Mashreq Medal Cup weekend event at Dubai Creek & Yacht Golf Club did indeed have an exciting twist to it and we look forward to continuingthis in the next event which is to be held at Emirates Golf Club. Golf is such a great sport and it also complements very well with the customer base of our Premium Banking Services”.
