Buchanan Claims thilling PGA Champs as Nicoll Hangs on to the order of merit Title
Last Monday and Tuesday saw Tower Links Golf Club and Al Hamra Golf Club host the 2013 UAEPGA Championship, to decide the outcome of the 2012/2013 UAEPGA Order of Merit.
With a lead in the standings Callum Nicoll knew a top three finish would guarantee him a successful defence of his OOM crown from the last two seasons
Playing alongside 3rd ranked player Steven Munro in the first round, Buchanan and Nicoll were a model of consistency around the tough Tower Links layout. Both players hit the turn in level par 36 in comparison to Munro’s 40, thus showing they were the two players to beat. Tom had many near misses on the back 9 whereas Nicoll lost some rhythm in his swing, but still managed to post a 73 to finish one shot behind Buchanan at the end of day one. A solid back 9 of 34 from Munro threatened to put him in the final group for day two however Al Badia’s Ed Chapman posted a very impressive round of 73 despite a poor final hole to ensure he played in the last game with Buchanan and Nicoll at Al Hamra.
Entering the final round one shot behind Buchanan, Nicoll knew a steady round would be enough to retain the title of the UAEPGA top player and an early eagle on the third hole gave him the overall lead in the tournament over Buchanan as Munro and Chapman faltered early on. From this point in, it was only about Nicoll and Buchanan and the two players traded blows, as the lead changed hands regularly on the front 9. After 12 holes Buchanan had regained his one shot advantage and this remained the same until Nicoll holed a long birdie putt on the penultimate hole to ensure a tense finish for both players.
A poor layup from Nicoll on the Par 5 18th Hole handed a slight advantage to Buchanan, and when Nicoll’s third shot found the greenside bunker it looked like the title was Buchanan’s until a wonderful shot from the sand gave him an 8 foot putt to stay alive and force a playoff. Callum showed why he has been so successful in recent times by confidently holing the putt to force a playoff.
Hole 18 was used for the playoff and a poor drive from Nicoll gave Buchanan another early advantage. Buchanan hit two perfect shots to leave himself 80 yards for his approach, whereas Nicoll had a long approach which found sand again. Under pressure Buchanan cut up a little wedge to 8ft to set up a very makeable birdie chance. Nicoll once again showed his fighting spirit by playing a sublime bunker shot to force Buchanan to hole for victory. Tom wasn’t about to let this opportunity go and rolled his putt for victory into the centre of the hole in front of his peers and the Golf Digest cameras to be crowned the UAEPGA Championship winner for 2013.
Al Badia’s Ed Chapman held onto third place ahead of Steven Munro, who claimed 3rd place in the OOM. Tied 5th were Dong Lee and Ross McArthur while Tower Links professional Anthony Buchanan and
Ryan Smith shared 7th place.
Attached are the full results of yesterdays play, along with our final OOM points table, which includes the professionals who have qualified for the Dubai Golf Trophy taking place in two weeks time.
The UAEPGA would sincerely like to thank both Tower Links Golf Club and Al Hamra for allowing us to host our flagship event on their courses which were both in fantastic condition. A Special thank you must go to Simon Payne and Mizu from Tower Links and Simon Mees and Andrew Pilfold at Al Hamra for ensuring the event was a major success.
Our Patrons were represented by Neil Stewart and Rune Rasmussen who handed out the winner’s trophy to Tom. We would like to thank both Acuma and IP Global for their continued patronage of our association and we look forward to growing on this for next season.
