Dubai Golf News

Can the Amateurs claim victory in the 2014 Dubai Golf Trophy

This coming weekend welcomes one of the most hotly anticipated local golfing events of the season as the Dubai Golf Trophy returns.

During this annual event the 16 leading UAE based PGA Professionals and the leading 16 Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) Amateur golfers will go head to head in a Ryder Cup style showdown in a bid to be crowned champions in the fifteenth edition of the Dubai Golf Trophy.

The event originally started as a social season ending tournament in 2000 at the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. Since then the event has grown in popularity and prestige and is now one of the highlights of the local golfing calendar for professionals and amateurs alike. This year’s event takes place on 17th May on the Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club, followed by round two on the 18th May on the championship course at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

In 2013 the Professionals were dominant and secured an impressive victory with a final event score of 19 to 13, this means that they have now taken home the past six trophies. This brings the total victories for the professionals to twelve wins against the Amateurs two, having claimed victory in 2005 and 2007.

The first round draw has been made and will see teams of two play against one another in a foursomes format. The highlight of the first round is match four which will see the Team Captain of the Professionals, Steven Munro and partner Phil Waine, taking on young Rayhan Thomas and his partner Max Burrow. Steven will be looking for revenge this year after young Rayhan ‘took him out’ in the Singles round of matches last year (Rayhan won by two holes).  Both Munro and Thomas have had very strong seasons with both players finishing second in their respective order of merits.

John Fellingham, the returning 2014 Amateur Captain is only too well aware that the statistics are heavily in favour of the Professionals, having played in several previous tournaments including the 2001 trophy when he was captain for the first time.  John feels that 2014 can be the Amateurs year, he commented. “In team sports results are sometimes difficult to predict, who would have thought the Europeans would have dominated Ryder cup golf for so long. At the starting gate everyone is equal, it really does depend on desire and commitment not just talent.”

The Professional’s captain for 2014 is Stephen Munro who said that, “It is a great honour to captain this year’s Professional Team.   The event is always very competitive and I am sure the Amateur Team will be stronger than ever, however I really do feel that our team is strong enough to come out on top this year.  We are all looking forward to getting things underway on Saturday at Emirates Golf Club.”
Christopher May, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Golf has been closely involved with the event since it started in 2000. He commented that “The Dubai Golf Trophy is a superb event to be a part of, there is always a very competitive spirit between the two teams which leads to some interesting competition and results.  The Professionals have been dominant in recent years and the Amateurs are looking to claim back victory in 2014 and end their losing streak.

The objective of the event is really to raise the profile of golf in the region and to bring players from clubs all over the UAE together.  Qualifying for the event is always an honour for the golfers involved and it is great to see such a diverse range of ages of players taking part this year, the youngest of which is Rayhan Thomas who at only 14 years of age has qualified for the second consecutive year.”

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