Cornish Claims Victory in RAK Seniors Classic Three Way Play off at Al Hamra Golf Club
The inaugural RAK Seniors Classic took centre stage over two fantastic golf courses during the last weekend in March.
This was the first event of its kind to take place in the UAE and along with the generous sponsorship of RAK Gas along with the support of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism the event would surely prove to be a great success. The format for the event was a 36 Hole Individual Stableford where the competitor with the highest combined total for both days would be crowned the first RAK Seniors Champion. The event saw senior golfers from all over the U.A.E travelling to Ras Al Khaimah ready to take on the very different challenges that both golf courses pose in a bid to take home one of the many awesome prizes and trophies on offer.
Day one of the event was held at Tower Links Golf Club where competitors teed off in a 1pm shotgun on the challenging Championship Course in testing windy conditions. The scoring for day one turned out to be exceptional with 14 players having scored 36 points or more with the leader Yuki Pellerine carding a score of 40 points and picking the best Ladies prize for Day 1. One point back on 39 was the Mens Day 1 best score winner Angelo Kondes, a score which included a colossal 22 points on the back nine. The four nearest the pin prizes for day one were picked up by Dave Gould on Hole No. 4, Eric Engelbrecht on Hole No. 8, Dave Heron on Hole No. 16 and Paul Tipping on Hole No. 18.
The second and final day of the competition took place at Al Hamra Golf Club where competitors teed of in an 8am shotgun start over the immaculate Championship Course under perfect golfing conditions. Again there was some fantastic scoring by the competitors with 15 people carding scores of 36 or more. The clear Day 2 Ladies winner was Jane Lee with and outstanding score of 44 points, a score that proved to be 4 better than the Day 2 Mens Winner, Stephen Garbutt, as he finished with a still impressive 40 points. The four Nearest the Pin prizes for day two were picked up by Paul Macbeth on Hole No. 4, Malcolm Tennant on Hole No. 7, Alex Tivi on Hole No. 11 and Serge Rahman on Hole No. 15.
After all the cards were collected and scores calculated the final leaderboard proved to be an unbelievable result as three competitors all finished with a final score total of 77 points, resulting in a three way play-off down Al Hamra’s signature hole, the 18th. Taking part in this nerve racking play-off were Helena Cornish (36+41 total=77), Dave Clark (37+40 total=77), and Mohammed Bindang (38+39 total+77). With the rest of the competitors gathered round the 18 green to give their support, it would prove to be Helena’s day as she kept out of any trouble, plodding her way down the 18th and picking up the title clinching 2 points. After finding water with his second shot and an unfortunate 3 putt, Dave had to settle for runners-up prize this year as his 1 point wouldn’t prove to be enough. Third prize therefore went to Mohammed who also struggled down the last after a wayward tee shot and finding the sand twice. As she picked up the 2012 RAK Seniors Open Champion trophy Helena went onto say ‘I’ve had a fantastic weekend of golf here in RAK. I really didn’t expect to do this well and when I turned out to be in the play-off I was shocked. I thought the event was fantastically run and I’m sure ill be back for the next event in 2013.’
