Dae Not Too Young To Claim Gulf Coast Engineering RAK Seniors Classic at Tower Links Golf Club

The second annual RAK Seniors Classic took centre stage over two fantastic golf courses during the second weekend in March.

This was the second event of its kind to be held in the Northern Emirate and following on from last year’s success this year’s event was surely not going to disappoint. Again this year we were lucky to receive the generous support of a sponsor, which came in the form of Gulf Coast Engineering and their Managing Director Bob Messham. Bob is an avid golfer and member of Al Hamra Golf Club so he decided to put every effort he could into making the 2013 RAK Seniors Classic even bigger and better than last year.

It turned out he was not to be disappointed as the event attracted a full field of senior golfers from all over the UAE and other neighboring countries 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. The format for this year changed from stableford to strokeplay and incorporated Mens Net and Gross divisions, Ladies Net and Gross divisions, and an additional Super Seniors division for men over 60 and ladies over 55, which was kindly sponsored by Garmin.

  Day one of the event was held at Al Hamra Golf Club where competitors teed off late morning on the immaculate Championship Course in testing windy conditions. Only two competitors managed to break 80 on the opening day with Sergio D’Souza round one leader on 77, just one ahead of Dae Young Yoon on 78. Jimmy Miller was leading the Net division on 66 while Roger Floyd and Steve Rayment led the Gross and Net Seniors divisions respectively. Yuki Pellerine’s first round of 89 was enough to see her lead the Ladies Gross division by three, while Annie Marriott led the Net division on 72.

The second and final day of the competition took place at Tower Links Golf Club where competitors teed off in an 8am shotgun start over the challenging Championship Course, under perfect golfing conditions. Day one leader Sergio D’Souza followed up his 78 with an 80 to finish with a total of 158 while Jimmy Miller followed up his impressive six under 66 with a two under 70 to finish with an awesome competition total of 136. Yuki Pellerine followed up her first round 89 with a 96 to finish on 185, while Annie couldn’t quite match her first round performance and carded an 86 on day two. This fluctuation in scores from all competitors was surely going to prove and exciting finish.

The final calculations proved to be a nervous wait for competitors as all divisions seemed very tight, with the possibility of play-off and count backs looming. Starting with the Super Seniors, winning a trophy kindly sponsored by Fred Watts and Steve Rayment along with sponsors Garmin was Steve Rayment with rounds of 80 and 83, giving him a winning total of 163. Chris Redley was crowned Net Champion after solid rounds of 71 and 73 to give his competition total of 144. Onto the Ladies Gross division and holding on after leading the first round was Yuki Pellerine, who’s two round total of 185 was enough to see her crowned champion. Sheila Alban picked up the top ladies net prize with 157 after her two rounds of 76 and 81.

    Jimmy Miller proved to be untouchable in the Mens Net Division, finishing with a colossal 10 shot winning margin from second place Eric Engelbrecht after carding two fantastic rounds of 66 and 70, resulting in an 8 under par total of 136. Onto the main prize. Could Sergio D’Souza hold on for glory or would his total of 158 not be quite enough? Who was looming behind him after the first round that could produce a winning day two score? With a fantastic second round of 3 over par 72, Dae Young Yoon overcame his one shot gap from Sergio on round one to finish with a fantastic 5 shot winning total of 153 receiving the Gulf Coast Engineering RAK Seniors Classic 2013 Champions trophy. Unfortunately for Sergio, his competition total of 158 was only good enough for second while Joe Wivou picked up third place and further one shot back on 159. Bob Messham of Gulf Coast Engineering went onto say ‘I’ve had a fantastic weekend of golf. The competition was a huge success as I hope it would be and everyone seemed to enjoy every part of the competition. I’m already excited for next year when hopefully I will have the opportunity to Support another fantastic event.’