Dalile lifts inaugural Sharjah Airport Free Zone Sharjah Cup
Boushra Dalile (22.7) of the Emirates Golf Federation won the inaugural Sharjah Airport Free Zone Sharjah Cup held at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club courtesy of 2 steady 38 point rounds giving her a 36 hole total of 76 points and a 1 stroke victory over her younger sister, Line (27.1), the first round leader.
Over 60 players competed day one in both 7.30am and 1pm shotguns with only 52 progressing to the 2nd round as a result of a halfway cut. In the morning rounds scoring appeared to be modest with only Line Dalile (EGF) setting a hot pace with 41 points. Y. D. Kim (SGSC) and eventual champion Boushra Dalile sat tied second on 38 with Mark Dupree (16.1 – EGF) taking 4th spot on 33 points.
The cut looked set to be as low as 16 points after round 1 but as the afternoon starters commenced the storm, which affected numerous golf events around the UAE, created hazardous playing conditions and even resulted in the suspension of play for an hour.
None of the afternoon starters to make an impression on the leaders meaning the final group on day 2 (round 2 – tee time starting format) was the Dalile sisters and Y. D. Kim. Line Dalile started nervously dropping points in her 2 opening holes as elder sister Bourshra started solidly recording 4 points through the first 2 holes. She then picked up 5 net birdies in her next 7 holes to establish a lead over her 2 nearest rivals. Y. D. Kim couldn’t find his day 1 form and by the turn had fallen out of contention and finished with a second round score of 30 points. Line Dalile’s round started to gain momentum from the 3rd as she recorded her first net birdies and turned in 17 points,
The 15th hole proved pivotal as the sisters were tied through 14 holes. A net birdie on the 15th established a 1 point lead for the elder sister which she maintained by virtue of 3 net pars over the closing stretch on her way to 1 point victory. Mark Dupree replicated his first round score returning 33 points for a 66 point total and 3rd place overall. Day prizes went to Y. D. Kim and Katy Rutherford 8.9 (EGC) with Wez Tweedly (3 – EGF), Sergy D’Souza (5.5 EGF) and Rajeev Ballah (9.9 – SGSC) taking gross awards. With the Dalile sisters taking main prizes Sue Bargh (23.2 – SGSC) and Viet Petersen (3.8 – EGC) took the ladies awards.
Caption – Boushra Dalile with the perpetual trophy and all the other weekend’s prize winners.
