Neil and Yvette Heywood win the 2014 International Pairs UAE Final at Yas Links Golf Club

The UAE’s number one golf course, Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, was the venue for the UAE National Final of the 2013-14 OnCourse Golf International Pairs golf tournament on Saturday 7th June.

On a hot and steamy day, with the course set up at 7,000 yards, the final was a true test of golf for the seventeen pairs of golfers – all winners of their respective golf clubs’ qualifying tournaments – who were playing for a place in the world final of this sixteenth running of the world wide event.

Whilst keeping score on the fantastic VPar scoring system might have been simple, scoring on the golf course certainly wasn’t , but in the end several teams excelled, especially those made up of male and female combinations, with all three of the major prizes going the way of such mixed gender teams.
In third place, representing Al Badia Golf Club were Henrik Carlsson and Jenny Kim, whose score of 39 points reflected the excellent quality of their golf.

Playing just behind them were two more of the eight male-female teams. Paired together and seemingly motivated by each other, they played consistent golf throughout the day and eventually scooped first and second places in the tournament, as well as several of the many excellent individual prizes that were on offer courtesy of Taylor Made and Adidas.
Representing Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, father-and-daughter combination Ishwar and Henna Jodha combined superbly to rack up a creditable score of 40 points and take runners-up spot, with Henna also taking the two ladies individual prizes for the longest drive and nearest-the-pin.
But the team of the day – and winners of the UAE International Pairs 2014 – was the husband-and-wife team of Neil and Yvette Heywood. Celebrating their wedding anniversary, the winners of the Saadiyat Island Golf Club qualifier played inspired golf to come home with an exceptional score of 43 points, with Yvette also winning the individual honours with a personal score of 35 points.
Accepting the winner’s trophy, and his and Yvette’s tickets, Courtesy of Virgin Atlantic, to the world final in October, husband Neil was quick to point out that his contribution of eight points was critical to their victory, but praised Yvette for carrying him the rest of the way round.
The men’s individual prizes went to Nathan Fisher, who won the OnCourse Golf Longest Drive with an amazing near-400 yard tee shot on the 12th hole, and Richard Mylrea whose tee shot on the Par-3 4th hole was nearest the pin. A further award – the Middle East Golfer nearest the Pin in Three on the 18th hole – was won by Shaun Tilbrook.
Playing alongside the main event, ten teams of sponsors and supporters of the season-long tournament contested their own competition with the same format, with OnCourse Golf’s own Steve Rutter and Richard Mylrea taking the honours on a count back ahead of and TaylorMade’s Nathan Fisher and Kris Bell on 36 points, and father-and-son combination Andy and Matthew Baxter on 35.

Hosting the prize-giving gala dinner at the excellent Radisson Blu Hotel, OnCourse Golf’s Steve Rutter paid tribute to the tournament sponsors Radisson Blu Hotel, Mediclinic, Taylor Made, Adidas, Virgin Atlantic Airline, VPAR and Visa International, and thanked media partners Sport 360, UAE Golf Online and Middle East Golfer for their excellent coverage of the eight-month long tournament.

Guests were then treated to a first class dinner followed by an entertaining video of the day’s events produced by TeeVideo comprising and the father-and-son team of Gavin and Andrew Tully-Jackson who flew in from Scotland to cover the event.  
The winners will now be flown by Virgin Atlantic to Mar Hall Golf Club in Scotland where, adorned in TaylorMade and Adidas equipment and apparel, they will represent the UAE and compete with teams from as many as thirty other countries for the World International Pairs Title. Previous winner of the UAE event and world finalist Walter hall of Yas Links Golf Club gave a glowing report of what this year’s winners Neil and Yvette Heywood could expect, and whetted everyone’s appetite for another bash at the big prize next season.

On behalf of the wining team, Neil Heywood said afterwards: ““Yvette and I are extremely thrilled to be representing the UAE in The World International Pairs Finals in October. We had no idea of the magnitude that this tournament represents when we entered the competition qualifier at Saadiyat and to be honest, we thought it was just another club golf competition when we first put our names down to enter.  Once we found out that we had won our qualifier at Saadiyat and that we would be playing in the UAE Regional Finals, it was only then that we realised that this tournament was quite a lot different to many others that we have entered since arriving here in the UAE three and a half years ago.
    
We would like to thank and express our gratitude to everybody at OnCourse Golf for their professionalism in hosting and managing such a prestigious event together with a huge thank you to all of the sponsors that have made two golfers very excited and proud to be representing the UAE in The World Finals.  We were staggered to learn that nearly 1400 competitors entered the UAE competition via their own individual golf clubs within the UAE.  One piece of advice to all fellow golfers, please look out for the entry form for 2015, as this golf tournament is not just big, it’s enormous, and it’s definitely worth entering as you just never know until the day how you will play.   You can rest assured that we will not be going to Scotland’ just to make up the numbers, we are going there to win.”

Over the season – which began in October, and ended at the final at Yas Links – over 1200 golfers took part, said Steve Rutter, and with new sponsors soon to be announced for next season, he was delighted to report that virtually every club in the UAE has already signed up for what is expected to be even bigger and better International Pairs in 2014-15.