Nick Groves Stands Out in ‘The Open Championship Challenge’ in Al Badia Golf Club

On the 16th of July Al Badia Golf Club held The Open Championship Challenge in conjunction with the ongoing event in Royal St Georges. The conditions at Al Badia certainly made it a challenge with the rough up and the wind blowing.

All the players on the day drew a professional from the Open Championship and their scores were combined which saw some players having to rely on good scores from their pro or have to play out of their skin as the pro struggled on the challenging Royal St Georges course.

The eventual winner was Nick Groves with his player pick Steve Stricker. Steve Stricker was standing on even par so it was down to Nick himself to put a good score together. With an impressive 37 points, including 20 on the back 9 holes with 2 gross birdies. Well done to Nick who has now played 2 events at Al Badia Golf Club and won 2 since he joined as a member a month ago.

Second place went to Steve Stanton who also had 37 points. With a gross eagle on the 8th hole for 5 points and a gross birdie on 16th hole for 4 points put Steve in contention. However Steve’s player pick Gary Boyd let him down with +1, dropping Steve’s points to 36 and finally settling to runner up.
In third place on count back was Salim Shaikh with 33 points. Salim drew Rory Mcilroy who was at even so it was down to Salim who managed to have 9 pars in his round.