Riley wins the 2013 Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club Championship
The two day, thirty-six hole event is the most prestigious event of the year for the members of the Club to participate in and this year, well over 100 players were competing for honours in their respective categories.
The winner of each category would earn the right to claim to be the club’s best player for 2013 and once again the tournament was supported by leading golf apparel brands J. Lindeberg and Chervo.
Ryan Riley fired a superb three under par 68 on day one which opened a three shot gap over two-time DCGYC Club Champion Jay Varkey, who recorded an excellent 71. Defending Champion Bayhaan Lakdawala made a two over-par 73 on day one to be drawn with Riley & Varkey in the final group on the second and final day. Varkey made a quick start on the second day as he birdied two of the opening three holes to close the gap to only one. However, Riley held his nerve and made very few mistakes during the early part of the second round and when Varkey found the water on the tough par three eighth it meant that Riley was four ahead as they made their way towards the par four ninth. Lakdawala managed a one over par outward half to keep himself in contention as the leading group started their final nine holes and then birdied the tenth to close the gap by one. Par was the score returned from there for all three players on each hole until the par three fourteenth where Riley and Lakdawala each made birdie twos. An unfortunate triple bogey seven for Varkey on the fifteenth meant that a comeback for him was now looking extremely unlikely as he was now four over par and six shots back with only three holes to play. Riley made up for a bogey on sixteen with an immediate bounce-back birdie on the seventeenth, whilst Varkey and Lakdawala only managed par on both holes. This meant that Riley would have a three shot lead over Lakdawala and a six shot lead over Varkey stepping onto the tee of the iconic (and sometimes terrifying) eighteenth hole. Riley showed sound course management as he chose to lay-up and put himself on the green in three strokes. After Lakdawala found the water from the tee, Riley knew he had a few putts in hand to close out the championship and although he was over-cautious with his first putt from twenty feet, he calmly tapped in for a bogey five and a one under-par, two day total of 141 to be crowned Dubai Creek Men’s Club Champion 2013. After being presented his prize Riley commented; “It is an honour to win such a great event at such a great Club. I would like to thank all of the staff here at the Creek and also the sponsors for putting together such a great tournament. Also a very big thank you to my playing partners across both days for making this event such a memorable one”.
Defending champion Lakdawala took the overall runners-up spot with a combined total of 144 whilst Paul King managed a strong finish on day two to clinch third place on a second round, better back nine count-back over five-time winner of the event Vikram Judge and Jay Varkey.
In the Men’s net division it was Ishwar Jodha who was triumphant after two rounds of net 68 and net 71. His total of 139 gave him a two stroke victory over Haroon Mahmood who finished on 141 after rounds of 71 and 70.
In the Ladies Championship it was Nasha Sarkari who took top honours as she made a third successive defence of her title. Despite a hand injury, Sarkari made two solid performances and finished with a two day total of 179 to be crowned Ladies Club Champion for the fourth consecutive year. H. H. Choi returned a commendable total of 183 to clinch the runners-up spot in the division while Joy Lirio fired a net 72 on day one and went one better on day two with a net 71 to take the ladies net title with a 143 total. Ladies Vice-Captain Paula Savage finished runner-up in the same category with a 145 net total.
The Junior Championship, unlike last year, was a very closely contested affair. Aryan Chordia, Parth Goel and reigning Junior Open Champion Rayhan Thomas all finished on 151.
This meant that a three-way sudden death playoff was required to decide the winner. Despite a superb performance on day two, Chordia was unable to make par on the first and so the playoff became a head to head affair between Goel & Thomas. The boys made their way to the second hole, where they would both make par and so continued to the third hole. Thomas chose to take an iron from the tee and put himself in the middle of the fairway. Goel showed some great nerve and took his driver so he could attack the green. This aggressive club selection seemed to have back-fired as he found the greenside bunker as Thomas hit a solid approach onto the middle of the putting surface. With the pressure now firmly on, Goel played a fantastically controlled shot from the bunker which left him with a ten foot putt for birdie. After Thomas missed his attempt for a three, Goel confidently rolled in his putt to be crowned Junior Club Champion for 2013. Dhruv Nair added another win to his growing list of achievements as he took the junior net division with a two day total of 138. Fardeen Meeran also performed solidly and finished junior net runner up just one stroke back with a total of 139.
Despite missing out in the men’s overall prizes, Jay Varkey picked up the best gross day one prize for his opening round of level par 71. Vikram Judge followed suit with a 71 in the final round and picked up best gross prize for day two.
Mrs Brigitta Dagostin who is the Managing Director of Mona Emirates Trading, the local distributer for Chervo and J. Lindeberg commented, “The course and set up was executed marvellously well again to host the annual Club Championships at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. We as supplier of the prestigious brands J.Lindeberg and Chervo are proud to support this important event once more. The field was strong and it was encouraging to see the good turnout and results of the juniors. Well done Dubai Golf!”.
