Salems snatch International Pairs UAE Victory at Emirates Golf Club
Alan and Soumaya Salem finally realised their Tech Access International Pairs UAE Presented by Cadillac dream as they won a Qualifier at their fifth attempt.
The highly fancied pairing, who are members at The Address Montgomerie Dubai and Emirates Golf Club, have played in Qualifiers at both clubs in the first two Tech Access International Pairs UAE series but it proved to be fifth time lucky as they sealed their spot in the 2013 National Final at Yas links when they won the Emirates Golf Club event on Saturday. With 46 pairs on the Majlis Course and in perfect playing conditions, competition was always going to be fierce.
This was borne out with a mail-biting conclusion. The tension mounted in the run-up to the prizegiving as news filtered down that three pairs had finished the day with 41 stableford points and a countback would be required to determine the winners. Paul Byrne and Maura Duggan, who were predicted to perform well were the first casualties of the countback as their back-9 couldn’t match the Salems and then their last-6 holes were bettered by Mike Tracey & Stephen Jones who claimed the runners-up prize. Jones proved to be an excellent late replacement for Johnny Aldridge as he and Tracey compiled an impressively steady card. Ultimately a missed 3-foot putt on the 18th by Tracey would be their undoing. Maura’s abundance of strokes was decisive as she contributed four of their six net birdies as well as a superb 2 on the 7th hole when she rattled in a 30-footer for birdie.
The Salems started their day in steady fashion from hole 8 but exploded into action on the back-9, recording six birdies in seven holes from the 10th. A solid finish to their day saw them force their way into the countback and go on to record a memorable victory.
As usual, there were nearest-the-pin prizes on offer seeing Gokul Mani and Rory McDonald rewarded for their efforts on holes 4 and 15 respectively. As usual there was a prize draw held for all players and Bill Ayres won a stay at one of the UAE’s finest hotels – the Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi. International Pairs UAE also chose the largest event of the series to unveil a new partnership with Crocs Golf by Hank Haney. Peter Jamieson, Soumaya Salem and Noemy Bertuol were lucky recipients of a new pair of the latest shoes to hit the market. These were presented by David Gray, Managing Partner of DG Golf, the exclusive distributor of Crocs Golf shoes who announced that three lucky contestants will win shoes at each of the remaining 12 Qualifiers of the 2012-13 series.
Tech Access International Pairs UAE Presented by Cadillac is also supported by Rivoli Group, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, City & Welcare Hospitals, Nike Golf, Crocs Golf, Sport 360, Worldwide Golf and UAE Golf Online.
Photos:
Main photo: ‘EGC Winners’: International Pairs UAE Emirates Golf Club winners Alan and Soumaya Salem, pictured with Captain, Moshe Kohli.
