Stableford Singles Matchplay Qualifier at Emirates Golf Club

Due to the popularity of the Singles Matchplay Championship amongst Emirates Golf Club members the starting field of 64 players is decided by qualification.

A stableford competition was staged yesterday over the Majlis course with the top 16 players from Division A (handicap 0-12) and Division B (handicap 13-24) qualifying for the tournament. They will be joined by qualifiers from the October monthly medal on 14th October.

Johnny Aldridge, a scratch team regular, carded equal best of the day with a 3-under par 39 points. A mixed front nine included back to back birdies on the 7th and 8th but dropped shots on the 4th, 5th, and a double bogey on the 9th saw him out in 37, two over par. A trio of birdies followed on the inward half on the 10th, 16th and 18th but he gave two back on the 13th and 14th to sign for a gross 73. His closest challengers were Shravan Khanna and Ewan Dunn on 37 points, Khanna clinched runners-up birth due to a better back nine.

Division B also produced some excellent scoring with Kapil Dutta matching Aldridge’s 39 points. He was closely followed by Pavan Nihalani on 38 with Amresh Sangani a further shot back in third.

A count back on 32 points decided the top 16 matchplay qualifiers from Division A with 28 the mark in Division B.