Toby Bishop becomes OMEGA Dubai Creek Mens Amateur Open champion

Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht club hosted the first EGF order of merit event of 2019 this past weekend, the OMEGA Dubai Creek Men’s Amateur Open. As always, it is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year and attracted top amateur players from throughout the region as well as a number of competitors from overseas. This year was no exception with a full field of players turning out to compete in this prestigious event and Tony Bishop was the man.

Round 1: The first round saw the course in stunning condition and provided a challenge for the players. After the first round, just a few shots separated the top 10 players with Toby Bishop leading the way after superb gross scores of 70 (-1). Just a single shot behind the leader after scores of 71 (par) was Dubai Creek member Bilal Belaid & oversees visitor Daniel Schmieding. With scoring so tight at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round, and with such a large amount of talent just a few shots off the pace, day 2 promised to produce a dramatic finish.

Round 2: Perfect course and weather conditions provided a fitting stage for the final round of this prestigious event. The final group of Bishop, Schmieding & Belaid were separated by a single shot at the start of play. Schmieding & Belaid both could not maintain the previous day’s standard of golf and dropped shots leaving them with work to do on the back nine. The challenge for the title was coming from further down the field, Bayhaan Lakdawala and Miki Mirza were both on the charge. With both players being past champions of the event they knew what it took to win. Mirza started the back nine with 5 birdies in his first six holes but was unable to keep this up and so missed out by three strokes eventually finishing in 3rd position. Lakdawala shot an impressive 67 (-4) in round two which put the pressure on Bishop as he played the challenging finishing holes, but Lakdawala missed out by one and finished in 2nd position. Schmeiding and Belaid failed to make up on their lost ground and finished in 4th & 5th place respectively. Bishop had a one-stroke lead stood on the 18th tee after dropping three strokes on his back nine, He struck a solid drive leaving only a short iron into the final green. His approach left him 40 feet to the flag and after an amazing first putt he had only a few inches to tap and claim the 2019 OMEGA Dubai Creek Men’s Amateur Open after a two-round total of 143 (+1).

Best Gross on day 1 went to Zubair Firdaus after his round of 72 (+1) and Bradley Mogire claimed the day 2 Best Gross with a round of 74 (+3). The Best Net prize on day 1 went to Mark Dupree with a 72 (+1). The day 2 Best Net was awarded to Alberto Rubio 72. Abutorab Arghandiwal claimed the overall net prize with a two day total of 146 (+4). Simon Elliott took the 2nd place net with a two-round total of 147. A two day total of 148 was enough for JP Fitzgerald to claim 3rd.

After being presented with his prize, Bishop commented; “A massive thank you to the sponsors OMEGA for supporting the event and a big thank you to Craig and his team for a great event!”

After the prize giving Michael Major, Dubai Creek’s Golf Services Manager commented; “I would just like to thank you all for your support today and for coming back to the Creek to play in this event and a special congratulations to our Champion Toby. A huge thank you must go to OMEGA whose continued support allows this event to grow year on year! I wish you all the very best for the up and coming year.”