Dubai: The UAE turned in an inspired performance to win the GCC Golf Championship for the first time in the event's history at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club yesterday.
The home side closed with a team score of gross 229 for a total of 676 to beat their nearest challengers Qatar by 17 shots while Bahrain, who have won every edition of the championship since its inception 16 years ago, had to settle for third on 694.
The UAE held sway in the championship right from the start and never felt threatened at the top of the leaderboard.
Ahmad Al Musharrakh, who contributed to the team's score in each of the three rounds, put the icing on the cake when he won the individual championship with a 54-hole gross total of 218, well ahead of Bahrain's Nasser Yaccob Saleh (224) and team-mate Khalid Yousuf (225).
No 1 Arab team
The UAE recently won team and individual gold medals at the Arab Games in Doha and this latest resounding victory only confirms their credentials as No 1 in the Arab world.
Starting the final day a healthy 17 strokes ahead of Bahrain, the UAE needed some good scores from Al Musharrakh, who shot 77, Yousuf (77) and Suhail Marzouqi (75) to seal a memorable victory.
Qatar produced the day's best team score (225), and though it was not good enough to threaten the UAE, it did help them relegate Bahrain to third.
Shaikh Fahim Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation, congratulated the team on what he called "a fantastic victory".
"The boys have been working hard for a long time and the victory clearly reflects on the rising standards of the game in the UAE," he said.
"I am really proud of their achievements. Every member of the team played a role, especially Ahmad, who did really well to add the individual GCC championship to his Arab Games gold medal."
