Singapore: Ahmad Skaik and Abdullah Al Musharrakh will represent the UAE at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Championship in Singapore from Thursday.
The champion will earn an invite to The Masters and The Open, provided he remains an amateur.
Both are making a comeback of sorts, as Skaik returns after finishing studies, while Musharrakh returns from South America, where he was working with Mubadala.
This is Skaik’s second AAC appearance after missing the cut in Wellington last year.
“It’s not been a very good season for me as I was focused more on studies,” the 21-year-old said. “But now I’m done and have started concentrating on golf again. This is the biggest event we play all year and I’ve tried to prepare with that in mind.
“I have a few important events after this like the Pan Arab Games, so I am hoping all my hard work pays off, starting this week.”
Abdullah played in the inaugural AAC in 2009, and is also making his second appearance. But he’s not short of motivation as his younger brother Ahmad holds the record of a best finish by at Emirati in the tournament at level par tied for 24th, which also came in Singapore when the event was last played there in 2011.
“Ahmad played very well that year. He was very consistent and shot two sub-par rounds. That was one of the proudest moments for UAE golf. And yes, that gives me motivation,” he said. “I was busy with my career and then did national service. Golf wasn’t a priority for almost four or five years. But now I’m back in the UAE and I want to be part of the national team on a regular basis. I am very competitive, so I know golf is not going to be a simple leisure sport for me.”
Skaik admitted winning the tournament would be difficult, but he was confident that they would both make it to the weekend.
“The level here is pretty high. And as I said, I haven’t been playing regularly earlier in the year. But I know that if I play to my potential, I can post a good result this week.”