RIYADH, 21 January 2008 — Ali Hammoud became the only player to score even par 72 as Lebanon surprised everyone when they shared the lead with powerhouse Bahrain after the first round yesterday of the 28th Pan-Arab Golf Championship at Dirab Golf Club here.
Hammoud rolled in four birdies against two bogeys for a 34 going out and posted a 37 coming in to lead the Lebanese charge on the first day of the gross team event of the four-member team three to count competition. Rashid Aqoul and Ramadan Mehdi added 90 and 82 in Lebanon’s first day total of 234.
Bahrain, the defending team and individual champions, got a big lift from the father-and-son tandem of Abdullah Sultan and Sultan Abdullah with 74 and 79 as they matched Lebanon’s total. Their third score to count was actually shared by their two other veterans on the team, Nasser Yacoub and Hamad Mubarak, who shot matching 81s.
Amr Abul Ela, who gave Egypt the 2005 championship on home soil, started well in this year’s event, shooting a 1-over 73 at the vanguard of his team’s onslaught that also netted 81 from Mamdouh El Sheikh and 84 from Teymour Scarello for a 238, four strokes off the pace in third place.
Hosts Saudi Arabia missed the kind of start they wanted, hobbling to a 247 total in sixth place, right behind Oman who put together 244 from rounds of 79 from Azzan Al Rumhy, 80 from Abdullah Mohammad and 85 from Hamed Al Rumhy.
Kingdom No. 2 Othman Almulla birdied the par-5 ninth hole to get to even par 36 on the front nine but stumbled to a 43 on the way home for a 79. Fahad Al-Mansour and Mubarak Al-Ghamdi tallied 81 and 87 for Saudi Arabia.
Tunisia, bannered by a young team whose eldest member is 23-year-old Ayman Fergani, came fourth on 242.
Hatem Naser compiled 78 for Tunisia who received a pair of 82s from Fergani and Hassine Wallani.
To the credit of the organizers the first round play went off smoothly except for the 13th hole that became a big issue after majority of the players complained about its green as unreasonably tough to play and raised suggestions of scores on the hole be canceled.
The nightmare hole, a par-5 dogleg right, became an ultimate test of one’s golfing ability. Very few survived and nearly half the field fell victim to the super fast green that putted like a glass surface and demanded 100 percent accuracy. As a result, the pace of play was delayed as the players watched in horror as the ball slid down the green and back to the fairway one time too many.
Abul Ela and the Riyadh-based Mansour were the only players to birdie the hole. Ela hit his third shot from the rough and made a difficult 25-footer from the top of the hole, while Mansour stabbed his wedge from 90 yards to within two feet and sank the putt with a dead-center stroke.
Arab Golf Federation Secretary-General Egyptian Mohammed El Attar and the technical committee chaired by Saudi Yousef Mahfouz deliberated the complaint about No. 13. After consultations with one referee each from the R&A and PGA, the committee ruled the scores on the hole are valid. The pin location as decided by the committee on Saturday evening was affected by bad weather through the night, resulting in a very difficult situation during play yesterday.
Hammoud, Abul Ela and Abdullah Sultan filled the top three places in the individual race with Hatem alone in fourth place followed by a big group on 79.
