RIYADH, 15 September 2005 — The fourth Ryder Cup-style golf matches between the Saudi national team and Britain start today at the Dirab Golf Club course here.
The Saudis will be looking to preserve their perfect 3-0 record in the two-day event against a side that will be reinforced by players from Preston Golf Club in the United Kingdom.
The club golfers captained by John Parker arrived Tuesday in Riyadh. Parker and teammates James Pye, Keith Alston, Tony Cowperthwaite and Gavin Southern were received on arrival by Saad Al-Otaibi, manager of the Saudi team and coordinator of the event that forms part of the Saudi-British Sports Cooperation Program Proposal No. 9-Golf.
They were met later in the day by Saudi Golf Committee Chairman and Dirab course owner Khaled Abunayyan. The visitors played their practice round yesterday at the par-72 Dirab layout.
The first day of the Saudi-Britain International Golf Challenge will consist of four ball better ball matches in the morning and foursomes, where each pair take alternate shots in the afternoon. Singles matches are on top tomorrow to be followed by the awards ceremony.
Captained by Ali Hamed Belhareth, the Saudi national team had been on training camp the past week at Dirab to finetune their game under the watchful eyes of Dirab Golf and Recreation Center Golf Division Manager and PGA professional Bouchaib El Jadiani.
Having done their homework, the hosts are primed for what is expected to be a stern test since winning the first three stagings of the dual contest.
The inaugural match play event which the Saudis won, 10-9, against British resident golfers was held in February 2004. The second was played seven months later in October and the third in May this year.
The visiting team’s itinerary includes cultural visits to the National Museum and Flying Museum and a round cum lunch at Arizona Golf Club course.
The first group to tee off at 8:04 a.m. during the four ball better ball matches will be the long-hitting Clark Windross, Steve Bowden (UK Team); Ali Belhareth, Faraj Al Chammiri (Saudi Team). The rest of the pairings are (UK team first): 8:12 a.m. — James Paye Gavin Southern Mohammed Fahad Al Khaldi Sattam Al-Gosaibi 8:20 — Keith Alston Tony Cowpherthwaite Ali Al-Sahli Omar Hariri 8:28 — Spence Hawthorn Ron Thompson Yousef Al- Mahfouz Saad Al-Othaibi 8:36 — Ron Cowper Ian Stewart Zied Al-Amir Chabib Al Qahtani
Foursomes — 1 p.m. — Paye Cowperthwaite Belhareth Al Gosaibi 1:08 p.m. — Alston Southern Al Sahli Chammiri 1:16 p.m. — Hawthorn Thompson Al-Khaldi Hariri 1:24 p.m. — Windross Cowper Al-Mahfouz Otaibi 1:32 p.m. — Bowden Stewart Al-Amir Al-Qahtani.
