RIYADH, 20 February 2006 — The Dirab faithful, all 106 of them, braved the chilling cold for the 7:30 a.m. shotgun-style tee-off on Friday in the BMI February Monthly Medal Tournament.
Golf was good, with six players shooting in the mid-60s. At the end of the 18-hole stroke play event five return air tickets to London were given away to the four division winners and one raffle draw winner during the prize distribution ceremony.
Canadian diplomat jolly Mike Lazaruk led the four top prize winners in the tournament organized for members at the Dirab Golf Club here.
Lazaruk, with a 7 handicap, clinched the First Division (handicap 0-10) title after shooting a net score of 73. Ali Belharith, the five-handicapper team captain of the Saudi national team, played his usual game for a gross 79 and 74 net that gave him the second position on countback after Rashid Ali also signed for a 74.
Fast-rising Filipino golfer Yassin Palileo scored his breakthrough win at Dirab course firing one of two 65s to claim the Third Division (20-28) crown over the Pakistani pair of Maqbool Bhat and Mujib Minhas, who settled for second and third place on 66 and 67.
Palileo raised his game to the next level and outdid himself with a gross 90, while Bhat tallied 86 and Minhas 93. Palileo played to a handicap 25, Bhat to a 20 and Minhas to a 26.
The Second Division (11-19) title went to Larry Hubbard who sparkled with a net five-under par 67. Hubbard, with a 15 handicap, shot a gross 82 as he won by three strokes over Filipino Ding Garcia who placed second on 70. Another Filipino Rudy Pranga came in third via the countback after he and Korean Jun Tae Kim finished with identical 71s.
Korean M.S. Kim shot the low gross of the day, a 74, while Hestia Maillet captured the Junior Division crown with an 88. The longest drive awards went to Spence Hawthron and Evelin Hayler and closet to pin to Al Banfield.
The lucky raffle draw winner who won the fifth return business class air ticket to London was bank executive Felipe Cortejos of Samba Financial Group.
Hewan Abrahaley won the Ladies Division with a net 65. Ganet Berta, a familiar face on the podium, took second place on 67 with Ruby K. in third on 73. In attendance during the prize-giving were BMI top brass namely Greig Baillie, station manager, and Tariq Alrowdan, station supervisor, Riyadh. Nigel Perry and Andrea Corbett of Dirab Golf Committee were also present along with Saudi national golf team manager Yousef Al-Mahfouz.
The next tournament will be sponsored by SABB HSBC on March 24, according to Dirab Golf Club manager Bouchaib El Jadiani.
