AGADIR, Morocco: The Saudi Arabia-Dirab team had a golfing experience to remember when it traveled to Agadir, Morocco for the 7th Royal Air Maroc Challenge last week.
As well as enjoying the two of three courses at the lovely Golf du Soleil the team outdid itself by bagging four prizes in an awe-inspiring display on its debut in the Stableford format competition where about a hundred golfers from 15 countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East and North America took part.
An overjoyed team captain Bouchaib El Jadiani in accepting the most sought after Best Gross trophy at the glittering awards ceremony cum gala dinner thanked Royal Air Maroc for giving them the opportunity to participate in the prestigious two-day event being held annually to promote golf tourism in Morocco, according to Raja Bensaoud, director of communications at Royal Air Maroc.
“Hats off to Royal Air Maroc its partners and organizers for the wonderful experience here in Agadir. Our thanks to Royal Air Maroc for without them we would not be here. From the airport to the hotel to the golf course everything was perfect” said Jadiani who presented a safe, the traditional Saudi sword, to Royal Air Maroc President and Director General Driss Benhima as a gift from Dirab golf course owner and Saudi Golf Federation President Khaled Abunayyan.
El Jadiani, a Moroccan, tamed the difficult Red Course of Golf Du Soleil to shoot 37 Stableford points, one-under in medal play, in the second and final round after a modest 27 on opening day to win the title by one from Frenchman Olivier Nicoletta. El Jadiani totaled 64 points for two days as he celebrated his return to his home country by leading Dirab’s unexpected haul of four prizes in the tournament. El Jadiani, the manager at Dirab Golf Club in Riyadh, holed six birdies, four of them on the trot, against five bogeys for that 37, and his well-struck 7-iron on the 187-yard par-3 18th gave him the nearest to the pin award.
As the Best Gross champion El Jadiani received a replica of the original trophy and an invitation to participate in the event next year.
Indeed the Dirab players as well as the rest of the teams had tons of fun thanks to people at Royal Air Maroc who took care of their guests in the finest tradition of Moroccan hospitality. Along with the delegations from France, Switzerland, Canada, Gabon and Burikina Faso, among others, the Saudi team stayed at the Royal Atlas Hotel of Agadir, part of the Atlas Hospitality Hotels & Resorts chain and where food was to-die for and the service second to none.
It is located in the heart of this resort town, one among the rows of resort hotels that dot the area. There’s more to Agadir than golf. With over 340 days of sunshine a year, it is no wonder that Agadir, situated on the southern part of Morocco’s Atlantic coastline, has become the country’s No. 1 tourist center.
The beach, together with the weather, forms the main attraction for thousands of sun bathers who come, especially in the winter months, to escape the cold and gloom of northern Europe. Around this, a resort town with restaurants, bars, cafes, modern comfortable hotels and a broad range of water sports has developed. In the evening, the beachfront comes to life with crowds thronging the promenade lined with restaurants, cafes and music bars. The views down to the town and bay are the best around.
Back to the competition. On the first day the field played off the back tees of the Blue Course of Golf du Soleil, set in-between the Atlantic ocean and the Atlas Mountains, in which the technical diversity of its three courses demands a wise choice of irons and woods. Each course draws its own personality from the lakes, bridges, waterfalls, bunkers, bushes and wide shady fairways strewn all over.
The Challenge Final featured players that qualified from different competitions organized by the regional representatives of Royal Air Maroc all over the world, the Partners Cup had players invited by the airline and the Nations Cup was limited to the best four golfers with the lowest handicap of the countries they represent. The organizers divided handicap categories into three Mixed Series: First Series 0-12, Second Series 13-18 and Third Series 19-24.
Korean D. S. Kang, with a 17 handicap, was a revelation for Dirab team as he led all the way to win the Challenge Final Second Series with 76 points (41-35). Second place went to Wichuda Allegrini of Gabon on 74 and third to Lantonirina Testa of Mali on 63. Filipino Noel Alipoyo of OR Madarat distinguished himself as the third Dirab player to win a prize, coming second in the Third Series on 71 behind winner Sofia Benchekroun of Morocco. Swiss Werner Aeby rounded out the first three winners on 69.
The other members of the Dirab contingent were Steve Troop, a CEO of a local bank in Riyadh, Patrick Kennedy, a doctor at the Royal Palace in Saudi Arabia, Rabie Fares, treasury consultant Francis Gracia of SABIC and the husband and wife teams of Takashi and Mitsuyo Saito and Talal and Aelis Sarieddine. Abdelkader Boujdoun, regional manager Central and Eastern Area of Royal Air Maroc, had arranged the team’s travel from Riyadh in cooperation with El Kanabi Mourad, area general manager of America, North Africa and Middle East .
The First Series title went to England’s Michael Robinson on 63 points with Nicoletta and Isaac Benhamu of Spain taking second and third via the countback after they both finished on 62 points.
In the Partners Cup, the winners were: First Series — Javier Roura (Spain) 72, Rajaa Hasnaoui (Morocco) 64, Andrew Waffle (England) 60; Second Series — Omar Hasnaoui 68, Mohamed Elyamani 67, Jose Luis Gomez 65 (Morocco); Third Series — David Merran (Morocco) 76, Francine Laplante (Canada) 50, Christophe Messalti (Morocco) 50.
Notes: A former player on the Asian Tour, Englishman Chris Davies, was am ong the global golfers to attend the event. He coaches the Austrian team. After quitting the tour in 1994 the 41-year old moved to Austria where he runs a golf school named CFD-Golf Centre. International media were also well represented. Richard E.P. van Stralen is a Dutch golfer and publisher of Regio Golf, a semi-tabloid golf newspaper distributed free in the Netherlands. Stralen says the monthly publication, which earns its revenues from advertising, has a circulation of 250,000. There are 300,000 golfers in his country, Stralen adds. In Switzerland, copies of a bi-monthly magazine in German and French languages are delivered free of charge to the homes of the country’s 200,000 golfers, according to Swiss golfer Jacques Houriet who writes a column for the magazine. Despite its small land area Switzerland has 94 golf courses. Membership at exclusive clubs costs $16,5000 on top of the usual dues.
