RIYADH: The Philippines, represented by FGA Team A, ended the reign of Saudi Arabia in the Country Match Golf Tournament in a sensational upset at the Riyadh Golf Club on Friday.

Saudi Arabia, captained by veteran golfer Ali Belhareth, has never lost since it first participated and won the Best Gross team title in 1994 in a run that stretched up to 2003 when the event was last held at the old sand course.

Now that the tournament was revived after a gap of six years, this time at the all grass layout which was opened for play in 2004, Saudi Arabia was looking to extend its dynastic rule in the prestigious competition that began with only a handful of expatriate golfers in 1988.

It was not to be, and Belhareth might have rued the fact that the Kingdom No. 1 Othman Almulla missed the tournament because of a prior commitment in Dubai.

An underdog with only a slim chance of winning, FGA Team A stunned everyone else when it tallied the winning total of 667 in the 10-man team eight to count stroke play event. The victory means the Philippines has the best golfers in this side of golfing town.

FGA Team A’s slew of single-digit handicap players delivered the goods on a windless sunny day. Leading the charge was Alex Arellano with a 78. Richard Gaas, who turned out to be a great sub for Jun Saporsantos who could not make it to the golf course because of hospital duty, shot a 79, while Eric Liquigan had an 80. Edwin Añonuevo came through with 81 to go with the 84 by Ibrahim Zaylon, 86 by Danny Naval, 87 by Mar Vera Cruz, and 92 by Ador Laxa. Ely Corpuz’s 97 and Cesar Rosario’s 106 did not count.

“We are very happy we won,” said team captain and Filipino Golf Association President Rosario. His only regret was that he was unable to contribute after succumbing to pressure when he took a 9 on his starting hole at No. 2. No matter his teammates took care of business.

Belhareth and Ali Al Sahli had solid rounds of 79 and 77 but the Saudis still came up short with a 668 total in second place. Two other members of the Saudi national team, Fahd Al-Mansour and Mubarak Al-Ghamdi, carded 82 and 83 with junior player Khaled Eddiweesh contributing 82. The others who counted toward the team total were Abdulrahman Al-Mansour 86, Abdullah Al-Hussain 87, and Saad Al-Otaibi 92.

The South African team took third place in the Best Gross team category.

New Zealand-Australia was the runaway Best Net team winner on 578. The British team came second on 586 and India third on 612.

A pair of 69s by Casey Blach and Howard Laurente and a valuable 70 by Patrick Kennedy laid the foundation of New Zealand-Australia’s victory. John Alchin tossed in 72, Neville Reilly had 73, Liz Kennedy 74, Julian Bennett 74 and Bryan Chambers 77. Captain John Palalagi’s 93 and George Macky’s 81 did not count.

In the points team race Saudi Arabia took first place with the British second and the US third.

In the individual race, Sahli whose card had birdies on the first and fifth holes was the Best Gross champion with Arellano and Gaas first runner-up and second runner-up. After a rocky back nine (45) Sahli, who started on No. 10, steadied and dropped just one shot on the way to a 35 coming in.

Chris Durbridge of the British team emerged the Best Net champion on countback over Swedish golfer Urban Bennon after both players tied on 67.

Tony Lizardo of FGA Team B was second runner-up on 68, beating out Phil Jenkins (British Team) and Noel Alipoyo (FGA Team B) on countback. An 18-handicap, Durbridge played one of his best rounds to shoot nines of 42-43 including a birdie on 15.

The awards for longest drive and nearest to the pin went to Al-Ghamdi and Swedish team captain Torten Skold.

Stesa-Thales is the major sponsor of the tournament thanks to Alain Delecroix and Remy Minuer.

The other sponsors are Wallan Automotive through sheikh Saad Al-Wallan and Pepsi Co.

Meantime, RGC Manager V.T. M. Rafi said the May Monthly Medal will be held with a 6:30 shotgun start tomorrow.