Saudi Arabia has entertained thoughts of ending the stranglehold of its Gulf neighbor on the sport until it lost its US-based star golfer Khaled Attieh.

Now, the Kingdom national golf team has set a more realistic goal of a top three finish when the 16th GCC Golf Championship takes place March 4 to 7 at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club in Dubai.

Another foreign-based Saudi golfer, Othman Almulla, is flying in from the US to join teammates Omar Talal Hariri, Fahad Ahmed Almansour and veteran Ali Al-Sahli tomorrow in Dubai ahead of the event which is organized by the Emirates Golf Federation under the patronage of the General Authority of Youth and Sports and sponsored by Dubai Creek.

“We are looking to be in the top three positions but with the lack of Khaled Attieh we may not compete for the 1st place,” said Saudi Golf Federation President Khaled Abunayyan in an interview from Riyadh.

“The preparation was good and we are working on the players to be trained at the new academy to get better skills. We are hopeful to have a very good team by the end of this year. Also we are working to train new juniors to have new players,” said Abunayyan.

Besides the regular men’s team Saudi Arabia is sending two promising junior players namely Abdulrahman Almansour and Faisal Salhab in the three-day four-man three to count competition that will feature the leading players from the six GCC states.

Except for Almulla the Saudi team has been camping at Dirab Golf & Country Club the last two weeks.

“I’ll try my best for the players. The team is not 100 percent with the absence of Khaled Attieh. We will be up against a tough competition but we’re ready,” said Saudi national golf team coach and non-playing captain Ali Balharith during a phone interview on Tuesday from Dammam.

“Bahrain has a lot of experience but we will try to make up with a better course management, which is very important. Without course management you cannot score,” said Balharith who will arrive in Dubai ahead by one day of the team today.

“We need all the luck that we possibly could have especially against such teams as Bahrain and UAE if we are to compete for a decent finish,” said Balharith as he sought to put the 2011 Pan Arab debacle in Morocco, where the Saudis finished seventh, behind him.

Host UAE is expected to give defending champion Bahrain a run for its money with the likes of last year’s individual junior winner Ahmed Al Musharrekh and former Pan Arab champion Khalid Yousuf on the linep.

Qatar, with a strong junior golf program, could also spring a surprise in the tournament that begins with a practice round for all teams on March 4.

Winner of the 2010 Saudi Oger Amateur Golf Championship, Attieh was considered for team selection according to coach Balharith but can’t come due to his studies in the United States.

Fahad, who has represented the country in a number of international competitions, shares scores in the low and mid 70s would put Saudi Arabia in fine position. “We would be able to compete for top honors if we do that,” he said.

His 17-year old brother Abdulrahman also has international experience having been capped five times in the past for the national team.

The 16-year old Salhab, admittedly the most exciting player to emerge since Attieh in the last five years, is marking his third start for the national team. He was on the squad that saw action during the Pan Arab Games in Qatar last December as well as the one that competed in the 2011 GCC Championship in Bahrain.

Almulla, long the face of Saudi golf who has had a banner 2007 season when he won the Qatar Open, Red Sea Open in Egypt and became the youngest Saudi and Arab to qualify for the Dubai Desert Classic before Attieh broke the record in 2011, will bear the brunt of the Saudi challenge in the annual clambake.