JEDDAH, 9 July 2007 — Othman Almulla put Saudi Arabia in the Arab golf map big time by winning the 2007 Red Sea and Pan Arab Amateur Golf Championship on Saturday at Soma Bay Cascades Golf Club in Egypt.
Almulla finished with a two-over total of 218 to win by eight strokes over Bahraini veteran golfer Hamad Mubarak despite shooting a 76 on the final day of the 54-hole tournament.
Mubarak totaled 226. Egyptian Taymour Abu El-Khair placed third on 228 in the prestigious event that has grown into one of the most important fixtures on the Arab Golf Federation calendar since it was started in 2001. This year the tournament was open to Arabs and non-Arabs and 120 golfers from 12 countries including the US, Korea and Italy participated in the men’s, seniors and ladies categories.
Almulla’s win comes in the year the Kingdom will host the Pan Arab Team Championships next November and caps a summer that saw Saudi golf’s poster boy and No. 1 player participate in the Links Trophy at St. Andrews in April and the British Amateur qualifying tournament in June.
Satttam Al-Gosaibi doubled the joy for Saudi Arabia when he won the Silver Division for players with 8 to 14 handicap.
“Finally. This win I would like to dedicate to my parents who have been my best support system. Without them I don’t think this would have been possible. I want to also dedicate it to the Saudi Golf Committee who are organizing the Pan Arab Team Championships this year. And finally, to every Saudi who has a dream. I say pursue it and believe that anything is possible,” said Almulla hours before boarding his return flight along with father Ibrahim to the Kingdom yesterday.
Saudi Golf Committee President Khaled Abunayyan was elated at Othman’s and Sattam’s achievements. “Its good news for us. Othman did his best. He did a fantastic job. We’re all proud of him and Sattam too for his Silver Division win. Othman’s win raised the level of Saudi golf not only in the Arab but the international level as well,” he said.
Almulla at 21 is the youngest and first Saudi winner of the event. Also, the victory was a big boost to the Saudi game and came months after Almulla rewrote history when he became the first Saudi and youngest Arab to qualify to play at the Dubai Desert Classic, a European PGA Tour event that was held Feb. 1-4 at the Emirates Golf Club.
Almulla, who is using the summer break from his university studies in the US to hone his game, fired 72 and two-under 70 in the first round and second round.
He never gave up the lead from the first round. In the third and final round shaky putting bothered Almulla to be four over in the front nine. He managed a nice 36 coming home.
“I had a really good feeling going into the tournament as I have been playing well enough but didn’t quite have the tournament experience. But this year for the first time I felt I was fully prepared mentally and physically. The biggest thing that contributed to my win I think was my patience,” said Almulla of Aramco Rolling Hills Golf Club in Dhahran. “The hardest thing on the final day was reminding myself that the tournament wasn’t over until the last putt. I am not lying to say my mind wandered at the prospect of what was happening as I was living one of my dreams,” Almulla, he of the Tigeresque swing, added.
“I have always wondered when they would play the Saudi national anthem at the close of the tournament for the winner. I would like to add it didn’t really hit me that I had won until we were on the podium and the Saudi national anthem came on. It was probably one of the proudest moments of my life,” he said.
