DHAHRAN, 16 November 2007 — In the birthplace of golf in Saudi Arabia Bouchaib El Jadiani of Dirab Golf Club claimed a piece of history when he won the 42nd Annual Saudi Aramco Invitational Tournament at the Rolling Hills Golf Club of Dhahran.
El Jadiani, resident golf pro and manager at Dirab Golf Club in Riyadh, beat Mubarak Al-Ghamdi of the host club on the first playoff hole at No. 18 with a par to win the oldest organized golf tournament in the Kingdom that is steeped in history and tradition.
El Jadiani and Al-Ghamdi were tied on 156 at the end of the two-day competition this past weekend. Ninety-nine regional golfers teed it up for the prestigious 36-hole event sponsored by Saudi Aramco Golf Association (SAGA) and hosted by Rolling Hills Golf Club.
The steady Bouchaib hit a big drive to put pressure on Al-Ghamdi during the sudden death playoff on the par-4 18th, dumped a pitching wedge to within eight feet and two-putted for routine par.
Al-Ghamdi, the sentimental favorite of the large gallery as he was looking to make his retirement at Saudi Aramco a memorable one with victory in this tournament, chipped short of the green and made two putts for bogey.
“I was very excited about the greens. They were very fast but I was able to get used to it,” said the Moroccan El Jadiani, who received a Taylor Made TP set of clubs and golf bag for his feat.
But El Jadiani had to birdie the 36th hole to force a playoff with the portly Al-Ghamdi. Needing to get the ball high up to promote a sudden stop on landing, El Jadiani used a sand wedge to reach the low side of the green that slopes from left to right.
The ball spun back to seven feet of the cup and El Jadiani rolled in the uphill putt for a birdie.
El Jadiani shot rounds of 78-78 and Al-Ghamdi, who settled for second place, 74-82. Dave Armstrong, also of RHGC, took third place on 158 via the countback over Abdullah Sultan. Armstrong and Abdullah put together identical rounds of 79-79.
Abdullah was the best placed among the four Bahraini golf stars that landed in the top eight of the championship flight. Diyab Suger Al-Noami came fifth on 161 (81-80), Hamad Mubarak seventh on 162 (82-80) and Nasser Yacoob eighth on 163 (84-79).
Korean M. S. Kim of Dirab Golf Club claimed the sixth spot by countback over Mubarak, shooting rounds of 79-83.
Rolling Hills dominated the Gross Score competitions for Day 1 and Day 2 totals and front and back low gross scores each day.
RHGC Tournament Director Mike Haas and the rest of the committee including Minj Khan, Carlos Quesada and Jerome Renaud, among others, would like to thank all those that volunteered their time to make sure this was one of the best golf tournaments in the region.
Dirab Club Championship
Meantime, in Riyadh 45 players teed it up yesterday at the start of the two-day Club Championship at Dirab Golf Club.
Jadiani said valuable prizes await winners at the end of the tournament today.
