RIYADH, 2 January 2007 — Veteran golfer Ray Chaplow won his first tournament at Riyadh Golf Course, where Thai businessman Somchit Nakhong simply, well, kept winning.
Nakhong, not exactly the type of player with a beautiful swing but one with a good scoring game, clinched Best Gross honors for the second straight time.
For Chaplow this December Monthly Open Golf Tournament on Friday would be remembered for his maiden victory. And it could have been a husband and wife double on their RGC debut had wife Ganet not lost the Ladies Division crown on countback to fellow Ethiopian Hewan Abrahaley Williams.
Chaplow, who played practice rounds during the Haj holidays prior to the event, used a hot front nine to win the Division A (0-13 handicap) title. A 12-handicap golfer Chaplow scored a net 73, carding nines of 39-46. New Zealander Julian Bennett finished first runner-up on 76 and Gino Gizzi second runner-up on 78.
Jun Paner headed a 1-2-3 Filipino sweep in Division B (14-21) with a 70. Seng De Torres claimed the first runner-up position on 71 and Rene Mercado the second runner-up on 73.
Full handicap stroke play was the format used in A and B divisions and Stableford in C and Ladies.
While Nakhong, who shot a solid round of 80 (38-42), played the all-grass RGC layout like it was his own playground it was a case of horses for courses for scratch golfer Mark Duda.
Duda for some reason struggled to find his game to sign for a fat 83 that gave him the first runner-up prize in the Best Gross category.
Long-hitting Filipino Eric Liquigan dropped five shots on the last two holes with double bogey on the island green No. 17 and triple bogey on 18th to ruin an otherwise immaculate round as he settled for the second runner-up on 84.
The difficult back nine, which opened play in November, grabbed even the low handicap players with none unable to break 40.
Pat Bouer emerged the Division C (22-28) champion with amazing 46 points, the equivalent of 10-under in medal play. Zuhaimi Rashid came first runner-up on 41 points and Filipino Xenos Caruz second runner-up on 39.
Williams and Ganet both had 36 points. KoreanYoung Hee-park took the second runner-up spot on 31 points.
Another Filipino, Alex Arellano, claimed the award for the longest drive while Keith Applegate captured the nearest to the pin plum.
In addition to the trophies golf merchandise were handed out to the winners during the prize giving ceremony by RGC Committee member Charles Davlin along with Jayakaran. RGC Manager V. T. M. Rafi thanked the 72 players that entered the competition.
