RIYADH, 20 April 2008 — For the first time in the history of the GCC Golf Championship Bahrain were denied a sweep of the major titles after Othman Almulla won the individual title for Saudi Arabia in the12th edition of the tournament that successfully ended yesterday at the Riyadh Golf course here.
On a near-perfect weather for golf at the rolling layout Almulla played just good enough to overcome the challenge of Bahraini duo Nasser Yacoob and Sultan Abdullah.
Qatar’s junior player, 14-year-old Jeham Jasim, stole some of the thunder with a rare albatross (double-eagle) as his second shot using a rescue club found the cup on par five No. 14.
Three strokes up at the start of the final round, Almulla closed with a 3-over 76 for a 54-hole total of 222 and a five-stroke triumph over Sultan, who fired a 77 for a 227 aggregate. Sultan’s father Abdullah Sultan came third on 228.
Bahrain clinched the gross team event for the 12th straight year but they would be going home without the gross individual crown in their luggage.
Hamed Mubarak sorted out his game after a disappointing first two days to shoot the day’s best of 1-under 72 that helped Bahrain to a third round score of 228.
The 77 by Sultan and 79 by Abdullah were the other scores that counted as the other veteran on the team, Nasser Yacoob, struggled with an 80.
Yacoob, playing in the final group with Othman and UAE’s Saeed Malik, could not simply get a grip on his game and lost to Othman.
And the torched was passed from the old guards to the new brigade of rising young stars at the end of their round.
Owner of six individual crowns in this annual event featuring the best amateur golfers in the Gulf, the 46-year-old Yacoob said, “We are happy the young blood are taking over to replace us. It’s good for the development of golf in the region.”
The new champion Almulla, as careful with his words as with his club selection, told Arab News, “First of all, I’d like to dedicate this win to the Saudi people who make me proud to be Saudi.”
“I think the things that helped me most today were my parents being there and a phone call I got this morning from someone very special to me that helped me stay focused,” Almulla said.
“This is the first step to further Saudi golf improvement under the new federation and we promise this will not be the last triumph for Saudi golf,” he said.
Counting Almulla’s 76, Ali Sahli’s 77 and Ali Balharith’s 78, Saudi Arabia totaled 700 to finish runner-up to Bahrain, with UAE in third place on 710 after a 231 yesterday courtesy of Ahmed Al-Mosharrekh 73, Malik 78 and Khalid Yousuf 80.
In the net team event, UAE took the first place with a three-day total of 677. Saudi Arabia were runners-up on 681 and Oman in third place on 690. Malik grabbed the net individual title with 219, while UAE’s Ahmed and Sahli finished second and third on countback after both players returned 223.
Qatar swept the gross team and individual titles in the inaugural junior championship. Starring Jassim, who won the individual crown on 239, Sager Al-Noamia and Ali Mufleh, Qatar had a front-running total of 730.
The Saudi junior team composed of Khaled Attieh, Abdullah Al-Husein, Khalid Eddiweesh and Abdulrahman Al-Mansour finished runners-up.
Saudi Golf Federation President Khaled Abunayyan said, “It was a successful tournament by all means. We are looking forward to the new place to compete next year.”
Abunayyan along with course owner Prince Faisal ibn Mohammad Al-Saud distributed the trophies and medals to the winners during the afternoon awards ceremony at the clubhouse.
