It was the second straight tournament victory for Salhab after he won the Wartsila Golf Championship 2010 last month and another step by the 14-year old to convince everyone that he could be the next best thing to happen in Saudi golf after another youngster Khaled Attieh.
Salhab and Mead had matching cards of 78 but the former scored the better back nine score to claim the big prize.
A 3 handicap, Mead settled for second place on 75 in the First Division (0-9 handicap) behind winner Kamran Khan, who shot a 74 in pleasantly cool conditions from a gross 80 and 6 handicap. Third place went to Gordin Bennie who compiled 76 from a gross 83 and 7 handicap.
After going out with a 38, Salhab got the birdie he needed on the par-4 14th to arrest a slide following a triple bogey seven on 10 and bogey on the next hole. He dropped another stroke on 18 for a 40 coming in that, fortunately, was better than Mead’s inward score of 43.
Casey Blatch shared center stage with Salhab when he won the overall Best Net title on 69. A Third Division (19-28) player with a 21 handicap, Blatch couldn’t have scored better with a gross 90 on a day when sub-par rounds were tough to make.
Riyadh Abouba and Lennart Enstrom clinched the first two places in the Second Division (10-18) via the countback after they both returned 70s. Norman Baillie took third place on 71 from a gross 89 and 18 handicap.
Mohammed Benamar, general manager at Radisson Blu Riyadh Hotel, was another winner by countback for the Third Division crown over Lance Jonce. Benamar and Jonce tied on 70 at the end of the 18-hole competition. David Treadgold was third on 73.
The Ladies Division winners were Liz Kennedy 70, Sheila McIlroy 72 and Ruby Klawikowski 79.
Nico Els and Paromita Mukherjee nabbed the longest drive awards for men and ladies while Khan took home the closest to pin plum.
The first tournament of 2011 at Dirab attracted a full field of 115 players. Qatar Airways executives Ebrahim Rasool, area manager; Dinker Dasaur, sales manager trade; and Mohammed Nadir Khan, senior corporate sales executive; attended the prize distribution ceremony along with Abunayyan Group Deputy General Manager Fahad Abunayyan and Dirab Golf Committee Chairman Nasser Uddin Siddiqui.
