GOLF – FORMER champions Ali Al Kuwari, Ahmed Al Zayed, and Khalifa Al Meraisi are set to tee off amongst the field in the sixth edition of the Bahrain Amateur Open golf championship, which gets underway tomorrow at the Royal Golf Club.
The 54-hole individual strokeplay competition is set to feature a maximum list of 104 participants, who will be flying the flags of nearly two dozen countries from around the world, including the UK, the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Bulgaria, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and hosts Bahrain.
Al Kuwari triumphed in the first-ever edition of the competition in 2019, while Al Zayed is the only two-time winner, having clinched the title in 2020 and 2022. Al Meraisi was the victor in the 2021 tournament, while Khalid Attieh of Saudi won last year but will not be returning to defend his crown. Attieh became the first non-Bahraini golfer to take the event.
Other top names set to compete are Britons Aadam Syed, Daniel Owen, and Jay Mullane, as well as Qatari Saleh Al Kaabi.
The first group is scheduled to tee off tomorrow at 6.30am.
The tournament is being organised and run by the Bahrain Golf Association (BGA). It is a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) counting event. The winner will not only come away with the champion’s trophy, but also earn qualification for next year’s Bahrain Championship on the 2025 DP World Tour.Furthermore, the Bahrain Amateur Open is a qualifier for the 16th King Hamad Trophy (KHT). The top 10 players and ties, excluding Bahrain national team players, will qualify for the KHT, which is scheduled to be played November 28 to 30 at the same world-class course.
A cut will be made after 36 holes this weekend for the leading 50 gross scores and ties. At the end of the three days of play and in the event of a tie in the lowest gross total, the winner shall be decided by a sudden death play-off over the 18th hole. The organising committee may add other holes if the tie is not decided after two play-off holes.
Meanwhile, the BGA announced yesterday that Al Sharif Group have signed on as golden sponsors for the championship.
BGA chairman Major-General Ali bin Saqr Al Nuaimi expressed his thanks and appreciation to Al Sharif Group CEO Khalid Abdulrasool Al Sharif for supporting all activities of the federation, especially major events with players from all over the world competing.
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