GOLF – SAMUEL Gemmell of Britain and Khalifa Al Meraisi of Bahrain took the overnight joint lead yesterday after the first round of play in the sixth Bahrain Amateur Open, which got underway at the Royal Golf Club.
Gemmell and Al Meraisi each carded a five-under-par 67 total over the first 18 holes along the Montgomerie championship course, securing a share of the top spot on the leaderboard.
The pair enjoyed a slim one-shot lead over their closest challenger as a field of more than 90 golfers from all over the world teed off.
The 54-hole individual strokeplay competition, which has been organised and is being run by the Bahrain Golf Association (BGA), continues today and tomorrow. It is a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) counting event, and the winner will not only come away with the champion’s trophy, but also earn a qualification card for next year’s Bahrain Championship on the 2025 DP World Tour.
Furthermore, the Bahrain Amateur Open acts as a qualifier for the 16th King Hamad Trophy (KHT), taking place next month. The top 10 players and ties, excluding Bahrain national team golfers, will qualify for the KHT, which will be held at the same world-class course.
Gemmell registered six birdies in his opening round yesterday but also had one bogey, while Al Meraisi, the tournament’s champion in its 2021 edition, had seven birdies but two bogeys.
Gemmell’s birdies came on the par-four first, fifth, and 10th holes, as well as on the par-three seventh hole and the par-five 14th. He went one shot over in the par-four fourth hole.
Gemmell carded a score of 34 over the front nine and then headed back into the clubhouse with a strong 33.
For Al Meraisi, his first birdie was on the par-five third, and then strung together four in a row from the sixth through ninth holes to complete his front nine with an impressive score of 32. The Bahrain international golfer then added two more birdies on the 10th and 14th holes, but just missed out on taking the solo lead having bogeyed holes four and 16. He scored a 35 on the back nine.
Aadam Syed of Pakistan finished day one a single stroke behind the joint-leaders. His four-under-par 68 total saw him birdie the third hole and then sink three straight from the 12th to 14th.
Four players were then tied-fourth on three-under 69 totals. They included Bahrain’s Yaseen Lefalher, UAE-based Jay Mullane of Britain and Mikhail Pinto of India, and Mousa Shanaah of Jordan.
Ranked tied-eighth were Issa Abou El Ela of Egypt and Bahrain’s Yusuf Janahi on two-under-par 70 scores, while two-time winner Ahmed Al Zayed of Bahrain and Ronan Armstrong of Ireland were tied-10th with even-par scores of 70.
Following today’s action, a cut will be made for the leading 50 gross scores and ties. Meanwhile, at the end of tomorrow’s play and in the event of a tie in the lowest gross total, the winner will 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.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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