Amateurs Afzaal Ahmad, Parvez Ahmed, and Arbaaz Ahmad shine with an Impressive 89-point performance at the Emirates Golf Club
By Nick Tarratt, Khaleej Times Guest Golf Writer
Sam Mclaren led his SGSC team to victory in the first Lincoln DG Pro-Am of the season, held on the prestigious Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club.
The event featured 23 teams, each led by an Emirates PGA professional and joined by three amateur players. Amateurs were given an 85% handicap allowance, while the professionals competed off scratch.
Team Mclaren, led by professional Sam Mclaren, secured the win with amateurs Afzaal Ahmad (handicap 7), Parvez Ahmed (23), and Arbaaz Ahmad (17), achieving a remarkable team score of 89 points, equivalent to a net 127. This outstanding performance set a high bar for the season’s Pro-Am series.
“I had an excellent team today who all played well – especially Afzaal off his 7 handicap,” said Mclaren. “He must surely be under the scrutiny of the handicap authorities if he plays like this again.
“My role today was to mark the team scorecard accurately and make sure the team was unaware of how well they were all doing.”
The winning team, which started on Hole 18, posted impressive nines of 46 and 43. Their round was marked by consistent play, never scoring fewer than 4 points on any hole.
The highlight came on Hole 16, where they racked up 7 points thanks to a net birdie and a net eagle.
SGSC secured victory with a two-point margin over the runners-up, captained by Zi Hao (EGC).
In the Pro Division, there was a four-way tie, with Stuart Smith (Precision Golf), Matt Rice (Golf Kraft), Matthew Hodgkiss (Dubai Creek), and Jordan Gallagher (Meydan Golf) all shooting level-par 72. The quartet shared the prize fund and the trophy.
The shot of the day came from 20-year-old EGC member Arman Singh, who aced the 15th hole with a perfect seven-iron. “I thought it was close, but I actually believed I had lost the ball until my playing partner ‘found’ it in the hole. None of us saw it drop,” said Arman.
“It is my second ever hole-in-one – both scored on the same hole,” said Arman. The next Lincoln Pro-Am aligned with the Emirates PGA will be held at Yas Links Abu Dhabi on Sunday 15th September, 2024,
Results
Pro Individual Division
Smith (Precision Golf) 72.
Rice (Golf Kraft) 72.
Hodgkiss (Dubai Creek) 72.
Gallagher (Meydan Golf) 72.
Team Division
(Best Two Stableford from the Team of Four on each Hole).
McLaren (Pro, SGSC), Afzaal Ahmad, P. Ahmed and Arbaaz Ahmad. 89 Points. Z. Hao (Pro, EGC), B. Kahn, R. Janardhan and M. Dunkel. 87 Points.
Smith (Pro, Precision Golf), K. Owiti, R. Gupta and C. Tredenick. 85 Points.
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