Yousuf shines in Arab golf tourney
dubai — The United Arab Emirates national golf team competed in the 37th Arab Golf Championship in Aqaba, Jordan. Over 52 players and 11 different countries from the Arab Golf Federation competed in a four-day event at Ayla Golf Club. Leading the way for the UAE and finishing in fourth in the overall Individual Category was Khalid Yousuf, a press release said.
The UAE team, on the other hand, finished in 9th place in the team category.
Yousuf had a strong championship battling at the top of the leaderboard all weekend. With rounds of 69 – 75 – 73 – 69 for a championship total of 286, Khalid finished only four shot behind the leader.
Yousuf ended his championship 2 under par.
“It’s encouraging to see the level of Arab golf improving each year and it’s always nice to see other Arab golfers doing so well,” Yousuf said after the end of the event.
“I was extremely happy with my game this weekend considering the windy and cold conditions. The fairways and greens were hard but my approach shots were on target and my recovery shots allowed me to make a lot of “up-and-downs”. To shoot two under par and to be the first UAE national to shoot under par at an Arab Golf Championship is a great honour.”
The UAE team finished 9th overall in the Team Category out of 11 teams.
Competing in his first Arab Golf Championship, Abdulwahed Al Qasem had the pressure of providing the team with their third and final score each day. Al Qasem finished with a total of 386 for the championship.
Winning the overall team championship were Morocco.
Morocco proved to have strong talent as they won the championship with a score of 847, 42 shots better than the second placed team. Tunisia took home the silver and Egypt won the bronze.
The UAE national team will now turn their focus to the Emirates Golf Federation Order of Merit events. The next international event will be the GCC Golf Championship in March 2018.
To shoot two under par and to be the first UAE national to shoot under par at an Arab Golf Championship is a great honour Khalid Yousuf