KUWAIT CITY, Nov 30: The Kuwait Golf Committee held the third round of the National Championship recently at the Sahara Golf Resort. It was a “scoring day” for golfers as the weather conditions were exceptional. Mazen Alansari took advantage of the favorable conditions by birdying the last hole (the 16th) in the shotgun start, to score the best round of the year on the National level so far with a 4 over par 74. Bader Haider came in second place, one stroke behind with a 75 and last year’s national champion, Qatami Alqatami in third, tied with Haider’s 75, but behind on the last nine count-back rule. After 3 rounds, Bader Haider now leads the way a 3 round total of 228 (76,77,75). Haider’s 3 round total is historically one of the best starts in the championship’s history, but with 9 rounds remaining in the season, the field remains wide open, although the difficult winter season is just around the corner.
The Committee also held the third round of the National Championship for the 2010-2011 season for the Youth (boys), and the first round for the Youth (girls) on Saturday, November 27th. The competitions were held at the new Kuwait International Golf and Country Club near Wafra, South of Ahmadi Governorate by special arrangement with the club General Manager, Ms Amalia Iqdal and Assistant Manager Tessa Boss.
“We are trying to expose the kids to a new golf course and to new challenges, as some of the youngsters will be competing in the upcoming GCC tournament in Bahrain in February 2011” said National Team Captain, Bader Albannay. “They need to be exposed to more golf courses and we greatly appreciate the arrangement we reached with our friends at Kuwait International” he added.
In the under 16 age group, Yousef Bahman came on top with a 9 hole stableford score of 17 points. In second place was Abdulaziz Alsaraawi with 14.
In the under 12 age group, Ali Alansari came in first place with 15 stableford points, followed by Abdulwahab Boushehri with 12.
In the girls youth division, Julia Alhmoud came in first with a whopping 22 stableford points, closing with a superb birdie on the last hole (9th) after an excellent approach to within 2 feet of the cup, to the applause of an appreciative audience. Finishing second was Hoor Qabazard with 8 stableford points.
Round 4 for the open age group is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Dec 4 at the Sahara resort. As for the “Youth Program”, the first round of the “Kuwait Cup” for both boys and girls, is also scheduled to be played on Saturday. The Kuwait Cup is a 4 round competition sponsored for the Youth Program by Agility Co, Chairman Tareq Alsultan, who is eager to see the National Team compete at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.