KUWAIT CITY, March 5: Eleven year old Julia Al-Hammoud stunned everyone by winning the prestigious Hankook Golf Tournament held on March 4 at the Sahara Golf Club.
In face of stiff competition from more experience players, she managed to hold her nerve and was eventually declared the winner with a score of 37 on the countback as per stableford format.
The prodigious Kuwaiti girl, who has honed her tee-ing skills in USA during summers, has been playing Golf for the last 2 years under the tutelage of her father Abdullah. From a very young age, she has made her mark in the golfing circuit, and has won several trophies in Kuwait & Dubai.
Mark Germain was in the second place with a score of 35, closely followed by the veteran golfer Hussni El Azem in the third place.
As regards the side prizes, Reny Mathews and Benny Yasin came up with winning strikes to claim the awards for ‘Nearest to Pin’ and ‘Long Drive’ respectively.

In the ladies’ category, SH Yeo and DS Lee won the prizes for ‘Nearest to Pin’ and ‘Longest Drive.’ Last, but certainly not the least, Paul Garner achieved an amazing total of 75 points to win the ‘Best Gross’ prize.
Being an ‘open’ tournament, the event attracts lot of golf lovers from all over. Golf is the only game, in which sport-persons, cutting across age, gender and regional barriers, can participate together. No wonder, more than 100 players participated, and it was quite an eclectic mix covering diverse nationalities and backgrounds.
The slight dusty and windy conditions could not dampen the enthusiasm of the players, and their families and friends, who turned up in large numbers to cheer them.
Speaking on the occasion, Kuldeep Lamba, Managing Director Almailem, said ‘it gives me great pleasure to see the significant response for this tournament. Golf is getting increasingly popular in Kuwait, and today’s event is a continuation of the festive 50-20 National/Liberation Day celebrations.”
BH Kim, General Manager Hankook Middle East Region, also expressed his satisfaction and remarked ‘facilities in Sahara golf club are truly world-class, and we are proud to be associated with this event every year.”