Golf: Stage set for EAGL's 'Mini-Series' 9-hole event

Dubai - The main EAGL, scheduled to be held later this year, will be the first-of-its-kind franchise-based amateur tournament in the world

Exactly five months after the launch announcement, the Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL) will showcase its ground-breaking concept with its ‘Mini-Series’ 9-hole event on the Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Sunday.

Many of the region’s decision-makers from the golf and business industries, all of them serious amateur golfers, are set to go head-to-head in the televised event.

The main EAGL, scheduled to be held later this year, will be the first-of-its-kind franchise-based amateur tournament in the world.

The first-of-its-kind Mini-Series gets underway at 15:30, with the broadcast on Dubai Sport Channel 2 beginning 15 minutes earlier at 15:15 and continuing until the last match finishes on the 18th at 18:50.

Eight teams of four players will face off on the day and the event will feature a hole-in-one prize courtesy of Luxury Carts Arabia, with a prize of a Club Car Onward golf cart for any player who aces the par-3 14th hole.

Rajeev Khanna, Chief Operating Officer, Khaleej Times, will be the non-playing captain of the Indian Lions team in the tournament.

“We have always encouraged and supported local sports and we are delighted to be an integral part of the EGLE tournament. Although this game is a friendly curtain raiser to the actual tournament which is expected to get underway sometime later this year, the competitive spirit will certainly prevail,” Khanna said.

“I am happy that the Khaleej Times team, ‘The Indian Lions’, is well represented by a combination of our clients and local golfing enthusiasts. Going forward we will invite and host a mix of our large client base and top golfers who represent the several golf clubs in the UAE.”

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Roars captain Gary Webber, who plays off a handicap of 1.7, is excited at the prospect of playing in front of the TV cameras as he tees off against Rohit Gupta of the European Seves at 16:40.

“This is really cool. Obviously, there is a lot of pressure when the cameras are behind you as you are swinging a golf club, but I think my guys will get through that,” said Webber.

“A lot of people will be watching, including kids – and for them to look and think that they could also play in an event like this someday is really neat for amateur golf. This will help golf grow even more, especially in regions where it hasn’t developed like it has in Europe and the United States, so it is a really exciting event to be part of and I am looking forward to it.”

Paul Murnaghan, Playing Captain of the Asian Jumbos, is hoping for a fast start from his players.

“With the nine-hole format we have to come out of the blocks running,” he said.

“As we prepare for the event we are keeping a mindset of taking it easy, getting a good warm up, get used to the heat and then just play your normal golf and trying to block out all of the TV cameras and the press and whatever else is going around. We should just go out and enjoy it and get as many holes so we can be up straight away before we get to the eighth or ninth hole.”

Play will be followed by Golf Industry Forum, which will be attended by leading figures, a gala dinner and a prize presentation against a backdrop of the final round of the US Open, which is being held at Torrey Pines.

THE TEAMS:

Dubai Tigers (Captain: Chris May)

Mena Golfers (Non-Playing Captain: Rick Bevan)

English Roses (Captain: Mark Rix)

Asian Jumbos (Non-Playing Captain: Robbie Greenfield / Playing Captain: Paul Murnaghan)

Indian Lions (Non-Playing Captain: Rajeev Khanna / Playing Captain: Gurbax Singh)

Abu Dhabi Roars (Captain: Gary Webber)

Emirati Players (Non-Playing Captain: Ismail Sharif / Playing Captain: Khalid Yousuf)

European Seves (Captain: Jay Tostevin)

THE DRAW:

Tee Time Match Team Player Team Player

15.30 1 Dubai Tigers (Nathan Williamson) (7) Vs English Roses (Mark Rix) (Cpt) (4)

2 MENA Golfers (Deepak Jain) (6.2) Vs Asian Jumbos (Bayer Khan) (7.4)

15.40 3 Indian Lions (Kabir Luthra) (8) Vs Emirati Players (Robert Fiala) (8)

4 Abu Dhabi Roars (Christopher Nelson) (8.8) Vs European Seves (Jack Joseph) Gleeson (7.9)

15.50 5 Dubai Tigers (Chris May) (Captain – 9.2) Vs English Roses (Bryan Moulds) (7.2)

6 Abu Dhabi (Roars Khalfan Al Kaabi) (7) Vs European Seves (Suneel Aggarwal) (5.7)

16.00 7 MENA Golfers (Ashok Kumar) (11.6) Vs Asian Jumbos (Rohit Kaushal) (13.9)

8 Indian Lions (Gurbax Singh) (16.7)Vs Emirati Players (Adel Zarouni) (12.3)

16.109 MENA Golfers (Zubair Firdaus) (-3.5) Vs Asian Jumbos (Wayne Platt) (-1.7)

10 Dubai Tigers (Ms. Jaishree Gupta) (7) Vs English Roses (Ms. Melissa Williams) (9)

16.20 11 Indian Lions (Sanjay Raina) (10.6) Vs Emirati Players (Walid Al Attar) (10)

12 Abu Dhabi Roars (Graham Glynn) (7) Vs European Seves (Jay Tostevin) (11)

16.30 13 MENA Golfers (Craig Vance) (-4.5) Vs Asian Jumbos (Paul Murnaghan) (-2)

14 Indian Lions (Sabiq Baji) (0) Vs Emirati Players (Khalid Yousuf) (-3.2)

16.40 15 Abu Dhabi Roars (Gary Webber) (1.7) Vs European Seves (Rohit Gupta) (3.8)

16 Dubai Tigers (Alistair Mcdonald) (3) Vs English Roses (Paul Summerskill) (0)