Golf gaining momentum across the Arab world
November 14, 2022
– Cairo: The future looks bright for golf in the Arab
world, after three players from the region finished in the top 40 of the
International Series Egypt, as a strong showing of 17 players from nine
different countries teed it up at the flagship Asian Tour event.
Jordan’s Shergo Kurdi was highest placed of
the regional representation at the Madinaty Golf Club in Cairo on T27 with a
seven-under total thanks to three superb under par rounds and a level par second
round. That put the 19-year-old, who featured in the LIV Golf Invitational
series last season, one ahead of amateur Moroccan El Mehdi Fakori (T33) with Ayoub
Lguirati (T37) a shot further back.
Adam Bresnu, another promising Moroccan
amateur, gained invaluable experience by playing all four days, while Saudi
Arabia’s Othman Almulla, Faisal Salhab and Saud Al Sharif were in the field
along with players from Oman, Lebanon, Tunisia, Bahrain and Qatar in a strong
regional showing.
Almulla, Saudi Arabia’s first ever
professional golfer, is seen as a leading light and an inspiration by many
younger members of the current crop, for his efforts in recent years and he
explained: “It is a unique situation - we have all known each other a long time
through junior golf and amateur golf, and now we are seeing each other on
tournaments like this. With the Asian Tour expanding in the Middle East, a lot
of players are going to get some very cool experiences.
“With more tournaments like the
International Series in Egypt and Morocco, the players are going to see each
other more and learn from each other more – the ceiling is extremely high for
Arabian golfers, and we have come a very long way.
“I have competed internationally for 20
years and one thing I have learned from the Asian Tour, with rubbing shoulders
with the best in the world, it is a testament to how you can be competitive and
still help each other,” he added.
Still only 19 years of age, Kurdi is one of
the players being tipped to make a breakthrough for the region. He said: “The
game has grown in a huge way in the past 10 years. A decade ago, you would hardly
see an Arab player and now the sport is on the rise – I am happy for any player
who is in contention, and I hope we can hopefully keep going in the right
direction. It makes me proud.”
Lguirati, who was T3 with just one hole
left to play on day one, impressed many watchers with his high-quality golf. He
was delighted to see so many Arab players in both Morocco and Egypt. He said:
“This has been a brilliant opportunity for Arab players to challenge and compete
against particularly talented players and it can only help us to improve. I
hope we can continue to make progress. Hopefully this will also inspire more
younger players from the region to pick up a club and play.”
As the highest placed amateur in the field
on six under, Fakori claimed a place on next season’s Saudi International, a
major high-profile event on the global golfing calendar. He said: “The Arab
Golf Federation are doing some great things to help us promote and improve the
sport, and I hope that in the next 10 years we can have many great Arabi
players. We are getting there; we can see it this weekend and things look very
promising.”
ENDS