By Kent Gray
To describe Ahmad Skaik’s European Tour debut last month as an eye-opener is no exaggeration, nor a slight on the UAE representative.

Rounds of 84-85 left the Emirati amateur qualifier at the foot of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship leaderboard on 25-over-par, 26-shots shy of making the cut and under no illusions about the standards required to compete at the highest level.

But Skaik didn’t waste the opportunity, banking plenty of insight from how some of the world’s best went about their business at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the future. The pay-off has come within a month after Skaik finally captured the HSBC-sponsored UAE Presidents Cup at Yas Links on Saturday after a pair of near-misses in the past two editions of the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) event.

Skaik also won in style, rounds of 71 and 68 setting a tournament record 139 aggregate, five under par. He won by two strokes from Khalid Yousuf who signed for rounds of 71-70 in a gritty title defence. Saif Thabet, with scores of 73-71 for an even-par 144 total, finished third.

“It feels amazing to finally win this event,” said Skaik who collected bronze individual and team medals at the 2019 GCC Golf Championship.

“I have come close in the past two years with a second and third-place finish but being able to close the door this weekend and being the UAE champion is an amazing honour.

“All weekend I was spot on off the tee, it was probably the best I’ve ever hit the driver. My driving off the tee made it easy to hit greens and roll some decent putts. I have been working hard the past few months and it shows that I learned from my mistakes and corrected them for this championship.”

Skaik and Yousuf were engaged in a ding-dong battle for the title for much of the weekend before Skaik closed the door with birdies on the 16th and 17th holes in the final round.

Thabet’s third-place finish was sealed in style too with a first ace on the challenging par-3 17th. Earlier, Yas Links member Abdulla Al Marzooqi also notched up his first hole in one on the 179-yard 8th hole.

Aliya Al Qubaisi won the ladies championship with scores of 81-71 for a 153 total and her maiden Presidents Cup victory.

A record 94 players competed in the main event while 24 players played in the Par 3 Championship. For full results, visit egfgolf.com.

The EGF will be back in action at the next National Monthly Medal on March 28 at Dubai Hills Golf Club.