Tom Dulat/Getty Images
Nuria Iturrios poses with the Dallah trophy after clinching the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic at Emirates Golf Club on Friday night.

By Kent Gray
The 13th edition of Dubai’s annual Ladies European Tour stop enjoyed a grandstand finish with Spaniard Nuria Iturrios edging German’s Olivia Cowan and Esther Henesleit by a stroke on The Faldo Friday evening.

We explore why the new-look Pro-Am format worked and how organisers Falcon Golf can take the world’s first professional day-night event ahead in 2020.

The format
Moving from the garden variety 72-hole strokeplay event to a shorter Pro-Am format was a masterstroke. The LET apparently weren’t sold on the concept originally but few left Emirates Golf Club grumbling. For the 168 amateurs who played the opening 36-holes in the company of one of the event’s 56 professionals, the ‘Texas Shambles’ format was a hoot, allowing rotten shots to be quickly forgotten while they enjoyed a front row seat to the stress and strain of the pro-game. Unlike stock standard Pro-Ams on the day before a professional tournament, the Moonlight Classic allowed the lucky ams to see the pros with their game-faces on and ride the emotional roller-coaster of putts holed and missed, the latter costing potentially thousands of euros. It was a unique, money-can’t-buy experience that was particularly memorable for Camille Chevalier’s team with the Frenchwoman leading Caroline Rosenstock (17 handicap), Glory Xavier (6) and Ashok Sindhu (3) to a mightily impressive 246 total over 36 holes – 42-under-par. They edged the team captained by LET life member Trish Johnson on a countback.

Champions: The winner Pro-Am team, captained by French pro Camille Chevalier (second from right) included Glory Xavier (6 handicap) Caroline Rosenstock (17) and Ashok Sindhu (3).

The Faldo
All 12 previous LET events in Dubai were staged on the Majlis course at Emirates G.C., the number one ranked layout in the most recent Golf Digest Middle East Top-10 courses ranking. The move to The Faldo made a refreshing change, showcasing just how lucky we are in the UAE – the Faldo doesn’t rate in the top-10 but offers a stiff, strategic challenge that arguably surpasses many above it.

A doff of our cap to Dubai Golf Director of Golf Course Maintenance Matthew Perry and his team on turning The Faldo out in pristine condition. The greens were grainy, took plenty of break at the hole and weren’t as fast as they looked – they never are on the Faldo – but it was just about perfect given the Pro-Am mix of abilities. That tartan striping on the fairways sure looked good for those lucky enough to enjoy the hospitality suite – nicknamed the toaster because of its shape and especially so if you couldn’t park yourself in front of one of the air conditioning units – above the 18th green.

New lights, more cameras needed, great action
Playing a professional event in the heat of May was a gamble but how good were those images of The Faldo under lights, particularly with the sparkling Marina skyline as a backdrop?

A major part of the Moonlight Classic’s remit was to showcase Dubai Golf’s night offering and show potential tourists the UAE golf season extends well beyond the window between the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in late-January. Job done. Well, partly.

The lack of TV cameras was a disappointment, albeit probably a smart financial decision. There will apparently be a highlights show produced for worldwide distribution but going forward it would be great if the pros play one at least one round entirely under lights, as opposed to the three or four holes this time, and especially if it is captured live. The logistics might prevent that – the still photographers on site struggled to produce quality imagery after dark despite the Faldo’s brilliant new LED lights. But a late finish in Dubai would be ideal timing for European viewers, the very tourists the game here so covets. Even new champion Nuria Iturrios would like to see it: “It would be so fun, so yeah, it could be a good option.”

Nuria Iturrios
Let’s not sugar coat things. The field for the Moonlight Classic lacked big-name appeal, save for Cheyenne Woods whose major contribution aside from some welcomed pre-event PR, was an ace on The Faldo’s second hole, a six iron from 169 yards, in the final round. The niece of you know who finished T-47 among the 56 professionals. At 128th, Swede Caroline Hedwall was the highest ranked player as big names such as Georgia Hall, Ann Van Dam and Aditi Ashok either decided to stay away or play on the richer LPGA Tour. Indeed, the LET is desperate for new players to give the tour some much-needed star appeal. Step forward Nuria Iturrios. With rounds of 67-68-71 on The Faldo, the 23-year-old Spaniard joined a rare-band of back-to-back LET winners following her triumph at the Lalla Meryem Cup the previous week. Iturrios now enjoys a handy 131-point lead over Marianne Skarpnord in the Order of Merit race and the Norwegian, with seven starts, has played four more events than Iturrios.

Iturrios scooped 105 OOM points and €38,193 for her victory and the potential for the LET’s PR team is priceless if the bubbly youngster can keep the momentum going. We loved her honestly throughout the event, including the gem about her loving bunker shots, not something you’d have heard from many of the amateurs in the field.
“I think I’ll have to go home and realise what I did,” Iturrios said after hoisting the Dallah trophy and adding her name alongside the likes of Annika Sörenstam, Lexi Thompson and four-time champion Shanshan Feng
“I’m so nervous now and so excited. It’s amazing to win again and the work is great, so let’s keep going. It was so cool [the format]. I really liked it and I hope next year it will be the same and I will come back for sure.”

Social Media
With no live TV footage, Falcon Golf and the LET had to work hard to drum up publicity.
Paige Spiranac was flown in from the U.S. by the former and hosted the winner of a global competition, Washington DC amateur Sara Wiedenhaefer, in a round on The Faldo along with Ryder Cupper Rafa Cabrera Bello and the head of the Saudi Golf Federation, Majed Al-Sorour.

Spiranac also enjoyed some light-hearted fun under the lights earlier in the week. Check it out here:

But for the best social media of the week, look no further than this viral “Lights Out!” effort from the LET’s media team.

Night Golf, Nailed It! Indeed.