UAE team captain Ahmad Skaik will be one of the players favoured to win the RAK Championship start. 

By Kent Gray
The 40th Men’s Arab Golf Championship starting in Egypt today suddenly enjoys added significance with the champion set to earn a start in one of the DP World Tour’s newest events.

The 54-hole event, being hosted at the Dreamland Golf Resort in Cairo, will reward its champion with a spot in the $2 million Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital. The Feb. 3-6 tournament is the third leg of the former European Tour’s Desert Swing, following $8 Rolex Series events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

A field of 52 players representing 14 Arab Golf Federations will tee it up in Cairo in a tournament with team and individual components. The UAE team is captained by World amateur No. 539 Ahmed Skaik and includes Khalid Yousuf, Abdulla Al Qubaisi and Obaid Al Heloo. The three best scores in each round count towards each nation’s total while a gold medal isn’t now the sole individual focus of the tournament’s best players.

“The Emirates Golf Federation and the Arab Golf Federation are extremely happy to receive this invitation from the DP World Tour,” said Adel Zarouni, Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation.

“As golf continues to grow in the region this partnership between the United Arab Emirates, the DP World Tour, and the Middle East will push the development further for all Arab players. It’s an exciting time for us in Arab golf and we are looking forward to 2022.”

The UAE Team will be accompanied by, H.E. Sheikh Fahim Bin Sultan Al Qasimi (Emirates Golf Federation Chairman and Arab Golf Federation Chairman), Adel Zarouni (Emirates Golf Federation Vice Chairman and Arab Golf Federation Vice-Chairman), General Abdullah Alhashmi (Vice President of the Emirates Golf Federation) and Khalid Mubarak Al Shamsi (Emirates Golf Federation Secretary-General).