A cheer always goes up when the winning quartet hole out on 18 to claim an Aramco Team Championship, but the roar was that little bit louder from the galleries surrounding the final hole at Riyadh Golf Club on Saturday.

It was not for winning captain and Solheim Carlota Ciganda, but for the 17-year-old amateur who was playing alongside the Spanish skipper, Italian Alessandra Fanali and Czech Sara Kouskova.

Lujain Khalil was the local hero out here in Riyadh, playing on her home course and representing Saudi Arabia. The perma-smiling youngster gave her watching family and friends one more reason to cheer other than playing her part in the quartet that eased to a three-stroke victory on 34-under, she also sank the birdie putt on the par-3 17 that secured the final Team title of the Aramco Team Series 2023 season.

Lujain Khalil high-fives Sara Kouskova after the winning putt. Oisin Keniry/ATS

“It was incredible,” Lujain said afterwards, the giant trophy by her side. “After hole 17 Carlota asked me how I was feeling, and I said: ‘I don’t think there has ever been a word created that can describe this feeling.’ This is probably the biggest day of golf I have ever seen.

“Carlota is a powerhouse, and Alessandra and Sara have been incredible. Considering they are rookies, their game has just been incredible.”

Despite this famous victory and that putt that will live long in Lujain’s memory, she has huge ambitions for the future. The youngster was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and is determined to fly the flag for the Kingdom as she grows more into the game.

“This is exactly where I want to be,” she said. “I want to be as strong as Carlota and as accurate as these two girls, and this is just a priceless feeling.

“I represent the Kingdom internationally in all golf events. This is a dream I shared with my grandmother before she passed, and eventually you will see me at the Olympics representing the Kingdom in this sport. I have been playing golf for four years. I took it up in Covid, it was really coincidental, and I have never looked back. I love it, even on the bad days, I love the feeling of even crying because of a bad round as it adds up to a lovely long journey.”

Lujain Khalil alongside her captain Carlota Ciganda. Oisin Keniry/ATS

Ciganda was first to praise the young talent she played beside on Friday and Saturday.

“I think she played great,” she said. “To be playing only four years, I know this is her own course, but still … she hit some great shots, a really good putt on 14 and then that great birdie on 17 — wow, that is a feeling you are going to have when you win a tournament.

“The only advice I would have is to keep working hard. There are no secrets to success in golf, if you want to win you have to work hard. Enjoy yourself and have fun too, but work hard.

“I mean, I love her energy. She is very positive because she loves what she does and that is very important because there are going to be some tough days, lonely days. Golf can be hard, but on the good days it is all worth it.”

Lujain was also grateful for all the support she received from family and friends, not only this week but throughout the past four years — especially from father Omar.

“I want to thank him [Dad] in every language possible,” she said. “He and my family have always been there for me, but him specifically. He’s my coach, my trainer, my caddie, my dad — most importantly — and he has been there from day one. You don’t just wake up and happen to have a good swing or good scores. He has been there for me on the bad days when I am crying and on the good days when it feels like the whole world fits my happiness.

“I am forever grateful to him and so happy to be sharing this journey with him and my family.”

Dad Omar was on hand to lead the congratulations after Lujain’s win. Oisin Keniry/ATS

Dad Omar also took time to reflect on that journey, speaking to Golf Digest Middle East after watching Lujain’s triumph.

“It was — it is — a very tough journey,” he said with a laugh. “This is by far the toughest sport. I played tennis, I did a lot of watersports. Lujain is one of four daughters, and none of them picked up on tennis, and she picked up on golf during Covid. She hit her first shot and said: ‘Daddy, this is what I am going to do for life.’ I said: ‘Ok. If you want to do it for leisure it takes one beast, but if you are going to do it competitively, that takes a completely different animal. If you run at 5kph, I will run at 10.’ And she never slowed down.

“I had to get certified, and now I do her strength and conditioning, I do her nutrition and I do her swing coaching.”

The hard work is paying off, on and off the course as Lujain is beginning to inspire those even younger than her in and around her home Riyadh Golf Course.

“Lujain gets endless happiness when young girls approach her and ask her about the game and she loves sending that message to every single girl, whether it is out here in the Middle East: pursue your happiness, find your passion, work hard and nothing comes easy, you got to work hard for it,” Omar added, smiling as he seemed to recall all the hours and hours they have put in together. “People watch golf on the screen and think it is easy — just a club and a ball — but nobody really understands the amount of tedious work, day-in day-out, to get to the level to play 18 holes for three consecutive days and get the scores, it is brutal, just brutal. So find your passion and work hard.”

When asked if he will go easy on Lujain over the next few days following this latest success, Omar was laughing again: “I hope she goes easy on me! It is a work in progress, Lujain’s ambitions are way further than today. She wants majors … she is going all the way. She just loves this sport more than anything else on Earth. So I have got to keep up with her, not the other way around!”

Lujain Khalil celebrates with father Omar after the win. Oisin Keniry/ATS