Mullane and Engsig steal the spotlight at 2024 Dubai Hills Golf Club Amateur Open

Sam Mullane (EGF) and Sara Engsig (EGF) emerged victorious in their respective divisions at the recent 2024 Dubai Hills Golf Club Amateur Open, which featured both men and women competitors.

In the Men’s Division, Sam Mullane, the newly crowned 2024 UAE Champion from last week at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, shot rounds of 70 and 68 for a total of six under par, finishing two shots ahead of Ahmad Skaik (UAE).

Mullane, also the defending champion here at Dubai Hills, started his second round two shots back of first-round leader Mikhail Pinto (Dubai Creek Resort). Mullane had a bogey four on hole 2 but responded brilliantly with five birdies in his last 16 holes – with no hurtful bogeys and the rest all pars.

Pinto shot a second-round 75 to finish tied sixth on one under par.

In total Mullane had three bogeys and nine birdies over the 7,283 yards, par 72 layout over the two days.

Mullane said on completing his round: “I played nicely today – and my putting was on track for once. I holed a really special putt from around 60 feet on the par three 13th.

“I had no idea where I was placed on the tournament leaderboard as there were no scoreboards or Golf Genius LIVE Scoring on course. So I was fairly relaxed all day and just playing my own game. I was focused and thought I was playing for second place and the other podium places.

“Next up for me is the Men’s Pan Arab Golf Championship at Al Zorah Golf Club in a couple of weeks followed by the King Hamad Trophy in Bahrain, 28th – 30th November 2024 at The Royal Club,” he added.

“This week I will be going down to Al Zorah Golf Club, Ajman, to practice with our four-man UAE Team for the Pan Arab.”

Engsig dominated the Ladies’ Division from the start of round 1, and her rounds of 69 and 77 for a total of 146, saw her take home the Gross Ladies’ trophy by five clear shots from the UAE’s Faye AlBlooshi.

This is the second Emirates Golf Federation’s (EGF) 2024 – 25 Men’s and Ladies’ Order of Merit Qualifier following the first qualifier at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club.

A field of 77 players competed in the tournament.

Conor Rogers, Operations Manager at Dubai Hills Golf Club commented,: “We have had an excellent two-day Open competition. We originally had 130 entries with an initial handicap ballot at 1.5 handicap.

“With a few late withdrawals, the cut-off handicap was 1.8 to complete the full field. It was nice to welcome such good golfers from all over the UAE as well as overseas to this, one of our flagship events on our domestic Dubai Hills Golf Club calendar.”

The next EGF Order of Merit event – for both Men and Ladies is the Al Zorah Amateur Open, a ‘Major’ on the EGF calendar – to be held 6th – 8th December 2024 – over 54 holes, meaning it is a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) event supported by The R&A, with WAGR points available.

For further information Visit: www.egf.com

Results

(Par 72)

Men’s Gross

Sam Mullane (EGF) 70. 68. 138.

Ahmad Skaik (EGF) 71. 69. 140.

Ladies’ Gross

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