UAE team hope to repeat games success

The UAE team will be hoping to draw inspiration from their gold medal-winning performance in the Arab Games when they tee off for honours in the GCC Golf Championship to be held at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club from March 5 to 7. The UAE team came from behind to win gold medals in both the team and individual championships for the first time in the history of the games held at Doha last December. Their main rivals Bahrain had finished third on a countback. Local knowledge will further add to the morale of the team as the UAE will be aiming to go full distance this round after finishing runners-up to Bahrain in last year's championship held at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain. The final selection of the team will be made only on Saturday as the team management will be closely watching the progress of senior Emirati golfers who, at present, are playing in the Emirates Amateur Open. The annual championship, organised by the Emirates Golf Federation under the patronage of the General Authority of Youth and Sports and sponsored by Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, will see leading players from the six GCC states contest for the honours in men's and junior divisions. "The boys are high on confidence following their recent run of success on the regional circuit and I am sure they will do well," Saeed Al Budoor, general manager of the Emirates Golf Federation, said. "Most of the boys are pretty much familiar with the course at Dubai Creek and know what it takes to post a good score there. It will be interesting to see how they exploit the home advantage," he added. "Playing in the Emirates Amateur Open will give them an opportunity to finetune their game ahead of the championship," he said.