By Feroz Khan
RIYADH — Ciaran Argue and John Rogers emerged winners in the first India Republic Day Open Golf Tournament hosted by the Embassy of India, as golf enthusiasts here teed off on the bright, cool morning of Jan. 27.
The golfers represented a kaleidoscope of nationalities and professionals gathered to play in celebration of the special occasion at the scenic and serene Dirab Golf & Country Club.
Boucheib, manager of DG&CC, ensured wonderful arrangements were in place and that everyone present had a good time.
The whole landscape was bathed in a warm glow of the rising sun and the Anna Nordqvist's, Ryu Soyeon's, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia's and Jordan Spieth's of Riyadh seemed to have come prepared to play a really good round.
This, of course, made the tournament quite exciting. They all felt positive and thrilled at tee off and continued navigating with the same spirit till the 18th.
Breathing easy, relaxing, taking in oxygen and releasing it softly before hitting the shots, the players challenged each other while finishing off the holes. The atmosphere around was charged; what with the excited spectators and revelers! The heat was on.
Ciaran Argue and John Rogers went on to win the tournament, with a Gross 70, 6 T. Handicaps, Net 64. Not far behind were Graham Gunn and Abdul Aziz Al Omran who were runners up with Gross 72, 6 T. Handicaps, Net 66.
Mujib Minhas and Tariq S. Khan won the 3rd place with Gross 72, 6 T. Handicaps, Net 66. In the 4th and 5th Place respectively were the pairs of Kamal Fareed and Nadeem Mirza with Gross 71, 5 T. Handicaps, Net 66 and Sunil George and Ahira Varkey with Gross 78, 11 T. Handicaps, Net 67.
In Skills Awards, the 1st place for Longest Drive - Men's (Hole 1) went to Craig Kally while the 1st place for Longest Drive - Ladies (Hole 10) went to Ahira Varkey. In the Closest to Pin - Unisex category, the award went to Paromita Mukherjee.
Ambassador Ahmad Javed and Deputy Chief of Mission Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan congratulated the winners and gave away the prizes during the prize distribution ceremony along with Dirab Golf Club Committee Chairman Tariq Javed.
The Ambassador conveyed his appreciation to all the sponsors — Al Qahtani Holding, Sunbites, VFS Global, L&T, Aamal Layal Est, Center Point, Al Kabeer, Alawal Bank, Nawazinda Groups, Red Chilli, Star City, RGTT-Radiant Global, RAK Ceramics, Zorins Technologies, Emirates, World Business Group and Al Marsa Park. — SG
