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Friday’s competition at Awali Golf Club saw play with a format that is only rolled out once per season: that of the Black Ball competition.
Adding a little frisson to a normal Stableford format, teams of three players alternate play with a black ball with the score from that ball counting towards a team score, as well as the individual’s score.
The weather even joined in, with dark clouds looming, which fortunately faded to clear skies so as not to dampen anyone’s spirits.
With prizes presented by sponsor Roshni Khanna, right, the individual honours went to Jeffrey Barrett, below, withstanding the dark stare of the black ball to come out on top with 42 points, just clear of runner-up Sarah Hobday on 41 points. Rajesh Khanna also with 41 points secured 3rd place, leaving two dejected players, Ziggy Trzebinski and Nathan Sudaresan, losing on countback.
In the team event, Dave Spittal, Mahmood Falamarzi and Abdulla Al Kaabi perfectly timed the high-scoring holes to coincide with their turn with the black ball, resulting in a winning 43 points.
Abdul Elah Fakhroo, Nathan Sundaresan and Mohammed Rashid chased them home, but fell two points short on 41 to claim the team runner-up prize, with other teams having an even blacker day.
The players not only benefitted from good golfing conditions, but also some excellent sponsorship. This year the Black-Ball found itself to be a damsel-in-distress, lacking a sponsor. Charging to the rescue came a group of gallant heroes describing themselves as the Black-Knights, looking suspiciously like Anil Nair, Jeffrey Barrett, Arunava Banerjee, Nathan Prince, Vidhu Mittal, Roshni Khanna and Christopher Gregory.
Underneath their armour, they personally sponsored an impressive selection of prizes as well as the evening’s fayre.
