Awali Golf Club hosted the 51st Bahrain Open Golf Championship at the weekend with more than 100 local and overseas players teeing-off on Day-1 on its 6,685 yards championship course, in breezy conditions and blue skies, with club captain Steve Brown leading the way.
It turned into a battle between two players – Daniel Owen and Hamad Mubarak Afnan who were joint leaders at the end of Day-1 – and Afnan emerged victorious after 36-holes, by one stroke. This was his fifth win of the Bahrain Open, the first of which he won 23 years ago in 1991. Perhaps, there was an omen for the final outcome during play on Hole-6, the most challenging par-3 and made even more difficult by the downwind direction. It was sponsored by Al Haddad Motors with a hole-in-one prize of a Mercedes car. Of the first 29 players, only one managed to have his ball come to rest on the green from his tee shot. Afnan, the next player up, caused a heart-stopping moment as his ball landed perfectly, curved towards the pin and struck it dead-centre, but with just a little too much speed, the ball bouncing backwards and finishing within 30cm of the pin. With more-than-the-usual number of lost balls and delays due to the lingering presence of autumnal vegetation, many players were having difficulty getting to grips with the wind and the course – the overall scores reflected this. The water-hazard of Hole-17, known as The Moat, was particularly greedy as many misjudged the club needed to clear it with their second shot into the headwind. Following on from the pair sharing the overnight lead on a score of one-under gross-69, Saleh Ali Al Kaabi was also in contention as Day-2’s play commenced, four shots behind on three-over. Any chance of a win was dashed on the par-5 Hole-9, where he carded an eight due to entanglement with the vegetation and trees in the left rough on the approach to the green. Afnan and Owen’s second round saw a bogey from the former at the first, with two pars at the second. But a bogey from Owen at the third meant his lead had slipped away to all-square - the point after which he never regained the lead. They both then carded the next five holes with the same score – all pars except for bogey on the difficult 6th par-3. But then a bogey from Owen on the par-5 9th to Afnan’s birdie resulted in a two-shot swing. Quality play by both players saw each carding birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, Owen achieving a third birdie in-a-row on the 12th, to Afnan’s par, as he pulled one shot back: Afnan 1-up. But Owen could not maintain this momentum, and his bogey to Afnan’s par on the 13th saw the latter back to 2-up. With both players bogeying the par-3 14th, the long par-4 15th, the hole named as ‘graveyard’ due to the presence of a real one near the beginning of the fairway, was, perhaps, apt for Owen. With their tee-shots safely over the graveyard, Owen’s second shot saw him to pin-high, but a few yards left of the left-hand bunker, whilst Afnan’s shot was safely in the middle of the fairway. Still on the fairway and using his mat, Owen fluffed the chip: it landed on the low bank green-side and rolled backwards. Although followed by an excellent second chip, Afnan was down in par to Owen’s bogey, and was thus 3-up. A tenacious birdie on the 16th by Owen showed that the game was far from over: his oppenent’s par meaning that he was 2-up with two holes to play. But Afnan was the better on the 17th: both players down the middle with their tee-shots and then both with wayward irons into the left green-side bunker for two. Afnan achieved a good chip out close to the pin and was down in four. Unfortunately, Owen’s chip out was woefully short, followed by a putt that curved away from the desired line and needing a second to be down in a disappointing five. Thus, the two entered the par 5 last hole with Owen trailing by three strokes. With a near-impossible difference to pull back, Owen made an impressive attempt, particularly noteworthy for his second shot, an iron from near the fairway bunker onto the green and within 5ft of the pin. But Afnan kept a cool head, playing cautiously to be up-the-middle and chipping on for three. With a long putt for birdie it was almost to be but just a few inches short. Even though Owen achieved a great eagle-3, Afnan tapped-in for par to win. Afnan said: “When I won the 15th to become the leader by three strokes, I felt I would win. I concentrated on playing cautiously for the next three holes, especially the last.” Owen added: “Hamad deserved the win – I’ll try again next year if other golfing commitments do not conflict.” Prizes were presented by Adel Almoayyed, acting CEO of the platinum sponsor, Bapco. Results: Champion - Hamad Mubarak Afnan (gross-139), runner-up Daniel Owen (140), 3 Abdulla Al Hakam (146), 4 Salah Ali Ali (146), 5 Ali Musbah (149), Saleh Ali Al Kaabi (149), 7 Sultan Al Hakam (150), 8 Michael Elliott (151), 9 Phil Jones (151), 10 Ross Bain (152). Best gross Day-1: Hamad Fares Al Qutami (74). Best gross Day-2: Diab Al Noaimi (74). Best nett Day-1: Rashid Farhan (69), Best nett Day-2: Hendrik Wessels (67), Best nett overall: Rashid Al Qutami (141). Sponsors: Platinum Sponsor - Bapco; Gold Sponsors - Arabian Exhibition Management, Al Haddad Motors, Alba, African & Eastern, Banagas, Bin Hindi, Pan-Gulf Industrial Systems; Silver Sponsors - ACE Insurers, Asia Jewellers, AXA Insurance, Bahrain Financing Company, Batelco, Chevron, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Holman-Fenwick-Willan, ID Works and Nass Group.
