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THE finest of Awali Golf Club’s (AGC) players were locked in battle on Saturday with those of Bahrain Golf Club (BGC), in a continuation of one of Bahrain’s oldest match play contests, the Crown Prince Cup.
Six pairs on each side made up each A Team vying for the trophy and main prizes, while another six pairs formed the B Teams.
All matches were of a 4-ball better-ball format, with scoring not including any handicap allowance.
Due to the number of single figure handicappers within BGC relative to AGC, the B Team players were restricted to those with a handicap of 10 or greater.
Over recent years, nearly the whole of the BGC A Team has consisted of members of Bahrain’s National team and consequently AGC’s chances of a win have been remote. The last three years have seen a combined team of both AGC and Royal Golf Club players attempting to break BGC’s stranglehold on the outcome, however, this year reverted to just AGC versus BGC and was contested at Awali’s course.
Playing in conditions of high winds gusting to nearly 30 knots and cloudy skies, the result was just as traditional. In yet another show of complete domination, the BGC A Team retained the Crown Prince Cup, meting out a 6 to 0 pasting to AGC. The AGC B Team fared just marginally better with BGC winning 5 to 1, AGC’s score a result of two matches halved.
The event was sponsored by the BGC and, beaming with pride, its vice-president, Diab Sagar Al Noaimi, presented the trophy to the captain of the team and of the Bahrain Golf Club itself, Adnan Al Sowaidi.
Following the presentation, AGC players were seen reflecting over where and when they nearly caught their opponents and were also heard explaining their result by describing the other side’s chip-in for birdie as pure luck rather than what it actually was: fine play.
Awali now have a year to get their act together, with the 2016 return match to be played on the BGC’s course.
