Women win feisty battle!

To see the year out at Awali Golf Club in Friday 30th’s competition, players had the pleasure of something different: a Stableford competition from the Championship Tees.

To add extra frisson, the contest consisted not only of individual play but also of team play based on gender, and it was held under the headline name of Battle of the Sexes. The scoring method for the team event was based on lower average Stableford score.

However, the course was not the only location where battle was to be had. In the lead-up to the competition it was realised that, to provide a modicum of fairness, an extra level of difficulty should be added to the ladies so as to balance that suffered by the gents playing on the more difficult Championship course.

With good intent, the Handicaps & Competitions Committee decided that ladies would play from the front tees with scoring using the gents card, this meaning their handicaps did not receive a five shot enhancement which is normal for mixed competitions at Awali.

A simple enough change it would seem - in the red corner, the CONGU approved software which the Club uses to administer scores and handicaps - in the blue corner, the Committee with their master plan.

The result of this battle was that the software landed the knock-out punch and came out victorious, stubbornly refusing to allow any of this ladies play using the gents card malarkey. So on the day, the ladies played with the ladies card and their normal five shot enhancement.

The gents thus had quite a challenge to face, especially as many of their number previously had never played a round from the Championship tees before, all this compounded by the increased male machismo to match the increased hole length.

Not only was the play format different to normal, so was the prize table, as the Club had earlier requested members to clear out their closets and donate suitable prizes. Many members stepped forward to meet the request, this leading to 60 prizes being awarded, with the winner choosing first from the selection.

In fact, with prizes only available to those present at the prize-giving, every player present received a prize and still several lay unclaimed, these being distributed to the staff. Handicaps & Competitions Member Paul Anderson was master of ceremonies following play, first thanking those that had made the donations and then facing the daunting task of organising prize collection so that members could be home before midnight.

In individual play, Ariette Paul stole the show with a super 44 points, two points clear of second placed Abdulla Al Qutami, then Phil Trueblood 41 points, Ahmed Al Noaimi 39 points and Hamad Fares Al Qutami 38 points.

With Ariette leading the way, the team result was a clear win for the ladies: Ladies/Gents average Stableford score 34/30 points. Perhaps the gents were able to go home not too disheartened, musing that maybe they would have been victorious with a result of 29/30, had the ladies not had the CONGU regulated five shot enhancement