The 29th Arab Golf Championship concluded last Thursday at Al Hamra Golf Club with Bahrain taking the team title. Teams of four players from sixteen nations competed in the 72-hole stroke play tournament, to which The R&A contributed £20,000, at the Peter Harradine designed Al Hamra Golf course in Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.

Bahrain enjoyed a comfortable victory, their thirteenth in the event’s history, and the UAE produced their best ever result to finish runners-up on home ground after overtaking Tunisia, who had started the final day five strokes clear of the hosts. Individual honours went to Saber Barhoumi who becomes the first Tunisian golfer to enter the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The R&A Director of Golf Development, Duncan Weir, who spoke at both the opening and closing ceremonies, was complimentary about the standard of play.

“This was my first visit to the Arab Golf Championship and I was very impressed by the talent on show,” said Weir. “It’s testament to the enthusiasm, dedication and skill of these Arab golfers that they have reached this level despite many of them having had to develop their games on compacted sand courses.”