Jordan Smith may have written his name into UAE golf folklore by claiming victory in the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge, but tournament officials insisted the real winner was the emirate’s successful staging of its maiden European Challenge Tour event.
With a crop of leading European Challenge Tour players jostling for supremacy during a dramatic final day’s play at Al Hamra Golf Club, much of the talk around Al Hamra Golf Club focused on the tournament’s host city.
Organised by Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA), the emirate’s staging of the tournament has been roundly praised by players, fans and European Challenge Tour officials. The widespread universal acclaim is music to the ears of Haitham Mattar, CEO of RAKTDA.
“We were always confident the emirate would deliver a world-class event befitting its status as the penultimate round on this year’s European Challenge Tour,” said Mattar. “The initial feedback has been nothing short of extraordinary and we’re already looking forward to delivering an even stronger event in 2017. With the experiences of this year under our belts, we are intent on engaging our industry partners to ensure Ras Al Khaimah delivers an emirate-wide festival of golf in 2017.”
Nick Tarratt, the Director of the Dubai office of the PGA European Tour, insisted the tournament had ‘exceeded expectations’.
“We congratulate Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority on the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge,” said Tarratt. “All the players, without exception, have been complimentary of the warm welcome and fine golf course at Al Hamra Golf Club. The key additional factors for a good week for the Challenge Tour are the proximity of the players’ hotels and accommodation to the golf course and, finally, the weather. Ras Al Khaimah has exceeded all our expectations in all areas.”
With RAKTDA holding the right to stage the penultimate European Challenge Tour event for another two years, Robert Fiala, Marketing Manager of the Emirates Golf Federation, is optimistic the tournament is here to stay.
“What’s been delivered is a great example of the level of sporting event that Ras Al Khaimah can host – it’s been top class,” said Fiala. “This is only the first year and it’s been great. As the tournament ages and evolves it will attract more spectators and more sponsors will want to support its growth.”
After four days of sun-drenched fairways, low scoring and a memorable Hole in One by England’s Arran Rai on the tournament’s final day, Peter Harradine, the man who designed the course at Al Hamra Golf Club, believes his creation held up well to the 105-strong professional field.
“It played quite long this week but it’s important to remember this is a tourist course. It was designed and built to be accessible for amateurs and regular players so the fairways are forgivingly wide and there’s no real rough. It’s proven to be a good challenge and the course has helped shape a dramatic ending to Ras Al Khaimah’s first professional golf event. It’s been a fantastic week and the emirate is now planted firmly on the professional golf map,” said Harradine, the Principal & Senior Architect of Harradine Golf.
The Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge attracted a marquee line-up of international sponsors including RAKTDA as title sponsor, Al Hamra Golf Club, RAK Rock, Stevin Rock, RAK Chamber, BMW and Rivoli as event sponsors, and Waldorf Astoria, Voss Water, Wicked, icflix and Nike Golf as event partners.