ABU DHABI // Khalid Yousuf, one of the region's brightest young golf prospects, headed the first list of qualifiers to represent the UAE in the Eisenhower Trophy - a world amateur team championship that attracts competitors from 150 countries. The tournament, played every two years and won in 2006 by the Netherlands, will be held in Australia from Oct 16-18 and it will require some special golf from the five players in the other qualifying phase to prevent Yousuf, 18, from boarding the aeroplane to Adelaide.
"Three players are going to have to play really well in the other qualifier to stop me from going," said the Emirati teenager excited at the prospect of following in the footsteps of Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw and Tiger Woods, who competed in the the prestigious event in their amateur days along with many others who went on to become household names. Yousuf, who plays off scratch, recorded a splendid three-under-par score of 69 in one of his qualifying rounds amid trying conditions at the Jebel Ali Resort course. "I was really pleased with that, considering the conditions," he reflected. "It was so hot that we were using up two wet towels each on nearly every hole."
An earlier round of 74 and a score of 77 at the Arabian Ranches course gave Yousuf, who received an invitation earlier this year to play in the Dubai Desert Classic against the world's leading professionals, the advantage over Abdalla Al Musharrekh, Ahmed Al Musharrekh and Saeed Malik. The other five other UAE hopefuls will be seeking to earn places in the team of three when the second qualifying heat takes place at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club from Sept 2-4. They are Ismail Sharif, Nabil Sharif, Faris Al Mazruy, Rashid Al Abbar, Abdul Waked Qasem. The top three of the nine entrants will be selected to take part in the showpiece tournament launched in 1958 by the former United States president Dwight Eisenhower.
Chris Vallender, the coach of the UAE national team, was satisfied with the performances so far of his aspiring team members. "The players' commitment was admirable in these conditions over the three days," he said. "If we show this type of commitment in Australia, we are sure to get a good result." @Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae
