JA Summer August Classic begins today

A full field of 45 golfers will battle for top honours play at JA The Resort in the JA Summer August Classic, held on JA The Resort Golf Course. The competition is over 27 holes in this two-day event over three loops of nine holes over two days of the 5,863 yards Resort Course Peter Harradine designed layout, starting from Wednesday.

A 3 pm shotgun start will see 18 holes being played on Wednesday in a Stableford, full handicap allowance format that has attracted entries from throughout the UAE from both men and ladies.

After an overnight stay at the JA Palm Tree Court, the second ‘half’ of the tournament is played on Thursday with nine holes with a 7.30am shotgun start.

Play will be in 15 three balls and is played under the local sanctioning of the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and will strictly follow the COVID 19, EGF and Ministry of Youth and Sports Federal Sports Policies.

The event will be an EGF qualifier for handicap.

Prizes, courtesy of support sponsors ProSports International, will be distributed on Thursday morning for the following divisions; overall, men and ladies, as well as the typical ‘novelty’ prizes of various nearest the pins and longest drives.

Stuart McMurdo, Director of Golf at JA The Resort Golf Course said at the publishing of the draw, “We continue to be overwhelmed by the uptake and interest in local golf at present. This initiative has been designed to highlight the championship standard golf facilities and nine-hole course at JA The Resort, while also familiarizing golfers with the other attractions here at Dubai’s largest experience resort. We thank both Mediclinic as a partner sponsor of JA The Resort and ProSports International for supporting this initiative. We look forward to this becoming a JA The Resort regular on the local golfing calendar.

JA Resorts is a partner of both the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the Omega Moonlight Classic. The former European Tour sanctioned international event made JA The Resort and JA The Resort Course famous with the legendary ‘9-Hole JA The Resort Challenge Match.’ The current generation of transient ex-pats in Dubai and the UAE, may not recall or appreciate that the ‘JA Resort Challenge Match,’ a curtain raiser of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, was held nine consecutive years from 1998 and again in 2016, and historically featured some of the world’s great players playing The Resort Course including including Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Mark O’Meara, Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie, Retief Goosen, Jose Maria Olazabal, Rafa Cabrera Bello plus so many others.

“‘We are already planning a series of Staycation Golf Opens, for EGF members with handicaps as well as separate events involving; JA Summer Swing Members and other players,’ continued McMurdo.

“The interest we have received to date has far exceeded all our expectations and has created a genuine buzz in the UAE golf community and we are now looking to host such Staycation Tournaments at JA The Resort throughout the 2020 – 2021 golf season,’ said McMurdo.

Rafa Cabrera Bello, JA Resorts & Hotels Global Golf Ambassador and currently 61st in the Official World Golf Ranking, said about the JA August Summer Classic, “I am aware, through my friends at JA Resort, of this week’s 27-hole, two-day, JA Summer August Classic.

“It is great to see local golf so strong this summer with local tournaments as well as local play at record levels at all the golf clubs in Dubai,” Cabrera Bello.