Due to the popularity of the Singles Matchplay Championship amongst Emirates Golf Club members the starting field of 64 players is decided by qualification.
A stableford competition was staged yesterday over the Majlis course with the top 16 players from Division A (handicap 0-12) and Division B (handicap 13-24) qualifying for the tournament. They will be joined by qualifiers from the October monthly medal on 14th October.
Johnny Aldridge, a scratch team regular, carded equal best of the day with a 3-under par 39 points. A mixed front nine included back to back birdies on the 7th and 8th but dropped shots on the 4th, 5th, and a double bogey on the 9th saw him out in 37, two over par. A trio of birdies followed on the inward half on the 10th, 16th and 18th but he gave two back on the 13th and 14th to sign for a gross 73. His closest challengers were Shravan Khanna and Ewan Dunn on 37 points, Khanna clinched runners-up birth due to a better back nine.
Division B also produced some excellent scoring with Kapil Dutta matching Aldridge’s 39 points. He was closely followed by Pavan Nihalani on 38 with Amresh Sangani a further shot back in third.
A count back on 32 points decided the top 16 matchplay qualifiers from Division A with 28 the mark in Division B.