The first edition of BankDhofar Pro-Am Golf tournament was held at Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club on November 7 and 8.

Francois van Coppenhagen, a 23-year old PGA Professional from Sahara Kuwait Resort, shot a 2 under par 70 and +7 points in the Modified Stableford to win the inaugural BankDhofar Pro-Am and a cheque for RO500 at the first professional golf event in the Sultanate which took place at Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club on November 7 and 8, 2012.

The winning team was the Crestlink Team from Qatar which was led by professional Peter Bailey (Doha Golf Club) and featured amateur players Chris Duffy, Gregg Krahulec and Hiram Diggines. They scored an excellent 87 Stableford points, pushing the Audi team of Professional Simon Westney and team members – Latif Razek, Karen D’Amours and Abe Steiginga who also scored 87 points, into second place.

After incredibly consistent play and a result of +7 points, Francois van Coppenhagen prevailed against the rest of the field and won the tournament. “It is a great honour to be the first winner of the inaugural BankDhofar Pro-Am, which is the first professional golf event staged in Oman. I look forward to returning to Oman next year to defend my title”, said Francois after the prize giving.

Professional runner-up with a result of +6 was Muscat Hills-based professional Alex Day with Cormac Flannery, head professional at the Royal Golf Club, Bahrain finishing third on +2.

Tony Mahoney, CEO of BankDhofar, awarded the professionals during a special prize-giving ceremony, closing the successful two-day professional golf event at Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club. “My thanks to the guests and professionals who came together to make this a wonderful event. BankDhofar are proud to support the awareness and development of golf in the Sultanate and look forward to announcing some new youth initiatives next year”, said Tony Mahoney, CEO BankDhofar in his opening speech. The inaugural BankDhofar Pro-Am saw a field of 23 teams, consisting of four players. Each team was led by a regionally based PGA professional who was joined by three amateurs, entering in teams under company names.