The Oman Order of Merit offers an opportunity for all OGC members to compete through their club’s monthly medals against every golfer in Oman.
The standings of the Oman Golf Committee Order of Merit for the season are now finalised, with the country’s top players ranked in tight competition.
Participating golf clubs are Ras al Hamra GC, Ghala Valley GC, Almouj Golf and Muscat Hills GC. The Order of Merit is a system where all golfers can compete in their club’s monthly medals and depending on their performance will be awarded points. Each month all the points are collated from each club and merged together to create the standings, and the eventual winners are announced after six months of competition.
The Oman Order of Merit was put in place to support many of the Oman Golf Committee’s initiatives. First and foremost it is an opportunity for all OGC members to compete through their club’s monthly medals against every golfer in Oman. Secondly it is a method for the Oman Golf Committee to support the clubs and help promote their monthly medals. Thirdly it was a tool to help with the selection of the Omani National and Junior National teams. Finally it gives the golfers the chance to automatically qualify to represent their club in the Chrysler Cup, Oman’s premium team event golf competition.
Passion for golf
Azzan al Rumhy was introduced to the game by his father and started his golfing career at the Hidden Valley golf course in Muscat. “I had a tennis career going but made a transition into golf when I first got my handicap. When I got my first handicap, Tiger Woods was young and upcoming and a true inspiration for my game and development. The beauty of golf is that you can play it wherever you go in the region or world and I enjoyed summer holidays with my father and brother abroad, playing golf.”
Puli Sharma started his golfing career back in 1995, at the sand course at Al Maha golf club. He went to school next to a private golf club back home in India and got a passion for the game at a tender age; but he did not have time to pursue this passion until he came to the Sultanate.
Yuri Gijselman was introduced to golf by his parents at the age of 10 in Nigeria but didn’t take it up seriously. Back home in the Netherlands he started when he got his driving license, at the age of 18. The Dutch golf club where he was member offered serious training and competitive golf against other clubs in the area. “I have always played sports: basketball, hockey etc. so it was quite easy to pick up and I enjoy the individual competitive side of golf”.
Arqam al Busaidi, Oman Golf Committee’s general secretary, started his golfing career in 2000 at Ras al Hamra golf club. “For me golf has always been a passion; I have always read about golf and watched the great players on television. In my younger years, I played many other sports like table tennis, football and never really had time to get into golf”. Arqam’s biggest achievement in golf was when he reached a single digit handicap in 2012 – going from 28 to seven in in 11 years.
For Azaan, his first achievement was being selected to compete for the Oman National team in the Pan Arab Championship in Dubai 2002, when he was only 18 years old and it was only four years after starting to play golf. Other highlights of his golfing career are winning the Muscat Open four times, being the first Omani ever to do so, as well as winning the Oman Open in 2012. Finishing sixth individually at the Pan Arab Championship in Saudi Arabia was his best achievement individually.
Puli Sharma remembers the Muscat Open in 2002, when he won for the first time a major competition; and to be the first Indian to bag the title was a great golfing memory. Yuri, who has been finishing runner-up in recent years, had his breakthrough in 2013, winning the Assarain Classic individually and the Chrysler Cup as part of the winning team of Ghala Valley golf club.
As one of the three top gross Oman Order of Merit achievers, Puli concludes, “Considering that my best golfing years are behind me, I was fortunate to be able to perform well against the best players in my home club Muscat Hills”. Yuri is a bit surprised but mostly happy to reach the top three again in 2013. For Azaan it’s the first year having time to participate in monthly medals at Ghala Valley on a more regular basis and well worth that effort ending up top on the Oman OOM. To see golf prosper and develop in the Sultanate the three players all agree that more Omani nationals need to be introduced and get involved in the sport. Yuri says; Nationals need to start playing golf and get more involved, sporting programs in schools would be a great initiative and I think the Oman Golf Committee has given the sport a good start in the country”. Puli concludes, “I think Oman Golf committee is doing a great jump overall and with the Junior program. Golf is in good hands in Oman”.
Azaan sees a strong development in the sport since the start of Oman Golf committee and having now three, soon four, green golf courses in the country since 2009. “We need to spread more awareness about the game and get the message out, not only within the golfing community, but to the society at whole. We see more support from the business community and the goverment now but there’s room for improvement and the junior programme can and needs to grow and be enhanced.”
Arqam Al Busaid, general secretary Oman Golf Committee summarises, “Like in other golfing nation, the country’s Order of Merit serves multiple purposes. First it is a target for all players to achieve recognition of their consistency in performance during the season. Every month they compete against top players in their home club, and finally against all other players in Oman. Secondly it allows the Oman Golf Committee to select national team players for regional and international championships and tournaments. It’s one of the avenues in the selection process and an important part of it as well. The Oman Order of Merit needs to be recognized by all players as equitable and fair he concludes, Arqam says.