Home Grown

Emirati lefty Ahmad Skaik will proudly create history at next month’s Dubai Trophy but his ambition extends well beyond the Ryder Cupstyle matches

- KENT GRAY

IN THESE extraordinary times, amateur golfers everywhere have had far too much time to reflect on tough lessons learned and glories past. Thankfully, Ahmad Skaik finally has some decent competition on the horizon to get him excited about the game again.

Things were going swimmingly for the ambitious 23-year-old Emirati before the coronavirus pandemic tilted the golfing world on its axis. The +3-handicapper had qualified for his maiden European Tour start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January and followed up that eye-opening experience with victories at the UAE Presidents Cup (with a record -5 aggregate) and the Montgomerie and Trump Dubai Opens. The latter was particularly sweet as he came back from four shots adrift of Trump member Toby Bishop entering the final round to beat the red-hot Welsh teen in a playoff.

But like everyone else, Skaik suddenly found himself in lockdown and all the momentum lost.

“COVID changed the whole year. It was very frustrating,” Skaik says. “I had a few months of not touching my golf clubs because I had no motivation to practice, like I didn’t have anything to look forward to. I did some online classes with my university and worked hard in the gym and I feel good now with my game. I’m ready for the tournaments to come back.”