SWEET 6

Ahmad Skaik, the first Emirati captain in the 22 year history of the Dubai Golf Trophy, shares the inside story of last month’s historic 18½-13½ victory over the UAE PGA Tour pros as the EGF amateurs made it sixsuccessive wins in the UAE’s answer to the Ryder Cup.

We [Skaik and former captain Steven Kelbrick] had a very special moment together. I think we hugged for like one minute. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.

I’m very, very proud of my team for this achievement and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to be the captain of. I think this was the youngest team in the history of this trophy and we had seven new players so I am very proud of each and every one of them as they all contributed.

This event means so much to me. I love team events and it’s one of the rare tournaments where I have to think of the team, give my all to the team before thinking about myself.

To be the first Emirati captain is a very big achievement for me and I gave it my all and tried to make everyone confident and comfortable. Basically, I tried to be the best captain I can possibly be and the win is a big bonus for sure. It was a tough and stressful season as I wanted everything to be perfect so we could win. I think that just shows how much it means to me.

I felt a lot of pressure going into it because you obviously don’t want to be a losing captain in general let alone being the first captain to lose in the last six years.