Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Term III of the Ladies’ Golf Programme organised by the OGC (Oman Golf Committee) and supported by National Bank of Oman (NBO) came to an end recently with a meet and greet session with the OGC top brass at Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club.
The third spell of the programme concluded with a bang, having spanned for six weeks. Total of 60 ladies participated in the program across all three terms. 6 of them took part in the gold category, 23 in the silver category and 31 in the bronze category. A total of 19 ladies from Term I have graduated to Term II and Term ll saw a total of 19 new faces. The Omani women took golfing lessons from Muscat Hills-designated coach Jade Lucas in the third term of the programme.
The post-programme meet and greet session was presided over by the OGC Chairman Mundhir Al Barwani, who held detailed talks with the Omani ladies regarding their various experiences during the course of the golf programme.
“I spoke to the participants in great detail, trying to get a feel of what they went through as they learnt golfing lessons at Muscat Hills,” exclaimed Al Barwani. “Following the interactions, we at the OGC have got a clear picture of how the programme is working out. So far, it seems it is clearly a big hit among the ladies, as they all agreed that they were hooked onto the sport of golf and would like to continue sharpening their skills at the game.”
“The greatest thing to come out of this program is the increase in junior participation. We currently have 10 new junior girls in the Junior Program as a direct result of their mothers and aunts participating in the program. We also have 3 junior boys for the same reason. Other ladies have since expressed that they would like to enroll their children into summer camps or the next development program,” said coach Jade Lucas.
The ladies also proposed to the OGC management that they would be very keen to carry on participating from time to time if the programme continues to roll on, and especially if it is held in Muscat in the winter months as well. OGC Chairman assured the ladies that the national body is also willing to continue the programme.
The OGC Chairman said, “In recent times, we have had considerable success with the likes of Asma Al Rashdi and Huwaida Al Barwani, our two shining stars in the ladies’ circuit. Their examples have worked wonders, as these Omani ladies from our ladies programme have drawn inspiration from the duo’s rise and want to some day break into the Oman national team.”
Most impressive at Term II and Term III of the ladies programme has been 13-year-old Iman Al Farsi, who clearly stood out as a major future prospect. The OGC has taken full note of the youngster’s potential and current abilities, and is looking forward to grooming her as a future star.
“We are quite pleased with all the ladies, particularly with the capabilities of young Iman. We want to focus on turning her into a serious future prospect for our in-depth ladies’ development initiative. We wish her, as well as the rest of the ladies, all the best in their future endeavours as they aim to make a mark with their golf clubs,” Al Barwani signed off.
Iman’s mother Olivia Al Farsi is delighted that her daughter is being praised by everyone in the golf circles and OGC. “I am excited that she is doing good in golf. She is actually a very sporty girl. She plays football, basketball and other sports as well. I hope she will succeed in golf provided she gets proper guidance and schooling.”
After the phenomenal success of the silver programme OGC is planning to begin the gold programme in the coming months.
