Despite the Mercury dropping to record lows and the wind blowing with enough ferocity to blow a dog off a chain, Christopher Rahm posted two brilliant scores to claim the RAK Maritime City Men’s Open for 2016.
Opening with a score of 74 on Day 1, Rahm started the second round 1 shot adrift of Ryan Hunter, but an exceptional outward nine of 34, 2 under par had him sitting 3 shots ahead with the tricky inward nine to play.
Hunter quickly reduced the deficit after a solid par on the 10th as Rahm could only muster a bogey, with the pair pretty much trading blows up until the Par 3, 16th, where an untimely bogey by Rahm allowed Hunter to edge to within 1 shot of him.
Fortunately for Rahm, he was able to navigate the treacherous 17th hole in Par compared to the bogey of Hunter, which increased his lead back to 2 shots with only the reachable Par 5, 18th hole to play. After reasonable drives from the tee, both players were unable to extract a birdie from the hole allowing Rahm a comfortable 2 shot victory and his first win in the event.
Results:
DAY (1) Nearest To Pins
NEAREST THE PIN 4TH HOLE Arkesh Bhataia
NEAREST THE PIN 8TH HOLE Julian Hawlitzky
NEAREST THE PIN 12TH HOLE Jamie Hopkins
NEAREST THE PIN 16TH HOLE Tiago Lobo
DAY (2) Nearest To Pins
NEAREST THE PIN 4TH HOLE Dave Faulkner
NEAREST THE PIN 8TH HOLE Barry Cotter
NEAREST THE PIN 12TH HOLE Ryan Hunter
NEAREST THE PIN 16TH HOLE Chris Rossmesil
BEST GROSS DAY 1
Tiago Lobo 76 c.b
BEST NET DAY 1
Alister Barker 71
BEST GROSS DAY 2
Matthew Baxter 74
BEST NET DAY 2
Derek Fisher 69
NET DIVISION
3rd Fadi Azzam 144
2nd Jihad Azzam 143
1st Owen Gilbert 134
GROSS DIVISION
3rd Ben David 152 c.b
2nd Ryan Hunter 149
1st Christopher Rahm 147