It’s with great pride we congratulate the Socar Cape team on winning the 2017 Azerbaijan Open! With Azeri golfers featuring in the award ceremonies this past weekend we are delighted to announce our 2017 champions - Tofiq Afandizada, Elman Rzayev, Nicolas Young and Steven Black. It was the final day team performance that ensured victory when they amassed a massive 101pts in the Betterball Stableford format. Added to their Day One combined score of 124pts the team won by a 4 point margin on 225pts. The team will enjoy travel to the UAE with Air Arabia to play the newly opened Jack Nicklaus designed Al Zorah golf course in Ajman before staying at the Hilton Al Hamra Beach resort. The final day will include 18 holes at the luxurious Al Hamra Golf Club, host to the Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge Tour event.
The visiting team of Baurzhan Bissembayev, Baurzhan Sarkytbayev, Yerbolot Ospanov, Mukan Sagindykov from Kazakstan were runners up with Day One scores of 136pts & Day 2 85pts, total 221pts. They will enjoy an Abu Dhabi golf experience playing at the National Golf Club host to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship & Saadiyat Beach Golf Club whilst staying at the Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort and Spa. Dreamland Golf Club members Robert O’Donoghue, Craig Elliott, Sean Harrison and David Bray will enjoy a Dubai Golf experience winning a round at Dubai Creek Golf Course followed by a game on the famous Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club host of the Dubai Desert Classic after taking third place with a combined 219pts made up of 135pts & 84pts.
Summarising the weekend of Golf at Dreamland Golf Club Baku, General Manager Phil Jones “It’s been a fantastic competition with players from 19 different nationalities battling it out over the past two days for the 2017 Azerbaijan Open title. The spirit of the players and the visiting teams has created some memorable moments which will ensure the event grows in status every year. More pleasing was to see, so many Azeri golfers feature on stage collecting prizes this weekend, the appetite for golf is growing fast. As a new golf country, Azerbaijan is an exciting destination so to have the support from sponsors such as Air Arabia help us promote ourselves to a wider tourist market encouraging golfers to visit”.
“Air Arabia is proud to be a sponsor for the 2017 Azerbaijan Open, commented Kostyantyn Kurylo Manager for Azerbaijan. With flights from Sharjah (UAE) to Baku we are keen to have fellow golfers travel from the UAE to play the Dreamland Golf Course and enjoy the hospitality of Baku. In partnership with Millennium Tours & Air Arabia Holidays we now offer holiday packages which include flights accommodation and golf at this world class venue”. Al Hamra Golf Club Head, Andrew Matthews “We look forward to hosting the winning team at Al Hamra resort in Ras Al Khaimah, the course is in excellent condition and the weather is perfect as we start the season in the UAE".
In summing up the event, Dreamland Development CEO Bahadir Yeltekin “It’s our second year of hosting this tournament which is profiling Azerbaijan as an emerging golfing country. We are very proud of our DYE Design course which forms the heart of our newly launched residential community of luxury villas and apartments. We are confident that events such as this generate a lot of interest in the country for leisure and recreational purposes, we are looking forward to hosting next year’s tournament”
