American professional golfer Madey wins King Hamad Trophy

TDT | Manama                                                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Cole Madey from the US was yesterday crowned champion of the 15th King Hamad Trophy golf championship, which wrapped up after three days of play at The Royal Golf Club (RGC) at Riffa Views.

Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority president and Bahrain Olympic Committee chief His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa attended yesterday’s closing ceremony and awards presentation.

HH Shaikh Khalid presented the King Hamad Trophy to Madey along with other prizes.

Madey clinched his maiden title in the Kingdom after carding a final round score of fourunder-par 68 to end the 54-hole event with a gross total of 12-under 204.

He finished three strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Plumb from Great Britain, while day two leader Gary King had a disappointing last day and was classified a further shot behind.

Madey was atop the leaderboard after the first day but lost his advantage to King before bouncing back yesterday.

With his triumph, Madey not only came away with the glittering King Hamad Trophy, but also earned an invitation to the inaugural Bahrain Championship on the 2024 DP World Tour, set to be played in early February.

Madey will get to compete alongside some of the world’s biggest names in the game of golf.

His final round yesterday included seven birdies and three bogeys, and it was enough to give him the crown.

Plumb maintained his consistent form by playing his third straight round of 69 to finish nine-under-par 207, while King had a one-over 73 yesterday to finish at eight-under-par 208.

Saud Al Sharif of Saudi Arabia finished fourth overall and he carded the best score of the day. Al Sharif played a six-under 66 to go seven-below-par on a 209 gross.

In tied-fifth were defending champion Tom Sloman and fellow-Briton Joshua White, both on six-under 210 totals, while tied-seventh were Robbie Busher and Russell Chrystie, both from Great Britain, on four-under-par 212 scores.

Classified ninth overall and finishing as the leading amateur was Dahmane Soufiane from Morocco with a three-under-par 213 total, while tied-10th were Ssouadi Ayoub, also of Morocco, and Briton Benjamin David on two-under 214 scores.

Ahmed Al Zayed finished as the top-ranked Bahraini player in tied-29th with a three-overpar three-day total of 219. He was the Kingdom’s only player to make the cut for yesterday’s concluding round of action.

With his victory, Madey joined the list of King Hamad Trophy champions—one that includes Sloman, Luke Joy, Ahmed Marjan, Andrew Marshall, Graham Spring, David Park, Yasin Ali, Jamie Elson and Rayhan Thomas.

The main sponsor of this year’s King Hamad Trophy was Batelco. The gold sponsors were Alba, Foulath, Khaleeji and Nass Corporation; while the silver sponsors were Bahrain Economic Development Board, BBK, GPIC and Kuwait Finance House.