Race to Korea heats up: Only eight qualifying rounds left to secure a spot
Organizers from Sport2Business recently made the exciting announcement, signalling the closing moments of a thrilling season.
Since its kickoff in April 2025, the event has featured 17 intense qualifying rounds at some of the UAE's top golf courses. Now, as the competition heats up, players are looking ahead to the final stages, where the top contenders will face off for the ultimate prize.
The top performers from each divisional round will move on to the UAE National Final, set for Saturday, May 17, 2025, at the stunning Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa. The winners of the divisions at this prestigious event will earn the incredible honor of representing the UAE at the World Amateur Golfers Championship (WAGC) Final on Jeju Island, South Korea, in late October and early November 2025.
This prestigious world final will welcome participants from around 47 countries, adding to the excitement and prestige of the competition.
Fantastic First Half
Russell Yeomans, Tournament Director for Sport2Business, the promoter of the UAE's Race to Korea and sanctioned by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF), shared his excitement about the season so far:
"We've had a fantastic first half of the season in this year's Race to Korea, and we're now gearing up for the final rounds. The remaining eight fixtures are open for registration on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage all eligible golfers to sign up quickly," Yeomans said.
"As we approach the business end of the season, we urge all golfers with an Official EGF Handicap to take part in this exciting event. It's more than just a competition—there's a very special prize awaiting the winners of each division."
The competition is open to EGF members, both from EGF clubs and EGF Direct members. To enter, players must be 18 years of age or older, with a maximum handicap of 25.
For more details and to secure your spot, visit: www.racetokorea.golfgenius.com
Remaining Qualifying Fixtures
The clock is ticking, and golfers still have a chance to compete in the remaining eight qualifying rounds:
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The National
7 days ago
- The National
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Picture this: you've just narrowly lost a gruelling three-hour tennis match, in difficult conditions, in the final of one of the biggest tournaments in the world. Someone then announces your name and hands you a microphone to give a runner-up speech in front of thousands of fans in a packed stadium, and potentially millions more following live on television. You're still in your match gear, exhausted, sweating, and trying to process how you let a match of this magnitude slip through your fingers. But there's no time to process – there's a microphone in your hand and you're expected to set your emotions aside, and be gracious in defeat. In most sports, you lose a final, you get off court and take some time to yourself before you address the media in a mixed zone or a press conference. In tennis, you do that too, but you must first put on your bravest face and publicly address your opponent and the crowd in a manner that doesn't paint you as a so-called 'sore loser'. Sometimes it's easy to go through the motions, say the right thing, take some photos with the person who just beat you, and disappear through the stadium tunnels. Other times, it can be very hard. Either way, the post-loss speech is standard in tennis and it's one of the many things that make the sport so unique. Last Thursday, we got to see both sides of the coin during the trophy ceremonies of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal and the ATP Masters 1000 event in Toronto. In Montreal, former world No 1 Naomi Osaka fell to Canadian teen sensation Victoria Mboko from one set up in the final. The Japanese star kept things short during her runner-up speech. She said she didn't want to take up too much time, thanked everyone involved in the tournament and relinquished the microphone. She opted out of her mandatory post-final press conference and later apologised on social media for forgetting to congratulate Mboko in her speech. 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Tennis fans online drew comparisons between the speeches, and criticised Osaka for not acknowledging Mboko in her short remarks. Former world No 1 Andy Roddick came to Osaka's defence in the latest episode of his podcast Served. 'I would rather her be friendly with Vicky Mboko all the time than grandstand in front of a microphone. So I don't know that either is true, but Naomi's generally well-liked, polite, everyone likes her. And she doesn't give a lot sometimes when she's not ready to give a lot. And that's fine,' said Roddick. He noted how tough it can be to be courteous and give credit where it's due during those runner-up speeches before adding: 'If Michael Jordan did that, they would be like, 'Oh, he's such a competitor, he can't get over it'.' Roddick is not wrong. There can be a double standard when it comes to reactions to such incidents but even if there weren't, is it fair to demand grace from an athlete in a heated moment of defeat? Even someone as revered as Roger Federer has had public moments of saltiness in the past – remember his post-semi-final press conference at the 2011 US Open? The Swiss squandered a two-sets-to-love lead against Novak Djokovic that day and held two match points before he fell in five. Federer, to put it simply, was very, very mad. Which, frankly, was understandable. Instead of asking sports stars to be gracious in defeat, shouldn't the ask be for them to just be authentically themselves? Yes, sportsmanship comes front and centre in a sport like tennis, but the backlash that comes after a moment of poor sportsmanship or a lapse in judgment so often outweighs the incident itself. When Aryna Sabalenka didn't give credit to Coco Gauff after she lost to her in the French Open final, and said the American would have likely lost had she faced Iga Swiatek in the championship match, Gauff chose to take the high road because she didn't want to pile on her opponent, who faced heavy criticism online and in the media. 'I'm not someone to hold a grudge. I was talking to my circle about it. I was like, if she apologises, like, not even publicly, it was just more so privately, I will be fine, and we'll move on,' said Gauff. Sabalenka did apologise, both publicly and privately, and said she learnt her lesson. They buried the hatchet three weeks later at Wimbledon and filmed a Tik Tok dance together to prove to fans it was all water under the bridge. 'I did what I did. I get what I deserve, I believe,' Sabalenka told reporters at Wimbledon. 'I was overly emotional and I was completely wrong. 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Holger Rune, who blew a two-sets-to-love lead in a first-round defeat to Nicolas Jarry, boldly claimed after the match that 'If I play normal, I'm beating him nine out of 10 times, with all respect for Nicolas Jarry. Obviously today didn't make it a lot easier with my knee, but yeah, it was not great'. Jarry, who is 1-1 head-to-head lifetime against Rune, did not appreciate such comments and dismissed the notion that saying the right thing in the heat of the moment is a difficult endeavour. 'You have to be smart enough to at least answer some questions. You don't have to involve too much in the answer, but it's just questions and it's just a match and I think we're old enough to at least tell a decent answer,' Jarry told The National at the All England Club. 'I think you can be very emotional, that's perfect. Even I, I've cried many times, but you still have to remember that it's just a match and that you're old enough to control what goes out of your mouth.' 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