SA team triumphs at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic 2025

This past week saw myself and three amateurs from South Africa play in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic 2025 Pro am.

This is a bucket list for any golfer as the Emirates Golf Course played really challenging for the three days.

the rough was grown above 15cm and the greens were super fast to putt on.

Playing in the event and facing the intensity, the team prepared well in the lead-up to this.

Being separated from my team through the months, it was made sure we practised more time on the short game.

This helped us become more comfortable when needing to flag-hunt when we needed to.

The team managed to have a great start after two days and were tied fifth going into the third round.

The iconic holes at the Emirates Course are the 18th and ninth water holes.

I managed to secure a birdie on the 18th going for the green in two.

The South African team secured fourth place and gained entry to next year's event.

Whenever you find yourself in a huge lead-up to a big game, it’s important to do your preparation based on the course you are going to play.

Golf is a sport you need to start well from round one. Having that added knowledge helps in this situation.

Championship golf courses are not laid out to simply hit fairways and greens but more about position off the tee and then knowing where to land your approach on the greens to give you the easier putts.

I am proud of my South African team, made up of Donavan Govender, Brian Kannigadu and KZN player Rajen Sewgolum.

The hero Dubai desert classic is something you should definitely get to witness as a golfer. Catch you on the fairways!

– Sewgolum is PGA AA golf professional and a golf pro for Saudi Aramco. He was voted in the Top 5 of the International Golf PGA Pro 2022.