In the final round of the Abu Dhabi Challenge I shot a two under par 70 to finish tied 15th and tied leading Scot with Michael Stewart on 10 under par.

Three birdies by the 12th tee and just one bogey in today’s round, on hole 16th, saw a grand total of 19 birdies in the four tournament rounds for me in addition to seven more in the Pro-Am on Wednesday.

Five bogeys and two doubles, both on hole five, in total during the week, will give me something to work on – us Pros are never satisfied, even when we play well or even win.

My four tournament rounds this week were: 69, 67, 72 and 70. I won €3,678.25 and move into the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings at number 99.

All about opportunities

My take-away from my week on the Challenge Tour is that there are a lot of excellent players out here playing a high standard of golf. There is not much difference between the Challenge Tour and the DP World Tour. Some guys just need an opportunity to get on the DP World Tour and if and when they do – they will stay there. Life is all about opportunities – in all walks of life.

Congratulations to this week’s winner Ricardo Gouveia from Portugal. He shot a final round 66 to go along with his opening round of 71 and two more 66’s in rounds two and three. That is impressive golf in anyone’s language. Ricardo is 31 years-old, and also in the mix were Tom Lewis 32 years-old, 30 year-old Brandon Stone, Stuart Manley aged 44, Steven Brown 35 years-old and Christopher Mivis aged 34 – all of them in the top 15 this week along with a 48 year-old Scot. This just shows that golf is for all ages at all levels – even at the elite level.

It was nice to see fellow Pro James Allan hosting a Junior Golf Clinic for the golf club on the range on Friday evening, with Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s Director of Instruction Kieren Pratt, on the sidelines of this week’s tournament. As you all know I have a passion for Junior Golf and I applaud such initiatives – I just think all the golf Tours around the world could do even more to support Junior Golf at tournament venues with a bit more planning and thought.

This does not quite sound right but I hope NOT to be back here in Abu Dhabi next year with the Challenge Tour! I hope to return to the DP World Tour getting ready for some Senior Golf as I turn 50 years of age on 1st November, 2024. It is just 551 days away. I am not wishing to get older any quicker, but I am excited with my golf and what lies ahead for me - and anyway who is counting?

I look forward to seeing Abu Dhabi Golf Club hosting the 2023 World Amateur Golf Championships later in the year: the Eisenhower Trophy and the Espirito Santo Trophy. Congratulations to all in the UAE for being invited to host, by the International Golf Federation (IGF). They are huge global events, the top events for Amateur golfers anywhere in the world. I proudly represented Great Britain and Ireland in 1994 at Le Golf National, Paris in France, where we rubbed shoulders with the Team winners from the US, including Tiger Woods.

Thank you again to Abu Dhabi and to all the organisers and supporters of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Challenge and to GULF NEWS for allowing me to share my Daily Diary. It has been fun! See you all soon and good golfing to all my friends in the UAE.

Stephen Gallacher - is a 48 year-old Scot, has won four times on the DP World Tour, including both the 2013 and 2014 Dubai Desert Classic