JEDDAH: Dutch golf star Anne van Dam joined Saudi Ladies International ‘Ladies First’ ambassador Mariam Fardous to explore Saudi Arabia’s coral reefs.
The Dutch athlete, who is taking part the Aramco Saudi Ladies International golf tournament, took time away from the tournament to see King Abdullah Economic City’s untouched coral reef.
‘I’ve heard Saudi Arabia has some of the best diving so I wanted to head out and see what the fuss was all about,” said five times Ladies European Tour winner van Dam - the longest driver on tour.
The 25-year-old, who is competing for $1million prize at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, was guided on her diving trip by Fardous, the first-ever Saudi woman to deep dive in the North Pole.
5-time @LETGolf @Annevandam is also a keen diver.
This week she took to the depths of the Red Sea with Mariam Fardous, the first Arab female diver and third female in the world to dive in the North Pole #SaudiLadiesIntl #LadiesFirst pic.twitter.com/SwS7IL2a72
— Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF (@SaudiLadiesIntl) November 12, 2020
“Saudi Arabia is full of beautiful places. So many of them are undiscovered yet with beautiful coral reefs,” said Mariam. “I was excited to take Anne and show her one of the most important spots to dive in King Abdullah Economic City”.
In addition to her diving exploits, the multi-talented Fardous is a qualified physician and devoted humanitarian who was honoured by several African pilgrimage missions for her services.
“It was great to be out with Mariam,” added Anne. “She’s such an inspirational person for her achievements diving in the North Pole. For her to take me out there was really special. Golf has bought me to many incredible places and so it’s nice to be here to experience this.”
The $1m Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF culminates on Sunday with the $500,000 Saudi Ladies Team International taking place Nov. 17 to 19. They are Saudi Arabia’s first ever ladies golf events.
To celebrate the historic nature of Saudi Arabia’s first women’s events, Golf Saudi has launched a world-first ‘Ladies First Club’, which will offer free golf to 1,000 women living across the Kingdom.
