Othman Almulla continues to blaze a trail for Saudi golfers

NEWCASTLE: In his own small way, Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla is like Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong, who were the first to conquer Mount Everest and walk on the moon, respectively.

The 37-year-old from Dhahran has gone where no Saudi has been before. He is the first professional golfer from his country, and perhaps feels the same excitement and trepidations that Hillary and Armstrong must have felt decades ago as they stepped into unchartered territory.

Unlike the two legends, whose adrenaline would have peaked at the completion of their conquest, Almulla says he has been on a never-ending journey ever since that balmy afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 30, 2019, when he stepped onto the first tee of the Royal Green Golf & Country Club in the company of South African legend Ernie Els and England’s Andy Sullivan.

At exactly 12:45, he somehow controlled the millions of butterflies fluttering in his stomach, tipped his cap to the hundreds of fans and family in the crowd and sent the golf ball soaring toward the atmosphere.

Life has never been the same again. His responsibilities have only been accentuated by the ambitions of Saudi Arabia in the world of golf, and the fact that there are youngsters who are now following in his footsteps. Almulla has been an exceptional brand ambassador for Saudi Golf, and a mentor to Saud Al-Sharief and Faisal Salhab, who joined the professional ranks earlier this year.

All three are part of this week’s Asian Tour’s International Series England, just one of the many incredible opportunities given to the threesome by Saudi Golf.

Almulla, Salhab and Al-Sharief are like a band of brothers on the Tour, and the senior player in the trio takes great pride in the role he is playing in the journeys of the other two.

“The idea of becoming a professional in the Kingdom was so far-fetched at the time that most people actually thought it was like landing on the moon. And I’m taking the same joy and delight in seeing Faisal and Saud this year realizing the same dreams that I had,” said Almulla.

“They are going through similar planning phase and learning, the same tough lessons I had to learn. Just to be able to share my experiences and making their transition to professional life a little softer landing — just to go back to the moon metaphor — has been such a delight, such a privilege.

“I’ve been very lucky to have some very supportive people in my journey. And just as I’ve had people to guide and advise me, it’s my responsibility to give back. I’ve always felt like we’re one big family. It’s been familial friendship and it’s just like welcoming my brothers to do something I’m doing. To have three of us doing this, when we do not have that many golfers in our country, it’s something special.

“Don’t get me wrong. I also get a lot out of this relationship too. We have great camaraderie when on the road, and we can lean on each other when times are bad. We support each other when times are good. Yes, it’s a responsibility, but it’s something I do happily, and I will continue to do.”

Like Hillary, Othman has always had lofty ambitions. He wants to stand on the summit of professional golf and unfurl the Saudi flag.

“I have no doubt that with the support we are getting from Saudi Golf and from the Ministry of Sport, we will have a winner on the Asian Tour in the next few years. We are incredibly lucky that our journeys have been cut down by 40 to 50 years. Countries (with) 100-year legacies of golf, struggle to have players on tour like this and International Series events like this,” said Almulla.

“Here, and in St. Andrews next week, I think the aim for all of us is to make the cut, and then making a deep run in the weekend. We’d like to be in the top-60 of the Order of Merit on the Asian Tour soon. But those are the big, long-term goals. We are more focused at the moment on smaller goals, smaller targets from a statistics perspective, on how we want to play each week. How can we keep on improving with every outing? We are getting used to different challenges, like the weather this week. We hardly play in such cold climate and rainy conditions.”

The Almullas welcomed their first child, Ibrahim, into the world seven weeks ago, and fatherhood has been a new motivation.

“It’s been amazing. A golfer’s life is very difficult. We’re on the road for many weeks and the families have to bear the brunt a lot. I have an amazing wife and family supporting me, and to be a dad is surreal,” said Almulla.

“My life’s changed. Now, as much as I want to make my parents proud, I also want to make my son proud. I’m going to be a good role model for him and kind of show how to carry himself and how to treat people with respect and be a good person. That’s all fathers should expect from their son.”

The $2-million International Series England runs from Aug. 17 to 20 at Close House in Newcastle.