Before we go into more detail and my final Ras Al Khaimah Championship tips, we always have new visitors to Golf Betting System as the golfing year kicks off. Welcome to you all and let me point you in the direction of our weekly Golf Betting System podcast (published every Tuesday of the golfing calendar), the Steve Bamford Golf Channel on YouTube and our hugely popular, 6,200-strong private Group on Facebook – you can Join Here.
Course Overview. Al Hamra Golf Club is this week’s venue and the Peter Harradine design stretches to 7,410 yards for its par of 72. Although new to the DP World Tour in 2022, Al Hamra hosted 3 events on the Challenge Tour between 2016-18 which form part of this week’s event stats and combined stats.
A regular 36/36 setup, the back 9 is longer than the front 9 and that makes the back 9 a tougher prospect with many of the best scoring opportunities coming in the first 8 holes. The Par-5s are all long without being excessively so at 576-607 yards; 3 sub-400 yard Par 4s also add to the scoring potential of a course that’s designed for the tourist trade primarily and allows for lots of birdies and eagles.
Set just off the coast of Ras al Khaimah, there’s definitely a coastal vibe about the track and the exposed fairways and desert surroundings are complimented by water hazards in the shape of lagoons on a number of holes for the errant. Paspalum grass has been used exclusively from tee to green.

Tournament Stats. We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s Ras al Khaimah Championship that will help to shape a view on players who traditionally play well at this event: Current Form | Course Form | First Round Leader Stats | Combined Current/Course Form | SG Stats.
Predictor Model. Our published Predictor Model is available here. As always you can build your own model using the variables available.
Course Winners:
- (DP World Tour). 2023: Daniel Gavins (-17), 200/1; 2022, Ryan Fox (-22), 60/1; Nicolai Hojgaard (-24), 35/1.
- (Challenge Tour). 2018, Adri Arnaus (-17); 2017, Jens Dantorp (-15); 2016, Jordan Smith (-20).
Weather Forecast. The latest weather forecast for Ras al Khaimah is here.
The event should enjoy mild (mid-70s) and dry conditions throughout the 4 days. An early forecast which suggested wind may be a factor has all but dissipated, with Saturday’s 10-15mph the breeziest that it’s forecast to get during tournament play..
Tournament Trends & Key Factors. Although there are no stats available for the Challenge Tour events held here at Al Hamra, we do at least have the two Ras al Khaimah Championships and the Ras al Khaimah Classic held here to study:
- (2023 Championship) Daniel Gavins. 302 yards (54th), 21.4% fairways (64th), 58.4% greens in regulation (49th), 70% scrambling (20th), 1.48 putts per GIR (1st).
- (2022 Classic) Ryan Fox. 324 yards (9th), 28.6% fairways (60th), 72.2% greens in regulation (6th), 60% scrambling (70th), 1.55 putts per GIR (4th).
- (2022 Championship) Nicolai Hojgaard. 332 yards (3rd), 23.2% fairways (72nd), 73.6% greens in regulation (7th), 68.4% scrambling (42nd), 1.63 putts per GIR (18th).
Length off the tee outweighed accuracy in 2022, with both winners seemingly bombing it where they liked and still putting themselves in position to hit greens and make birdies. Scrambling stats were generally high for the entire field, so bomb, gouge and putt would seem to be a viable route to success.
Daniel Gavins took a slightly different route to success 12 months ago – and a rather scenic route on the 72nd hole at that – with average drives 30 yards shorter than the previous two winners. Accuracy once again was of little significance with the Englishman’s putter proving to be a formidable weapon.
Strokes Gained: From a Strokes Gained perspective, the 2 winners here in 2022 compiled their scores in a very similar fashion, whereas Daniel Gavins relied heavily on his performance on and around the greens to eventually get over the line:
- Daniel Gavins. T: 64th; A: 20th; T2G: 25th; ATG: 3rd; P: 1st
- Ryan Fox. T: 26th; A: 2nd; T2G: 2nd; ATG: 22nd; P: 7th
- Nicolai Hojgaard. T: 1st; A: 2nd; T2G: 1st; ATG: 38th; P: 43rd
Key: T: SG Off the Tee; A; SG Approach; T2G: SG Tee to Green; ATG: SG Around the Green; P: SG Putting.
In 2022, both Fox and Hojgaard excelled from a SG Approach and SG Tee to Green perspective, with the Kiwi putting better than the Dane although he wasn’t so strong from off the tee.
A little further down the 2 leaderboards, SG Tee to Green is the most consistent statistic with Ross Fisher, who finished second to Ryan Fox, topping that stat in the Classic and strong ball-striker Jordan Smith finishing as Nicolai Hojgaard’s closest challenger the week before.
Looking at those who just failed to catch Daniel Gavins, SG Tee to Green once again sticks out with the next 9 players on the final leaderboard all ranking inside the top 16 on that count. As ever in this game, there’s always an exception to the rule.
Scoring Breakdown: Focussing on the same three players, we have the following breakdown in terms of their scoring:
- Daniel Gavins. Par-3: -4; Par-4: -2; Par-5: -11; 0 Eagles, 27 Birdies. 9 Bogeys/Worse.
- Ryan Fox. Par-3: -1; Par-4: -14; Par-5: -7; 0 Eagles, 30 Birdies. 8 Bogeys/Worse.
- Nicolai Hojgaard. Par-3: +1; Par-4: -10; Par-5: -15; 3 Eagles, 25 Birdies. 6 Bogeys/Worse.
Looking at 2022 first, a knee-jerk reaction looking at Nicolai Hojgaard’s 15-under total on the par-5s would be to assume that scoring on the long holes is the most critical factor, however he was an outlier in that respect with only 12 players hitting double-digits under par for the 5s. Haotong Li, Adrian Otaegui and Matthieu Pavon were each just 6-under for the long holes for their 3rd place finishes, so although you could argue that it was a decisive factor in actually winning the title, getting into contention wasn’t predicated on Par-5 scoring alone.
Ryan Fox’s win a week later backs this up, as the Kiwi was 8 shots worse on the long holes but excelled on the Par 4s, comfortably leading scoring on that statistic on the week, and perhaps on balance that’s the most likely path to success.
A slightly tougher renewal for scoring 12 months ago saw the par-5s feature as the most important holes, with Daniel Gavins co-leading that statistic at 11-under par and the leading 5 players averaging 10-under for the long holes. 27 birdies for Gavins once again underlines the requirement for birdie-making here.
Incoming Form. The incoming form of the 3 winners here at Al Hamra from the Challenge Tour days, plus the three winners at the DP World Tour level, suggests that some good recent form wouldn’t go amiss, as all five had recorded a top-8 finish in one of their last 9 starts:
- Daniel Gavins: 42/MC/MC/6/39/MC/MC/63/30/MC/MC/38
- Ryan Fox: 13/29/MC/63/15/54/24/4/MC/61/26/MC
- Nicolai Hojgaard: MC/21/17/1/20/14/MC/MC/2/4/MC/MC
- Adri Arnaus: 18/16/29/MC/13/11/2/30/9/48/4/18
- Jens Dantorp: 55/MC/34/62/49/22/48/5/15/8/MC/14
- Jordan Smith: 20/15/MC/DQ/21/9/6/4/15/2/MC/MC
As a 200/1 chance, Gavins’ form was probably the most tenuous although he had recorded a creditable 6th at the Dunhill Links in the autumn. 38th at the Dubai Desert Classic the previous week showed some promise though as he sat 11th after day 1 before dropping back.
Interestingly both of the 2022 winners here had missed their previous cut: Hojgaard had opened with a 77 the week before at The Emirates, meaning that an improved round of 72 on the Friday wasn’t enough to see him through to the weekend; Fox on the other hand shot 71/71 here at Al Hamra before finding his form on the same stretch of land a week later.
Our limited visits here have taught us that this resort course is very scoreable when conditions are tranquil, and the risk-reward nature of many of the key scoring holes means that fortune may well favour the brave. With little wind anticipated, I’m expecting another low-scoring affair this week where excellence in terms of SG Tee to Green, coupled with a compliant putter, should see the winner getting into the 20-under par region once again.
My selections are as follows: