Lifestyle

Teeing off for Charity - 26 years of American Mission Hospital Golf Tournament

by: BTM - Tue, 07 Oct 2025

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The AMH Island Classic Annual Charity Golf Tournament will be held for three days during October 30 to November 1, at His Majesty’s Private Golf Course in Saffriya.

“We thank our kind patron, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, whose continuous support and generosity enabled us to reach not only a silver jubilee milestone last year, but into this 26th year now,” says Dr. George Cheriyan, AMH Corporate CEO and Chief Medical Officer.

This golf tournament, which is now an important fixture in Bahrain’s sporting calendar, was first started in 1997 as a fundraiser, when the American Mission Hospital’s work and growth necessitated the construction of a new building in Manama, and the purchase of advanced medical and surgical equipment.

AMH Island Classic Charity Golf Tournament Bahrain
Flashback: In 1997, when His Majesty King Hamad, then Crown Prince, was meeting the organisers of the 1st Island Classic Golf Tournament. Seen, from left to right, are Dr Paul Armerding, then CMO of AMH, with Michael Langton and Salman Abbasi.

As a not-for-profit healthcare establishment, serving Bahrain since 1902, the hospital has no investors or shareholders who put in capital or who seek dividends from its operations. Hence, the support for the hospital’s infrastructure upgrades, and for its numerous community-outreach programs, often comes from events such as these.

“Over 200 community outreach projects were conducted in just 2023 and 2024 alone, which included free health check-ups, medical camps, health awareness talks, fee-waivers, some full and some partial for the poor,” says Dr. Cheriyan.

“We also offer free consultancies and partially-paid treatments to assist the less-privileged members of the society, who are in need of financial support. Our Zwemer Clinic in Manama also helps such patients who cannot pay huge consultancy fees,” he adds.

The inaugural event in 1997 was organised by AMH in association with the American Association of Bahrain. Within three years of its organising, it had helped in the construction of a new building and also of an overhead bridge across a busy Isa al Kabeer Road in Manama. It enabled the connecting of two hospital buildings on either sides of the road.

Charity golf event supporting healthcare in Bahrain
Tournaments like these help sustain the operations of hospital without burdening the patients, with high bills, said a hospital spokesperson.

The Island Classic golf tournament is played under the Florida Scramble format. There are two flights, Championship and Premiership, which allows various skill levels of golfers to participate.