A virus that has lingered since early January has made the 25-year-old German’s start to the new MENA Tour season a misery as he missed the cut in both Jordan and Ajman with respective 12 over totals. 

As such, Leitmannstetter understandably enters the third of the MENA Tour’s 10 events with subdued expectations although he does have pedigree at this week’s venue having finished runner-up to England’s Lee Corfield in 2015 and champion in 2016, the last time the $75,000 Ghala Golf Club Open was played.

He certainly won’t mind if his happy memories at the Oman oasis ends up giving him a shot at the US$13,500 winner’s cheque and the champion’s invite to the European Challenge Tour’s Andalucia– Costa del Sol Match Play (May 17-20).

“I love this golf course and I feel very comfortable here. I don’t know why, but the golf course seems to suit my eyes,” the Munich-born, Dubai-based Leitmannstetter said.

“It is a golf course where you have to be very smart with your golf. The wind can be a huge factor and the greens are very tricky. It is also a tight course. You need to know where to hit your shots, and more importantly, where to miss them.”

BITE-SIZE INTERVIEW
(With Aaron Leitmannstetter before the Ghala Golf Club Open)
He is the ‘defending champion’ here, having won when the Tour visited Muscat last in 2016 and runner-up in 2015.
Find out how he is feeling ahead of this week’s tournament…#HBFS #JourneyToJordan pic.twitter.com/BvLH6TE9l3

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) February 24, 2019

Thankfully Leitmannstetter is starting to feel brighter after struggling through the season-opening Journey to Jordan with rounds of 75-81 before scores of 76-80 at the Troon Series- Al Zorah Open.

“It all started at the beginning of the year and I picked up some virus that just kept lingering on,” said Leitmannstetter who is off at 9:30am in his opening round on Monday with Englishman Robbie Busher and Swede Oliver Jacobsson.

“I played the last two weeks on the MENA Tour but I was never 100 percent. There were days when I could play, and there were days when I just could not because of high fever and pain in the limbs.

“I decided to just sleep for two days after the tournament at Al Zorah Golf Club in Ajman. I must say I am feeling a lot better. I don’t have high expectations this week, and that could be a good thing.

“I changed my clubs to Wilson earlier this year and haven’t been able to put a lot of time in the range with them because of my illness. However, I can feel that my game is getting back in the groove.”

A noted name among the 114 starters this week is the former Abu Dhabi HSBC Champion Gary Stal. Dubai amateur Rayhan Thomas and Journey to Jordan-1 winner Matthew Baldwin are notable absentees but newly crowned Al Zorah Open champion Daniel Gaunt will tee it up at 11.20am in the company of Spain’s Leo Lilja and South African Teagan Moore.

There are 10 amateurs in the field including current order of merit leader Curtis Knipes (T-10 in Jordan and T-13 in Ajman) and Dubai-based 14-year-olds Josh Hill, Toby Bishop and Arjun Gupta. Hill has been the most successful of the “Three Musketeers” thus far, finishing T-32 at Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba and T-39 at Al Zorah last week. 

This is how @theMENATour makes a difference. The latest @WAGRank is out and our leading amateurs from the Journey To Jordan-1 have all made a big move. pic.twitter.com/cVUb672KZm

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) February 24, 2019

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