The Challenge Tour has shown another sign of its growth in  popularity as it signed an agreement with Arena Group until 2025.

The deal will see will see the global events solutions business become an Official Sponsor the Challenge Tour’s UAE swing — the UAE Challenge and the Abu Dhabi Challenge.

This partnership further cements Arena’s long-standing relationship with golf, where it provides event infrastructure to some of the sport’s biggest tournaments. The company is committed to giving back to the game and partners with a number of professional players including DP World Tour’s Ryan Fox.

“Golf has been a cornerstone of Arena’s business for many years, and we’re delighted to further our commitment by becoming a partner of the Challenge Tour” said Paul Berger, Chief Executive Officer of Arena Group.

“The Challenge Tour is highly competitive and gives a platform to the next generation of professional golfers, and Arena is thrilled to support the development of these future stars.

“At Arena we remain committed to supporting the golf industry, its tournaments and players as the game continues to grow throughout the world.”

Jamie Hodges, Challenge Tour Director, added: “We’re delighted that Arena are choosing to invest in the Challenge Tour, and the new UAE swing in particular, for three seasons. With this partnership, we can further elevate these two events as we continue to grow our schedule and give talented players from around the world a strong and competitive pathway to the DP World Tour.”

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It capped a brilliant 66 on Sunday in the UAE capital as the Portuguese took a massive step towards securing a DP World Tour playing card in 2024.

Gouveia, who started the day four shots off the lead, climbed into contention with a chip-in eagle on the eighth hole before birdieing the 17th and eagling the last to get to 19-under for the week and secure a sixth Challenge Tour title.

It was a topsy-turvy day, with five different players in the lead at one point, but it was Gouveia who emerged on the top of the pile, finishing two shots ahead of England’s Tom Lewis, Dubai resident Joshua Grenville-Wood, South African Wilco Nienaber and Spaniard Ivan Cantero Gutierrez, who shared second on 17-under.

Gouveia, who topped the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2015, was pleased to rediscover his form in Abu Dhabi.

“It was a crazy day.” he said. “I didn’t feel like I brought my best game off the tee, but I managed myself really well. I knew the pins were going to be tucked away and my strategy was really good. I holed some nice putts and I’m so happy to finish on top.

“I tried to focus on finishing the round strong because in golf you never know what can happen. It was a special way to finish, and I’m delighted right now.”

The 31-year-old, who will tee it up at the UAE Challenge next week at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, admits his experience of winning Challenge Tour events in the past helped him get over the line.

“I have done a lot of mental preparation recently and I have managed my nerves a lot better,” he said. “I have been using the pressure as fuel coming down the stretch.

“I had a good pre-season, and I knew my game was heading in the right direction. I didn’t start the season great, but I had five weeks of very good preparation for this event, and I felt ready to compete at the top of the leaderboard again. I’m going to play next week on the Challenge Tour and after this win I have gained so much confidence.”

Gouveia catapults to ninth place on the Road to Mallorca Rankings with 328 points. Frenchman Ugo Coussaud maintains his position at the top of the Rankings with 689 points, with South African JJ Senekal staying in second place with 446 and Swede Adam Blomme remaining in third with 409 points.

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A host of the UAE’s homegrown players are set to feature in one of the strongest Challenge Tour fields in recent history when the Abu Dhabi Challenge gets under way on Thursday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Nineteen former DP World Tour winners with a combined 46 top tier wins between them will tee it up this week, including Stephen Gallacher, David Howell and Alvaro Quiros.

They will go head-to-head with the UAE’s No.1 golfer Ahmad Skaik, several members of the UAE National Team and a number of UAE residents.

“That’s the beauty of the Challenge Tour, it gives local players the chance to rub shoulders with the latest crop coming through,” said Gallacher, two-time winner of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, who is looking to regain his full playing privileges on the DP World Tour after losing his card last season.

“It can give them a bit of hope and the impetuous to work as hard as they can to try and get out on the circuit. This is obviously a stepping stone to get onto the DP World Tour, so hopefully this event can give them that drive to work hard and emulate what we are doing.”

The Abu Dhabi Challenge is the seventh tournament on this year’s global 2023 Road to Mallorca schedule, which features a record overall prize fund and a minimum of 29 tournaments, staged across three continents in 18 different countries.

Ugo Coussaud currently leads the way in the Rankings after picking up his first Challenge Tour title last month at The Challenge in Bangalore, India.

“It feels good to be here, the weather is great and the course is in good condition with a perfect layout,” said the Frenchman.

“The game feels good right now, let’s see what happens over the next two weeks.”

The return of the Challenge Tour to the UAE for the first time since 2018 is part of the long-term partnership between the European Tour group and Emirates Golf Federation, where 30 spots have been allocated to the EGF to provide a pathway for both Emirati golfers and residents of the UAE.

Leading the way for the UAE will be Skaik, who has competed in numerous events on the DP World Tour schedule in recent years.

The Emirati comes into the tournament full of confidence after returning from a long-term injury lay-off to successfully defend the Presidents Cup at this week’s host venue in March.

“I’m very excited, the game is looking good.” said Skaik, who begins his first round at 8.05am alongside Coussaud and Casey Jarvis.

“The likes of Ugo are the guys I want to be playing with on a regular basis, so I can learn from them and take my game to the next level. It’s an honour to be paired with him, I’ll be watching him closely while I’m out there the first two rounds and learning as much as I can.”

Joining Skaik in the field will be his brother Mohammad, as well as fellow UAE Nationals Khalfa Al Masaood, Rashid Al Jassmy, Rashed Al Emadi, Rashed Al Naqbi and the UAE’s first ever professional golfer Ahmed Al Musharrekh.

In addition to this, a number of UAE residents will also be competing against the global stars of the future including local golf coach Louis Gaughan, who will be making his Challenge Tour debut.

The Scotsman, who resides in Abu Dhabi, won the Emirates PGA Championship last week to secure his place in the Abu Dhabi Challenge and he is now looking to take full advantage of the opportunity.

“It’s amazing, I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s the first time I’d have played in such a big event. I’ve got no expectations. I’d normally be at work, teaching golf, so to be out playing is a nice change.”

Entry from tomorrow until Sunday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club is free of charge, with no ticket required.

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That impressive stable of champions is led by Alvaro Quiros with seven DP World Tour wins, including victories at the 2011 Hero Dubai Desert Classic and 2011 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. David Howell, who also lifted the Dallah Trophy in 1999, is a five-time DP World Tour winner, while Matteo Manassero, the youngest winner in DP World Tour history, has four victories to his name alongside Gallacher.

Also teeing it up in the capital will be Brandon Stone and Mikael Lundberg, who have three DP World Tour titles apiece.

“I was having a look at the entry list the other day and I was surprised by how good the standard was this week,” said Gallacher, who will captain the European Junior Ryder Cup Team in Rome later this year. “It’s getting tougher these days, we’re all getting a bit older and young guys are coming through so it’s a really good field.”

After 26 successive seasons and more than 600 appearances on the DP World Tour, Gallacher lost his full playing privileges last season after failing to finish inside the top 117 of the Race to Dubai Rankings. During that impressive stint, the Scotsman enjoyed plenty of success in the UAE, becoming the first, and only, man to win the Hero Dubai Desert Classic back-to-back in 2013-2014, while also featuring regularly at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, a Rolex Series event.

Since the inaugural tournament in 2006, Gallacher has played the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on 16 occasions with 15 of those starts coming at this week’s host venue.  “It’s a totally different atmosphere here this week compared to what I’m used to on the DP World Tour,” said Gallacher, who finished in a share of eighth at the 2015 edition. “I’m quite pleased the event is here as I did a bit of TV work for the first time at the start of the year at the Hero Cup. I walked the course and was able to see how different it was without stands — it’s totally different on the eye.

“It’s going to be a great event on a fantastic golf course, one I’ve really enjoyed playing over the years. It’s one of those places where the wind gets up and can be a little tricky, but I think that suits the way I play the game which is nice.”

The Abu Dhabi Challenge will precede the UAE Challenge (May 4-7) which is being held at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. The two events are part of the European Tour group’s long-term partnership with the EGF, which aims to develop golf in the UAE for at least the next decade.

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