By Kent Gray
Plans to bring the MENA Tour’s cosmopolitan membership together to finish the postponed 2020 season at a single venue in a luxury, compound-style bubble are well advanced, Golf Digest Middle East has learned.

MENA Tour by Arena commissioner David Spencer has confirmed the regional developmental circuit is looking to play the five remaining events in a six-week stretch between mid-October and late November at Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba, the tour’s destination partner.

The proposal is subject to the approval of “all the necessary regulatory authorities” and any travel restrictions in place at the time but Spencer believes it will be well supported by an international cast of players desperate for playing opportunities amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Those players would be extremely well looked if the bold plan succeeds with the wider Ayla Oasis resort set to become a luxury, all necessities-covered camp for players.

“We are looking at the complete package that would leave the professionals with literally nothing else to focus on than playing golf tournaments,” Spencer said.

“We are talking about food and beverage, laundry, medical support, etc. We’d also need to look at something like a beach club, sailing or the like because we won’t be playing every day for six weeks.”

Jordan is currently in lockdown with Spencer saying the MENA Tour is “looking at a quarantine package” if the strict travel /health restrictions remained in place come October.

David Spencer

“We are really taking a deep dive but that’s part of our job and that’s to come up with realistic opportunities for our members. Ayla is so spectacular, we think the players will like the idea of staying in one place,” Spencer said.

“I think the days of a travelling sports circus are… a long time to come [return] for golf.”

That is a thinly veiled pointer to the challenges facing the European Tour, which has postponed or cancelled events to mid-July and given no timeline for a possible return to action despite the PGA Tour having locked in a mid-June restart. However, chief executive Keith Pelley has told his members a “radically different” European Tour could be kick-started with multiple events at one venue, much like the MENA Tour model, in what is one of a number of recovery options being considered.

The MENA Tour is believed to be the first Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR)-sanctioned circuit to suspend its season as the enormity of the pandemic was slowly becoming evident around the world, a March 5 decision for which the it tour’s leadership had “coped a lot of flak”, according to Spencer. However, the MENA Tour’s Australian commissioner was concerned players could become locked down somewhere in the Middle East if the organisation hadn’t of taken the early stance.

The tour’s ‘Journey to Jordan’ campaign was postponed after the confusingly entitled Journey to Jordan #2 Championship, won by Scotsman Ryan Lumsden, concluded on March 4. It was the second of three events scheduled to be played at Ayla, including the $100,000 Arena Tour Championship, which was due to have concluded today, April 23.

Events in Abu Dhabi, at Tower Links in Ras Al Khaimah and a Northern Emirates Open, to be jointly hosted at Al Hamra in RAK and Al Zorah in Ajman, were also locked into the schedule but now the season looks likely to be played out solely in Aqaba.

Ayla G.C.

Further details of the proposed Ayla encampment, such as prize money and the outcome of season-long rewards including invites to events on bigger tours that are a huge lure to fledging young professionals, are expected to become clearer in coming weeks.

The MENA Tour has long secured spots for its best performers at European Tour events including the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic but the seismic economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic has now put the very survival of a number of tours, notably the Challenge and European Senior (Staysure) Tours, into sharp focus.     

Spencer said he was indebted to the on-going support of Arena, the MENA Tour’s title sponsor, and Ayla despite their income streams being “decimated” like so many others in the sports/entertainment industry.

The post MENA Tour eyeing luxury, six-week Aqaba encampment to finish postponed Journey to Jordan season appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

How do you set up Greg Norman’s new, 7512 yard, par-72 layout on the shores of the Red Sea so it is an equitable challenge for the diverse field of 123 players, made up of 40 members of each tour and one leading amateur from the mens, ladies’ and over-50s’ games?

Representatives from the three co-sanctioning tours believe they solved the set-up conundrum after a recent site visit to the Aqaba resort.

Simon Higginbottom, a Staysure Tour and Challenge Tour Tournament Director, admitted the inaugural Jordan event presents  “some challenges regarding course set up.”

“With its design emphasis on proper playing angles, strategy and firm ground conditions, the course at Ayla is well suited to the mixed format and will, with our carefully managed tee and pin positions, provide all three categories of player with the ability to score well,” Higginbottom said.

Davide Lantos, the LET’s Director of Tournament Operations, concurs, and knows the set-up is critical for the April 4-6 event. Careful attention was paid not only to the length of the course facing each competitor but the angles of play as well, ensuring, where possible, bunkers and water hazards have an equal impact.

Related: Unique trophy for trailblazing Jordan Mixed Open unveiled

“The Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla, which will be played in the cradle of modern civilisation, is a great opportunity to showcase all that is great about women’s golf,’ he said

“In a world that is beginning to recognise the importance of gender equality, this unique format and event could not have been better timed.

“The real challenge for us is in preparing the course and in ensuring the correct format of play so that our male and female professionals can compete on the same course with the same chance to score well. We are sure that this will be a challenging but enjoyable tournament for players and an exciting and engaging event for spectators.”

Chris White, Director of Operations at the Ayla Oasis Development Company, cannot wait for April.

“Both representatives from the Tours gave very positive feedback on our projected vision for the golf course set-up and we are confident that we will be able to establish a format which encourages exciting play and will see all players given an equal chance of being crowned our inaugural champion.”

The post Organisers confident of level playing field for ‘world first’ mixed gender event in Jordan appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.