The English legend explained that the trade came about because of an ongoing struggle to generate the required clubhead speed. She said: “The two iron was my favourite club so I was a bit disappointed when I decided to make the switch. I just felt my clubhead speed did not really come sufficiently enough, making it hard to get the ball on the proper flight path.

“It’s taken me a month to get used to the hybrid and I’m still not 100 percent comfortable with the new one but it’s getting there. You can hit it on the range all you like but you need to hit enough in tournament play to get really comfortable with any club – it’s a work but in progress but I think I’m just too old for a 2 iron now.” 

RELATED: Brilliant Bronte epitome of clutch as Dubai Moonlight Classic decided on final hole

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By Kent Gray
A group of female students and budding young golfers weaned unique golfing insights from some of the sport’s biggest international names during a special workshop arranged by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF).

Representing a mix of Dubai-based schools, the youngsters toured Emirates Golf Club and took part in tutorial sessions at Topgolf Dubai, led by English LET legend Dame Laura Davies, Solheim Cup-winning captain Catriona Matthew, and English star Bronte Law, to promote the sport among Emirati and Arab students.

Samir Wallani, coach of the UAE Golf National Team, was thrilled with the students’ response to the workshop. “First of all, we have to get more girls into the game. There is a lot of fun within this game but players need to master many aspects – the technical, mental and physical parts, which include ability and the strategy. The students got a lot out of these sessions with the generous and inspiring professionals.”

MORE: Thursday’s Dubai Moonlight Classic Daily News is FREE here

On the growth of the game among young Emiratis and Arab world youth, Wallani added: “When I started with the UAE national team in 2017 only a few girls were playing. Now, Emirates Golf Federation is doing a very good job bringing youngsters from schools to the golf course and giving them lessons, selecting the best and adding them to junior national development programme. From there, we find members for the UAE National Team.”

Davies welcomed the opportunity to spread the word about golf to the next generation of Emirati and Arab girl.: “First and foremost, it’s all about enjoying golf, that’s the main thing. It is important to find a level of fun and then if it gets serious, it is all about practice.”

Matthew agreed. “Coming here is great, I was just playing the Angry Birds game which is great fun when you’re young. It’s about keeping it fun; you don’t want to make it too serious. Make it fun to get the girls into the game and they will naturally want to take it further and maybe get a bit more serious…”

The post EGF next gen delight in Dubai Moonlight Classic inspiration appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The Jutanugarn sisters, Ariya and Moriya, will be joined by another high-flying Thai prodigy, Atthaya Thitikul, as the headline acts at the 15th Dubai Moonlight Classic later this month.

Legendary Dame Laura Davies, the now 57-year-old four-time major champion, and two-time Solheim Cup-winning captain Catriona Matthew, 52, were the other big names confirmed on Monday for the Oct. 27-29 Ladies European Tour Pro-Am to be played on The Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club.

After an 11-year association with Omega, the UAE’s only professional ladies event also has a new tournament partner with the €260,000 Dubai Moonlight Classic now “presented by EGA”. Emirates Global Aluminium is a long-time supporter of the Dubai Classics which are owned and organised by Falcon and Associates.

Ariya Jutanugarn, 25, is a former world No.1 and became the first golfer, male or female, from Thailand to win a major when she captured the 2016 Women’s British Open. She has since won the 2018 U.S. Open among her 12 LPGA Tour victories.

Moriya, 27, was LPGA Tour rookie-of-the-year in 2013 and has gone on to claim two titles on the world’s richest female tour, the most recent of which, the Dow Great Lakes Bay (teams) Invitational, was emotionally shared with her younger sister in July.

Thitikul is famous for becoming the youngest golfer ever to win a professional golf event when she won the LET’s Thailand Championship as an amateur on July 9, 2017, aged just 14 years, 4 months and 19 days.

David Cannon/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Atthaya Thitikul during the opening round of the AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie Golf Links on August 19, 2021 in Carnoustie, Scotland.

Now 18, Thitikul’s résumé boasts four LET wins and she is the current leader of the circuit’s season-long Race to Costa del Sol courtesy of victories in the Czech Ladies Open and Swiss Ladies Open and eight other top 10s in her 15 starts this season.

Thitikul is rated 28th in the latest Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, five places behind Ariya Jutanugarn and six spots ahead of 34th-ranked Moriya.

Davies, a seven-time LET Order of Merit winner and 20-time LPGA event champion, continues to compete at the highest level. She is 484th in the Rolex Rankings and finished 66th in both the Scottish and Women’s British Opens earlier this year. Matthew, meanwhile, is the first European captain to mastermind back-to-back Solheim Cup wins after orchestrating a thrilling 15-13 triumph at the Inverness Club in Ohio last month. She is 577th in the Rolex Rankings and has won six LET titles in a glittering career.

After Covid-19 safety precautions ensured the 2020 Dubai Moonlight Classic was played behind closed doors in a bio-secure bubble, the 2021 tournament will return with fans. However, there is a small tweak to the format with the Pro-Am portion of the event now limited to 18 holes after the amateurs contested the opening 36-holes last year.

“In addition to free entry for all, a collaboration with Truckers UAE is set to provide spectators with a variety of culinary delights from the city’s vibrant local F&B scene, while golf taster sessions run by the Peter Cowen Academy will be available for all age groups and abilities, providing family fun under the floodlights,” Falcon and Associates said in a media statement.   

They said it…

Laura Davies
“It is always a pleasure to return to Dubai; the players love to come here and tackle the Faldo. The weather and conditions are perfect for golf, and the atmosphere is always excellent. Playing under floodlights is something unique and it gives the event an attractive dimension for new fans.”

Catriona Matthew
“Dubai has always been a favourite destination for women’s golf and the city is a long-term supporter of the Ladies European Tour. Once again the strong field and the tournament will inspire more interest in the game with female audience – it would be great to see more young Arab girls playing the sport.”

Simon Corkill, Executive Tournament Director
“The Dubai Moonlight Classic is one of the most highly anticipated, inclusive events on Dubai’s social and sporting schedule.  We look forward to welcoming fans on Thursday and Friday to a celebration of world-class sport, food, and entertainment set against the stunning Dubai Marina backdrop.”     

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By Kent Gray
If you see an LET star having a little mid-round boogie or reaching for an ice-cream instead of a club over the next few days, do not adjust your television set. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Saudi Ladies Team International, serious tournament golf but not as we know it.

Thirty-six teams set out early Tuesday in a 54-hole, $500,000 teams event officially sanctioned by the LET. Teams will arrive on the first tee to their own choice of entrance music and tunes will be piped around Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. ‘Quiet Please’ signs? So yesterday.

It is a serious tournament, though not a word that Golf Saudi want used as a challenging year winds down.

Expect smiles for miles at Royal Greens.

“Everyone has experienced first-hand the impact of COVID-19 in 2020,” said Golf Saudi CEO, Majed Al Sorour. “Women’s golf has been no different, with many events cancelled over the course of the year.

RELATED: Ladies First: Why Saudi’s LET double-header is more than just an historic week of pro golf

“We see the Saudi Ladies Team International as the perfect antidote to that. It’s a fun, exciting, innovative format that celebrates the women’s game, supports women’s golf and we hope offers the players a fun conclusion to a stop-start, sometimes difficult year.”

The teams were decided using an ‘NFL-style’ draft system that saw each captain pick their first player before being randomly allocated a third professional teammate and a competing amateur, largely made up of event sponsors and partners.

 

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A post shared by Ladies European Tour (@letgolf)

Some of the stand-out picks include Amy Boulden selecting fellow Welsh star Chloe Williams which is all rather cosy as Chloe’s dad, Paul, doubles as Amy’s coach. Boulden did, however, admit that she had been left somewhat irked by England’s Florentyna Parker stealing her first choice pick, best pal Kelsey Macdonald of Scotland, earlier in the round – something bound to add extra spice to the event.

Dame Laura Davies’s pick was purely tactical as this LET tweet captures:

Dame @lauradaviesgolf on the tactical reason behind why she picked her long term Tour mate @LydiaHallGolf ?#SaudiLadiesTeamIntl | #RaiseOurGame pic.twitter.com/uouSF7J7Rf

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 16, 2020

Elsewhere, Maha Haddioui opted for fellow Moroccan Ines Laklalech, while Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou – the leading rookie on the LET – chose 16-year-old Pia Babnik for a team packed with youthful energy.

Warming up with music on the range ? @Fridagspang ? @georgiaoboh ? @manonderoey ?

#SaudiLadiesTeamIntl | #RaiseOurGame pic.twitter.com/Fo7K20rkO8

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 17, 2020

Charley Hull was another captain with the high-profile Englishwoman picking Dubai-based Scot Alison Muirhead.

Hull, who finished sixth in the weekend’s Saudi Ladies International, said: “I played with Alison last week and I thought she was pretty good. I played with her in Scotland in a practice round too and she was really nice, so it was an easy choice.

“It will feel different playing in a team event rather than as single players. It will be fun and help us relax a bit more. I’m looking forward to it.”

Muirhead added: “I’m really looking forward to the Saudi Ladies Team International, especially as I’ve got Charley in my team. I’m really excited to get started and feel we could do something as a team. We both have the game to do it and it’ll just be a matter of rolling in the putts and avoiding the bogeys.

“Playing as a team will be different because we’ll probably get off on each other’s energy, especially if you’re playing well and your playing partners are playing well.”

RELATED: Golf Saudi unveil sustainability strategy

Morgane Metraux flew round Royal Greens with nine birdies on Sunday, en route to a final round 67 that would secure her 10th spot in the SLI. That form and her swing caught the attention of Georgia Hall, the runner-up of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF. This partnership puts her in good stead for another strong showing this week.

“I’ve got a really good team so I’m looking forward to Tuesday. Georgia Hall picked me and we’re with Natasha Fear as well,” said Metraux.

“It’s really cool to have a different format like this where we’re also going to compete for an individual prize. To be playing in a team where you’re all counting towards the same score will mean we’re all pulling for each other, which will be different and a really fun atmosphere.”

And a fun atmosphere it promises to be. The rounds will be played with live music echoing across the course and, akin to WWE wrestling, teams will arrive on the first tee to their own choice of entrance music. Team Charley Hull have chosen ‘Eye of the Tiger’, while die-hard Liverpool FC fan Dame Laura Davies will bring a little bit of Anfield to Saudi with club anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

Each team will play three rounds, where their two lowest scores per hole are carded – with amateurs receiving ¾ of their official playing handicap.  The team with the lowest total score after all three days will be declared champions and will see its three professionals take home a winning share of the $300,000 prize fund. The lowest scoring professional across the three days – who may well come from a losing team – will themselves be rewarded with a share of the $200,000 individual prize fund.

Team Manon gets the inaugural #SaudiLadiesTeamIntl underway @manonderoey ?‍ @Ellie_Givens ?‍ @ItsLinetteH ?‍ #RaiseOurGame | @SaudiLadiesIntl pic.twitter.com/tO7JvuoLQS

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 17, 2020

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The four-time major champion, seven-time Ladies European Tour (LET) money-list winner and 12-time European Solheim Cup representative has been confirmed for $1 million Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund, and the $500,000 Saudi Ladies Team International later this month.

Two-time major-winner Anna Nordqvist, the Swede’s 19-year-old countrywoman Julia Engström – the 2018 LET Rookie of the Year and winner of two 2020 events already, sweet swinging Dutchwoman Anne van Dam and Wales’ Amy Boulden will also feature in the LET double-header alongside previously announced English pair Georgia Hall and Charley Hull.

Anna Nordqvist.

World Golf Hall Of Famer Davis is looking forward to the two chances to add to her 85 professional wins at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club but says something far more important will be at stake in King Abdullah Economic City from Nov. 12-19.

“The Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF will be quite the watershed moment that allows us to bring the sport we love to a whole new audience in a way that I think blazes a trail for women and sportswomen in and out of Saudi Arabia.

“We’re taking women’s golf to a new frontier, both in terms of inspiring new women to give the sport a try and in helping grow the Ladies European Tour event calendar, so it’s a tournament I’m really excited to play in – at what looks like a fabulous golf course.”

The post Dame Laura Davies excited to tee it up in Saudi’s trailblazing LET double-header appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With a swing speed three miles faster than the average PGA Tour player (116mph compared to 113mph) and an eye-popping competition best hit of 402 yards, long drive champion Troy Mullins is sure to be a huge drawcard in more ways than one at the Ladies European Tour’s (LET) $500,000 season-ender from Dec. 6-9.

At least that’s what Tournament Director David Spencer is banking on after granting the Californian her 72-hole pro event debut at Emirates Golf Club.

Spencer took plenty of heat for handing Paige Spiranac her pro debut at the then Dubai Ladies Masters in 2015 and repeating the sponsors’ invite visit last season. He unashamedly admits the social media audience that accompanies Spiranac everywhere was a key driver behind the decision, to the point where the American is returning to the emirate as official starter for the men at January’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Related: On the tee…Paige Spiranac

The key driver behind Mullins’ invite is the one the 5ft 8in American wields, and rather impressively so as this tweet highlights:

She did it!

Troy Mullins is the #MileHighShowdown Women’s Champion! #WorldLongDrive pic.twitter.com/TfM5OpFt7Y

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 26, 2017

Nicknamed the Trojan Goddess, Mullins only took up the game after attending Ivy League Cornell University when a hamstring injury curtailed her promising heptathlon career. Now she has genuine LPGA Tour ambitions.

Mullins won the 2017 Mile High Showdown, a World Long Drive event, in July with a 374 yard drive in the final and has a swing so sweet it has some of the game’s most critical analysts swooning, including Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Spencer is excited about what Mullins, who speaks four languages including Chinese, Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL), brings to the tournament. She will hold a clinic for spectators after play in the second round on Friday, Dec. 7.

“Troy caught our eye…we’ll we only started following long drive golf because she was on the Golf Channel and was being touted as having a perfect swing,” said Spencer.

“She’ll certainly be the longest player in the field but she’s also an accomplished golfer. We’ll she just how accomplished she is when she comes up against a professional field.”

Key Omega Dubai Ladies Classic signings (from top left clockwise): I.K. Kim, Susana Benavides, Klara Spilkova and Troy Mullins.

As well as unveiling Kim and Mullins, a new name to bring the LET event “into the ‘classic’ family”, and a “sister” trophy to match the Dallah (Arabic coffee pot) handed to Desert Classic men’s champion, Spencer also revealed 16 other name players.

They include Kim’s fellow LPGA players Suzanne Pettersen, Brittany Lincicome, Olafia Kristinsdottir, Mel Reid and reigning Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open champion Beth Allen.

Aditi Ashok, who sealed LET Rookie-of-the-Year honours with a share of third place at Emirates G.C. last December, also returns along with Rafa Cabrera Bello’s sister Emma, Dame Laura Davies, Amy Boulden, Carly Booth, Felicity Johnson, Olivia Cowan and Moroccan trailblazer Maha Haddioui.

New names include Kristinsdottir and Susana Benavides while Czech Olympian Klára Spilková returns.

Benavides is the only Bolivian-born golfer to ever play in an LPGA event and like Spiranac, will bring a strong social media audience with her to Dubai.

Being away from social media made me wanna come back ??er… #poorgreens #highheels #shooting #lpgadresscode #not

A post shared by Susana Benavides (@mumita_b) on Aug 29, 2017 at 6:41pm PDT

Spilková became the first Czech player to win a Ladies European Tour event with a one stroke victory over Pettersen at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco in April.

Photo courtesy LET
Klara Spilkova

Kristinsdottir brought forward double jaw surgery, a procedure that reportedly involved the addition of titanium plates to her nose and screws to her jaw, to correct an underbite just before becoming the first Icelander to play on the LPGA Tour. She is currently 82nd in the CME Rankings with one top-10 in her rookie year, a fourth placing at the Indy Women in Tech Championship Presented by Guggenheim.

Photo courtesy LPGA Tour Olafia Kristinsdottir

I.K. Kim, the highest ranked player in the field at No.8 in the latest Rolex Ranking, banished the haunting memory of missing a 14-inch putt to win the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship when he won the Women’s British Open at Kingsbarns

Related: In-Kyung Kim gets her major redemption with two-shot Women’s British Open victory

Englishwoman Sophie Lamb, who closed with a 69 at Kingsbarns to win low amateur honours, will is also a confirmed Majlis starter along with the 29-year-old South Korean.

The post Troy Mullins set to rip it past major champion I.K. Kim and co. in rebranded Omega Dubai Ladies “Classic” appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Spiranac will be hoping her golf game does more of the heavy lifting in that regard when she returns for a second tilt at the €500,000 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club (EGC) from December 7-10.

The Scottsdale, Arizona-based 23-year-old made her professional debut at the 10^th anniversary edition of the season-ending European Ladies Tour (ELT) event last year and more than justified her sponsors’ invite by sharing the experience – the highs and lows – with her one million plus social media followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

SEE ALSO:
Paige Spiranac and her crazy professional debut

But it is no secret Spiranac will want to up the fun factor inside the ropes next month after she missed the cut by eight strokes last December following rounds of 77-79 to finish +12 around EGC’s Majlis layout.

The American is making progress having captured her first professional victory on the Phoenix’s Cactus Tour earlier this year as well as making the cut in the Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.

“Playing Dubai last year was a great learning curve for me both inside and outside the ropes…I couldn’t have asked for a better place to come for my first tournament,” Spiranac said.

“Through it all, I had a great experience and I am looking forward to being a part of the event again.”

Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice chairman and CEO of golf in DUBAi, which organises the tournament, knows how important Spiranac’s social media footprint is to grow the game beyond traditional audiences. A trick-shot video shot during her time at San Diego State University went viral to suddenly thrust Spiranac into the global spotlight.

“Paige belongs to a new breed of social media-savvy players who represent the best hope to elevate the profile of women’s golf,” he said.

“They are genuinely talented, they are charismatic and have the ability to reach so many fans, so crucial to the success of a tournament. It’s good to see women’s golf open up to these players who are taking a very different path to the top.

“We look forward to welcoming back Paige and hope her presence will inspire youngsters, especially from our region, to take up sports [which is] so important for a healthy lifestyle.”

Spiranac, who took to golf after a vaulting accident cut short her gymnastics career when she was just 12, will join a star-studded field headlined by three-time defending champion Shanshan Feng, Dame Laura Davies and rising LPGA Tour star Cheyenne Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods.

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