Joy rattled off four birdies in his last six holes to fire a blemish free five-under 66 Tuesday and seize the early initiative from countrymen Lee Corfield and Jordan Loft and Sweden’s Henric Sturehed who carded 68s on a day when 20 players broke par.

Reigning MENA Tour order of merit champion Craig Hinton left himself with plenty of work to do after opening with an eight-over 79 to lie in a tie for 78th place. The Englishman dropped all the shots in his first 10 holes, including a triple-bogey on the par-3 7^th.

Of the other notables in the 137-strong field, 10-time tour winner Zane Scotland returned a 74 while fellow Englishman Danny Poulter, the elder brother of European Ryder Cup hero Ian, shot a 72. India’s Feroz Singh Garewal, who graduated via last week’s MENA Tour Q-school, fired a 71.

Joy was happy with his first day of work on the 2017 MENA Tour after the disappointment of missing an Asia Tour card earlier this year.

“I played very nicely today, solid off the tee and solid into the greens which made it a stress free day overall,” Joy said in his blog overnight.

“The course is fairly open off the tee but has some of the best greens we will see all year which makes it a fun course to play from the fairways. I tee off at 7.30am tomorrow [Morocco time] so will be taking every item of clothes I own out with me as I’m sure it’s going to be a chilly start to the day.”

Joy was paired with former England wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter who carded a 75 in his professional debut after safely negotiating last week’s Q-School, also in Morocco.

“He is always in good spirits,” Joy said of the former cricketer. “Now that he has earned his MENA Tour card for this season, I hope he will be a regular on the tour.”

Corfield, a four-time winner on the tour, mixed eight birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in a topsy-turvy 68 while Sturehed almost kept it clean, offsetting a bogey on the 7^th with four birdies in his last 11 holes.

“It was kind of an up-and-down round,” Corfield said. Made lots of birdies and bogeys. I may have left some shots out there, but can’t complain after opening with a 68,”

“There are plenty of scoring opportunities if you can drive the ball well off the tee and avoid bunkers. The greens are just excellent,” he said.

Dutchman Pierre Junior Verlaar carded a 72 to lead the amateur division, one shot ahead of Ayoub Saidi and two clear of Amine El Kharraz, also of Morocco.

Moroccans also made their presence felt in the MENA Division for the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation Award with Mustapha El Maouas hitting the front after signing for a one-under 70 as Younes El Hassani and Faycal Serghini shared second on level par.

The post Luke Joy fires opening 66 for two stroke Casablanca Open lead appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The former England wicketkeeper-batsman earned his MENA Tour card in Morocco last week in a giant step towards his lofty dream of becoming a European Tour regular.

He doesn’t have to wait long to face his first examination as a touring professional with the 29-year-old set to tee it up in the MENA Tour’s $40,000 season-opening Palmeraie Country Club Casablanca Open on Tuesday.

The 54-holer on the six-month old course comes after the South African-born Kieswetter tweeted his delight at successfully negotiating the Middle East and North Africa developmental Pro-Am tour’s qualifying school.

Living the dream, from one sport as a professional to another! Qualified for @MENAGolfTour 2017 – double ???? up pic.twitter.com/SiHPu4d0iy

— Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) March 11, 2017

He finished T31 at El Jadida Golf Club in Mazagan – the top 55 and ties earned MENA Tour cards for 2017 – but his 18-over-par total of 234 (77-82-75) shows he still has a way to go to achieve his dream of reaching the European Tour within two years.

Kieswetter was capped 71 times by England – 46 one day internationals and 25 T20 matches – between 2010 and 2013. He was named man of the match after scoring 63 off 49 deliveries in England’s victory over Australia in the World T20 Cup final in 2010 in Barbados but had his cricket career cut short after being struck by a bouncer playing a country match for Somerset in July 2014.

The delivery from Northamptonshire paceman David Willey squeezed through the grille of his helmet, breaking his nose and smashing his eye socket to “pieces”. Though he briefly attempted a comeback, his sight was permanently damaged and definitely no good at night where the white ball and the glare of floodlights proved uncomfortable bedfellows.

His face rebuilt with metal implants and his financial situation comfortable (among his entrepreneur father’s business interests is a distillery in Scotland), Kieswetter was encouraged to go on a golf break. In Florida he arranged for some lessons from David Leadbetter where his natural ability shone and a seed was planted.

Apparently chicks dig scars…?! #rocky pic.twitter.com/DcGBhp5unN

— Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) July 13, 2014

Kieswetter told The Telegraph recently that he is convinced he has the ability and, crucially, the time to make it in pro golf.

“I think at the beginning there was a bit of: who does he think he is?” he said. “Even now, every tournament I go to I’m introduced as the ex-England cricketer. It does frustrate me.

“But it was the same when I first played cricket. Then it was ‘here’s the lad from the affluent family’. That desire to prove people wrong was quite a big thing for me.”

KANDY, SRI LANKA – Craig Kieswetter of England celebrates catching out Kane Williamson of New Zealand during the ICC World Twenty20 2012. Photos by Getty Images

The Casablanca Open, which concludes Thursday, won’t be Kieswetter’s first MENA Tour start. He finished T31 on level par as an amateur in the inaugural Sahara Kuwait Championship last October.

Englishmen Benjamin David and Edward Holland and Scotland’s Daniel Hendry are others set to make their professional debuts at Palmeraie Country Club among a record MENA Tour field of 137 players, including 19 amateurs, from 25 countries. Scotland’s Grant Forrest and India’s Feroz Singh Garewal also graduated from Q-School alongside Kieswetter.

England’s Zane Scotland, awarded the first MENA Tour life-membership by tour patron and 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke at last month’s Dubai Desert Classic, will go in search of a record 11^th win.

Other notables in the field are 2016 moneylist winner Craig Hinton, fellow Englishman Lee Corfield, Andrew Marshall, Luke Joy, and Jake Shepherd – all multiple winners on the MENA Tour – 2014 order of merit champion Joshua White and Spanish swashbuckler Carlos Balmaseda.

The post Former England cricketer Craig Kieswetter poised for professional golf debut in Casablanca appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Scotsman (pictured second from left) won the tour’s Q-School by three strokes last week but will miss the US$40,000, 54-hole Casablanca Open which concludes at Palmeraie Country Club Thursday to attend his brother Paul’s stag-do in the United Kingdom.

Jack is expected to make his debut proper alongside Paul, a former MENA Tour winner, in next week’s Royal Golf Mohammedia Open, also in Casablanca, before teeing it up in the April 24-26 Ras Al Khaimah Classic at Tower Links, the third event of the season before a three-tournament Thailand swing.

Jack Doherty started the final round of Q-School at Royal Golf El Jadida two shots off the pace and recovered from two early bogeys to fire a three under-par 69 to finish on 216, even par.

He led a Scotland one-two with 2015 Walker Cup rep Grant Forrest carding a final round 73 to finish runner-up on +3, a shot ahead of a Spaniards Gabriel Canizares and Leonardo Axel Lilja Moyano and Englishman Paul Dwyer.

India’s Feroz Singh Garewal, who shared the 36-hole lead with Moyano, slipped into a tie of 10th on +7 after signing for a 78 while England’s Danny Poulter, the brother of Ryder Cupper Ian, finished in a three-way tie for 7^th on six-over 222, a stroke behind England’s Nicholas McCarthy.

Former England cricketer Craig Kieswetter, who has set himself the target of being a regular on the European Tour, birdied two of his last four holes for a closing 75 that left him in a share of 31st at 18 over.

Elsewhere, UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrekh finished in a tie for 53rd on 23 over after posting a final round 78 as the top 55 and ties from the final stage were awarded the MENA Tour cards for the 2017 season.

An initiative of the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation, the MENA Golf Tour was created in 2011 with the aim of developing golf in the region. It is affiliated to R&A and the Arab Golf Federation and enjoys Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) status.

Multiple European Tour starts, including the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the Hassan II Trophy and the Maybank Championship Malaysia in addition to full playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour and exemptions into the final stage of the Asian Tour Q-School for the leading three professionals are among the incentives for the MENA Tour members.

Pictured above (L to R) are the MENA Tour’s Robbie Williams, Q-School champion Jack Doherty, chief referee Abdelatif Elbachari and Royal Golf El Jadida manager Redouane Diab.

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The 19-year-old Chandigarh-based golfer, who turned professional in 2015, reeled off three birdies and a bogey to join Spain’s Leonardo Axel Lilja Moyano, who carded a level-par 72, atop the leaderboard on one over par 145.

England’s Billy Hemstock, Scotland’s Walker Cup winning star Grant Forrest and Sweden’s Henric Sturehed, who matched Garewal’s best score of the day, shared second, a further shot adrift, as Scot Jack Doherty occupied solo sixth on three over after carding a second-round 74.

Lilja Moyano produced one of the most eventful rounds of the day, playing his last 15 holes in four-under after a stumbling start that saw the Spaniard drop four shots in his first three holes.

Overnight joint leader Danny Poulter slipped into a tie for 11th on five over after signing for a 76 while former England cricketer Craig Kieswetter finished the day tied for 44th on 15 over after dropping eight shots, including a triple bogey on the par-4, 14th, in his last 11 holes en route to an indifferent 82.

Elsewhere, Ahmed Al Musharrekh also carded a mistake-laden 82 that left the UAE’s only professional sharing 53rd on 17 over on a day when only four players broke par.

The field was narrowed down to 72 players for the final 18-holes. The top 55 and ties will be eligible for Category-7 membership of the MENA Golf Tour for the 2017 season.

Multiple European Tour starts, including at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the Hassan II Trophy and the Maybank Championship Malaysia, in addition to full playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour and exemptions into the final stage of the Asian Tour Q-School for the leading three professionals, are among the incentives for the MENA Golf Tour members.

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