By Kent Gray
Promising youngsters come and go in golf, victims of a game with absolutely no guarantees, not even for the most talented of prodigies. Two things we do know for certain are that Mousa Shana’ah has serious game for a 13-year-old and won’t fade away for lack of opportunity on his own back doorstep.

It helps when your father runs a golf events company with bold ambitions for the junior game in the Middle East. Mousa is already a serial winner on the Junior Masters Open Tour organised by Abedallah Shana’ah and his father’s business partner, Ali Kalbat, the Managing Director and General Manager of Golf Events Management (GEM) respectively.

In December, Mousa will have a chance at yet more glory with GEM announcing a deal with the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) to host an annual ‘UAE World Amateur Junior Golf Championship’ at Al Hamra Golf Club. The event will be open to amateur boys and girls up to the age of 19 and will carry World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and Global Junior Golf Ranking (GJGR) points.

Mousa is set to be one of the star acts if his recent performances are any indication. They include junior course records at JA The Resort Golf Course (68) and, encouragingly, Al Hamra (71) earlier this year.

The Jordanian is coached by former European and Asian Tour player, Yasin Ali, at the Leadbetter Academy at JA the Resort. Like Abedallah Shana’ah, Ali is working hard to ensure young Mousa keeps on developing. From almost first glance, Ali knew he was witnessing something special, a player with an attitude and work ethic that belie his years.

“I watched him hit some shots and what struck me was how he approached his practice. There was a real purpose behind each shot and that stayed with me,” said the Kenyan-born Briton. “As I’ve gotten to spend more time with him I’ve noticed that he’s a little different to most kids I’ve met at his age.  You notice how mature and grounded he is. The thing I love is when I set him a practice drill or give him a challenge it’s like a mission for him, he doesn’t stop till he gets it done, he doesn’t quit. That’s a great quality.”

Ali describes Mousa’s swing as “beautiful” in its simplicity. “It’s repeatable which is great.” But that’s only half the picture. “In terms of his mental game, he has a very positive outlook and a fantastic temperament which is essential for good golf.

Young contenders: 1) Mirwais Arghandiwal; 2) Fatiya Khalil; 3) Abdullah Kalbat; 4) Kate Bibby; 5) Hashem Shana’ah; 6) Lili Brecken; 7) Salwa Khalil

“For me his strengths are his temperament and his driving. When he’s out on the course, you’d be hard-pressed to figure how he’s doing as he keeps his emotions in check, he’s calm and collected. He drives the ball well and is pretty straight which naturally keeps him in play and with a chance to score.

“What do we need to improve? We need to gain some speed to hit it further, which will also increase as he develops and grows physically, and short game. For me, your short game can never be good enough. You can always hole more putts and chips.”

Ali says a 50-50 practice and competition balance is about right for juniors. He says juniors in the UAE are especially lucky to train on pristine practice surfaces and play and world-class courses.

So where does Mousa go from here?

“The short term goal would be to improve his game from a 150 yards and in. Medium goal, I would love for him to experience college golf in the United States as I did. Getting an education while playing golf is a win-win for me. Long term, it would for him to be happy and love the process of learning irrespective of the results. If he can maintain the same passion for learning and improving he’ll be more than successful where ever he plays.”

In this COVID-complicated world, the immediate playing opportunities will be at home. Luckily GEM is taking care of this as Kalbat points out.

“This competition will offer the best young golfers in the region a chance to compete against their counterparts from across the world, and we will be sure to market this event to the entire region, positioning it to become one of the biggest events in the world,” Kalbat said.

“We are so proud that we are the first national company to establish an event of this high standing within the region, in cooperation with our main partners, RAKTDA and Al Hamra Golf Club. The main goal of this event is to introduce youth to the professional golfing environment, help serious players to compete in high class ranked events with their counterparts from all the world, and lead juniors to the path of professional golf.”

The post Mousa Shana’ah sets sights on new ‘world championship’ set for Al Hamra appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The Middle East’s burgeoning Junior Masters Open Tour has received a significant boost with the  U.S. Kids Golf Foundation adding Dubai to its international schedule.

The U.S. Kids Dubai Open, to be played in April, is set to attract players from across the region and offers the opportunity to earn ‘Priority Status’, which is necessary to qualify for the  U.S. Kids World Championship. Held each July at Pinehurst, more than 2000 players from around the world compete at the world event.

The Dubai Open will be played over two days and will be open to boys and girls aged six to 18 years old, all playing from different yardages appropriate to their age group divisions.

U.S Kids Golf hosts more than 1600 tournaments in 60 countries annually, enabling juniors to learn to compete at local level with the lure of qualifying for international events.

Dubai joins the American company’s calendar of international events in Scotland, Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, India and South Africa.

“We are so proud about this cooperation with the biggest golf body for kids in the world,” said Abedallah Shana’ah, Managing Director of Golf Events Management, owners of the Junior Masters Open Tour.

“To bring them to our region will take junior golf to a new era, we are also very happy to bring to Dubai the biggest and the best golf experiences ….the Dubai Open will be one of the major tournaments for juniors and will qualify the juniors for other big U.S. Kids tournaments all over the world”.

U.S. Kids spokeswoman Lola Geerts, responsible for tournament development in Europe, Africa and United Arab Emirates, is equally enthusiastic.

“The Dubai Open will be the first U.S. Kids Golf International Tournament in the United Arab Emirates and the region and will attract many players from all over the World. It will be a yearly appointment and will be the pinnacle event of U.S. Kids Golf in this part of the world.”

U.S. Kids Golf was formed in 1996 as a solution to the problem its founder, Dan Van Horn, experienced when trying to get his children, then 5 and 8, into golf. The former golf professional and engineer began developing Ultralight kids clubs, which were designed to be 25 per cent lighter than adult and most junior clubs. In 2000, U.S. Kids added two new initiatives to help juniors on the journey to a lifetime in golf: Tournaments and Play & Learn.

“The vision of families spending time together outdoors and playing golf is  U.S. Kids Golf’s true passion, and many people throughout the golf industry have joined in the effort of giving kids and families the lifelong game of golf,” U.S. Kids said in a statement.

“This competition will offer the best young golfers in the region a chance to compete against their counterparts from across the world, and we will market this event in the entire region and the world to become one of the biggest anywhere,” Ali Kalbat, of Golf Events Management, continued.

Dean Cheesley, CEO of eGolf Megastore, the Middle East distributor for U.S. Kids Golf, has welcomed the development.

“After so many years it’s a sheer delight to finally have the U.S. Kids Golf Junior Tour arrive to the Middle East. U.S. Kids Golf tournaments have been the starting ground for so many of today’s top players on the LPGA and PGA Tours and the arrival of the world junior qualifiers to the region can only assist junior golf development in the Middle East.

“The events are well structured, professionally run and most importantly for the juniors, a lot of fun”.

The post Dubai juniors event added to U.S. Kids Golf Foundation international schedule appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.