While professional Joshua Grenville-Wood was booming 405-yard drives and “flicking” 170-yard wedge shots and Miguel Angel Jimenez’s son made a hole-in-one, it was the Dubai amateur who stole the headlines again in Aqaba

By Kent Gray
MENA Tour pin-up boy Josh Hill is at it again.

The 15-year-old took advantage of unusually benign conditions early on Tuesday then showed his class as a strange wind whipped across Ayla Golf Club to grab a share of the first-round lead at the $100,000 Journey To Jordan Tour Championship.

Professionals Joshua Grenville-Wood (England) and Gabriel Axell (Sweden) later matched Hills opening 66 but it was the Trump International Golf Club Dubai amateur’s six-under circuit that inevitably grabbed the early headlines.

Hill, who became the youngest winner of an OWGR-sanctioned event and the MENA Tour by Arena’s fourth amateur champion when he captured the Al Ain Open by Arena last month, was in the second group out and enjoyed the abnormality calm conditions for his opening four holes.

RELATED: Meet the MENA Tour’s new Boy Wonder

He was still only one under through four after birdieing the par-5 1st and gave it back with a three-putt bogey on the par-3 6th. But the England Boys’ representative then kicked into gear with five birdies in his next eight holes before another gain on 17 to set the early clubhouse target.

The breeze picked up by the time Hill reached the 5th tee but it helped the unfamiliar wind direction made three of Ayla G.C.s four par-5s play downwind.

“I was lucky with the wind for the first four holes and then it picked up. It was strong and from a different direction. But I played pretty solid and kept hitting some very good iron shots,” said Hill who has been nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

“Most of my birdies were from inside 10 feet. Just that three-putt on 6th was the only bad part of a good day.”

RELATED: Prodigy Power – The Driver swing that helped Josh Hill wow the golfing world

Hill outscored playing partners Curtis Knipes (73) and Jack Floydd (75) by seven and nine shots respectively, a huge boost in his bid to overtake Knipes atop the amateur Journey to Jordan standings and grab the rich reward of a start in January’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.

Arjun Gupta, who trains alongside Hill on the Claude Harmon 3 Performance Golf Academy range at The Els Club Dubai, held second place in the amateur leaderboard after a one-under 71 for a share of 21st place.

Grenville-Wood ht one drive 405 yards!
Photo: Joy Chakravarty/MENA Tour

Grenville-Wood, meanwhile, took full advantage of the par-5s playing downwind, hitting massive tee shots and flicking wedges in for two eagles – on the 9th and 13th – on a bogey-free day. And Axell, who lost in a play-off at the recent Ras Al Khaimah Open by Arena, continued his good form in a round that featured a hole-out with his second shot from 90 yards for an eagle on the par-4 15th hole, mixed with five birdies and a solitary bogey.

Sweden’s Henric Sturehed, the 2017 Tour Championship winner, and the Yas Links Abu Dhabi-attached Englishman Luke Joy, a two-time MENA Tour winner, were tied for the fourth place at 67.

Grenville-Wood, who is hoping to better his second-place finish in Bahrain earlier this year, said: “It felt like a completely new golf course in that wind but what it also did was make the par-5s a lot easier. I hit a wedge second shot from 170 yards on the ninth, and then my drive went 405 yards on the 13th.”

Gabriel Axell. (Photo: Joy Chakravarty/MENA Tour)

Axell is clearly making the most of his decision to travel to Aqaba a week in advance to escape the freezing temperatures back home in Sweden and get some practice with some sun on his back. 

“I am really surprised that I have managed to play well despite the break after the Ras Al Khaimah Open. I went back to Sweden and it was like -4 and -5 degrees. So, I came here early with a couple of my Swedish mates and practiced for a week. That seems to have definitely helped,” said Axell.

South Africa’s MG Keyser, the Journey to Jordan professional leader, started with a three-under 69 to be in tied seventh place. His closest rival, Australia’s Daniel Gaunt, opened with an even-par 72.

Miguel Angel Jimenez Junior, son of the legendary Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, made a hole-in-one – his first in competitive play – when he aced the par-3 2nd from 194 yards with a 6-iron. The Senior Jimenez has a penchant of making aces and holds the European Tour record with 11.

The post Josh Hill, still just 15, nabs share of early Journey To Jordan Tour Championship lead appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Williams’ runaway victory at the $100,000 Journey to Jordan-2 Championship on Wednesday was indeed Tiger-esque. Not only did the Peterborough player close out his final round 66 at Ayla Golf Club with five successive birdies to become just the third amateur to win on the regional Pro-Am circuit, he equalled the tour record for the biggest winning margin in a 54-hole event, set by Matthew Baldwin in the season-opening Journey to Jordan-1 event.

With rounds of 68-66-66, the Junior Ryder Cup rep gapped another English amateur, Jack Floydd, by eight shots to become the 20th player to win wire-to-wire and the 25th to win with three sub 70 scores. It was the first amateur one-two in MENA Tour history while Williams’ -16 aggregate of 200 was just three strokes outside the tour’s 54-hole record score – 197 established by MG Keyser at the Dubai Open in early March.

Just remember that name!

T.I.G.E.R.

Amateur Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams is our Journey To Jordan-2 champion. pic.twitter.com/F5MzeD3N9K

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 2, 2019

For the record, Keyser finished tied third at Ayla with Australian professional Daniel Gaunt. Keyser leapfrogged from third to the top of the season-long Journey to Jordan standings with the $15, 061 he and Gaunt each banked. The South African now has $39,531 in season earnings heading into the $75,000 Abu Dhabi Open by Arena starting Monday (Oct. 7-9), $5,235 ahead of now second-placed Gaunt.

In what was a memorable week for the amateurs, Curtis Knipes finished T-5, albeit 10 strokes adrift of Williams. Frustratingly for Knipes who has played six events, he has surrendered his lead atop the amateur Journey to Jordan standings to Williams who earned 18,000 points – it would have been a cheque for $18,000 if he were a professional – for his victory. Floydd is second on 15,802 points with Knipes down to third on 11,522.

Dubai-based English teen Josh Hill, who missed the cut at Ayla, is fourth but a distant 13,988 points adrift of Williams. Arjun Gupta was the best of the “Three Musketeers” – Hill, Gupta and Toby Bishop – in Ayla, finishing T-31 on four-over-par alongside Jordanian amateur Shergo Al Kurdi. Bishop also missed the 36-hole cut.

But the story of the week was clearly Williams who is set to soar from his current position of 100th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). His previous best was 75th. The teen is also set to enter the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) for the first time.

Currently without any @OWGRltd points, @IAmRobinTiger wins three precious points for his @theMENATour triumph. He should be checking in around the 1,250th place when the new rankings are released next Monday.#HigerBetterFasterStronger pic.twitter.com/jnYUC5EQZU

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 2, 2019

The post Amateur Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams wins (by a record-equalling eight strokes) in dream MENA Tour debut appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams will take a one-stroke lead into the penultimate round of the Journey to Jordan-2 event after headlining a day for the amateurs as the MENA Tour season resumed after a six-month summer hiatus on Monday.

The South African-born, Peterborough-based England age-group representative fired a 68 at Ayla Golf Club in his first MENA Tour round. The four-under circuit of the Aqaba layout saw the 18-year-old edge a group of five players on 69 for the overnight lead, including Order-of-Merit (OOM) contender Daniel Gaunt (Australia) and fellow English amateur Jack Floydd.

His name is Robin Williams.

Everyone calls him ‘Tiger’.

But can he be England’s next @JustinRose99?

South Africa-born England amateur @IAmRobinTiger leading Journey To Jordan 2 in Aqaba after a -4 first round!#HarderBetterFastefStronger pic.twitter.com/uR36BQiDGU

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 1, 2019

Amateur OOM leader Curtis Knipes shares seventh-place on 71 alongside Miguel Jimenez Jnr, the son of the European Tour legend, and Dubai-based South African MG Keyser who needs a top-five finish to leapfrog from third in the ‘Journey to Jordan’ OOM race to first.

Jordanian Shergo Al Kurdi had the honour of hitting the tournament’s opening tee shot and 71 strokes later had signed for a 72 and a share of 11th to continue the red-letter day for the amateurs.

Arjun Gupta was the best of the Dubai-based amateurs with a 75, three shots better than Josh Hill (78) while Toby Bishop carded a 79.

Williams, currently rated 100 in the official World Amateur Golf Ranking, has been as low as 76. The Peterborough Milton Golf Club member, who was born in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, shares the same middle as Tiger Woods but was not named after the late comedian Robin Williams as he is frequently asked.

In September 2017, at age 16 and one week, Williams emulated Rory McIlroy by making his debut in a professional event at the same age and tournament, the British Masters, as the Northern Irishman. He played in last year’s Junior Ryder Cup. 

The post Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams’ is off to a flyer in his MENA Tour debut as amateurs shine in Jordan appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
As if things weren’t bad enough for Matthew Baldwin’s rivals at the MENA Tour season opener in Jordan.

A superb six-under 66 Sunday, in winds reaching up to 25mph no less, will see the 32-year-old Englishman take a five shot buffer into Monday’s final round at the $100,000 ‘Journey to Jordan-1’ event in Aqaba. After a 65 to open the 54-hole championship, just three days after sweeping the regional development tour’s category B Q-School, it seems everyone else is playing for second place behind Baldwin.

That’s deflating enough on its own but throw the MENA Tour’s latest announcement into the mix and it’s downright depressing. The winner at Ayla Golf Club this week will earn an invite to the Challenge Tour’s Challenge de España from May 2-5. Baldwin will be a deserving recipient but the thing is, he already has Challenge Tour status after losing his European Tour card last season. Some folk have earn all the luck.    

It’s not all bad news for the best of the rest in Jordan even if Baldwin is in complete control on -13, 131, five clear of a quartet of players in second place overnight: Scotland’s Conor O’Neil (69), Dutchman Maarten Bosch (68), English amateur Jack Floydd (69) and Belgian Christopher Mivis (68).

Presuming Baldwin doesn’t inexplicably stumble on Monday, there’s always next week, and the three weeks after that with the MENA Tour securing a total of five invites to second-tier European Challenge Tour events for the five winners of their new ‘spring swing’ events in Jordan, Ajman, Oman, Dubai and Bahrain.

We are pleased to announce that the champion of this week’s Journey To Jordan-1 at @AylaOasis Golf Club will be going to the Challenge de España (May 2-5)!

Stay tuned as we reveal the other invites soon.#JourneyToJordan #HBFS pic.twitter.com/6HpwdNKYYo

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) February 10, 2019

It’s another major coup for the revamped regional Pro-Am circuit which, in addition to a combined purse of US$825,000 across 10 events, had previously secured European, Challenge and Asian Tour invites for the top five players on the official Order of Merit (OOM) following the completion Royal Golf Bahrain Open on March 14.

RELATED: Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s eldest son earns MENA Tour card

The OOM leader after Bahrain will tee it up in the European Tour’s Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur from March 21-24. Second place earns an invite to the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco from April 25-29, third a start in the new Jordan Mixed Open back at Ayla G.C. from April 4-6 while the fourth and fifth players will be headed to the Asian Tour’s Indonesian Masters (July 4-7) and Indonesian Open (Aug. 15-18) respectively.

With those carrots, you can’t blame Baldwin for his inspired play thus far. He’s a combined 25 under-par through five rounds on the Greg Norman-designed layout in the space of eight days.

The Englishman opened his second round with an eagle on the par-5 1st Sunday before rattling off a further five birdies after starting from the 10th tee. His only bogey came on the par-5 17th hole.

“On the 1st, I hit my two-iron second shot to seven feet and made that for an eagle. I then got on a good run – hit it to about 12 feet on the 6th and holed it, then to 15 feet on the 7th  and holed it and to about 20 feet on the 8th and holed that too,” he said.

“It was really good today. I hit it a lot better than I did yesterday… I hit it close and I putted well.

“Five shots is a handy lead but I will just try to play golf tomorrow. If somebody comes from behind and catches me, then well played to him.”

BITE-SIZED INTERVIEW
(After 2d round of Journey To Jordan-1)

It was business as usual for @mattbaldwin26 at @AylaOasis Golf Club course as the 25-30 mph wind hardly seems to have affected him.

He spoke after taking a massive five-shot going into the final round…#HBFS pic.twitter.com/6UTZLUkq98

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) February 10, 2019

Floydd is the leading amateur at -8, 136, followed by his compatriots Curtis Knipes (70, 138) and Dubai-based 14-year-old Josh Hill (74, 142).

Jordan 15-year-old Shergo Al Kurdi did not have the best of second round and dropped down to two-over par following a 77. He will however still feature on Monday as the MENA Tour allows the top-10 amateurs to play on the final day in an effort to grow their experience.

English amateur Jack Floydd has been impressive in Aqaba.

Like Baldwin, 22-year-old Floydd started with an eagle on the 1st and was four-under through four holes with birdies on the 3rd and 4th..

“The conditions were difficult out there and I just tried to control my ball flight,” said the James Madison University alumni.

“I am pretty used to the wind growing up on links courses, but also I have been here for almost two weeks and seen the course a lot and have got used to the wind.”

The cut was applied at one-over 145 and 56 professionals made it to the final round. Among those to miss out were 10-time MENA Tour winner Zane Scotland – annoyingly by a single stroke after rounds of 71-75.

LEADING SCORES (After Round 2 of Journey To Jordan-1, par 72):
131 – Matthew Baldwin (ENG) 65-66
136 – Conor O’Neil (SCO) 67-69, Maarten Bosch (NED) 68-68, Jack Floydd (ENG-Am) 67-69, Christopher Mivis (BEL) 68-68
137 – Robert Dinwiddie (ENG) 67-70, Seve Benson (ENG) 67-70, James Allan (ENG) 69-68
138 – Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 69-69, Curtis Knipes (ENG-Am) 68-70, Gustaf Kocken (SWE) 69-69, Antoine Schwartz (FRA) 68-70
139 – Craig Ross (SCO) 70-69, Jamie Rutherford (ENG) 67-72, Jamie Elson (ENG) 70-69, Benjamin David (ENG) 66-73, Erik Jonasson (SWE) 69-70
140 – Dominic Foos (GER) 68-72, Daniel Owen (ENG) 71-69, Kevin Esteve (AND) 69-71, Pavan Sagoo (ENG) 66-74, Joe Heraty (ENG) 68-72,
141 – Gary Boyd (ENG) 68-73, Oscar Henningsson (SWE) 70-71, Clemens Prader (AUT) 70-71, Louis Campbell (ENG) 68-73, Scott Henry (SCO) 71-70
142 – Josh Hill (ENG-Am) 68-74, Todd Clements (ENG) 73-69, Simon Dunn (SCO) 72-70, Tom Shadbolt (ENG) 71-71, Paul Dwyer (ENG) 71-71, Constantin Schwierz (GER) 69-73,
143 – Jack McDonald (SCO) 71-72, Pierre Junior Verlaar (NED) 71-72, Robbie Busher (ENG) 70-73, Jonathan Thomson (ENG) 69-74, Lucas Vacarisas (ESP) 70-73.

The post Brilliant Baldwin on the cusp of maiden MENA win and a Challenge Tour invite he doesn’t really need appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.