It is safe to say the past three months have been a bit of a learning curve for us all. My last event was on the MENA Tour in Jordan. At the time I was excited about returning back to Abu Dhabi and the prospect of playing events in the UAE before heading to the UK for a full summer schedule. That all ended abruptly when I received an email on March 4, after the final round in Jordan, stating the MENA Tour had decided to postpone the five remaining events until the pandemic had calmed down. Cue the domino effect. Within a week all other tours had followed suit and it left me and fellow professionals in absolute limbo. I still believe it was the correct decision, 100 percent, but that doesn’t change the fact it has left my future up in the air.

The true impact coronavirus will have on the game, the economy and our day to day lives is still emerging even now. For myself and others working towards the bigger tours, the financial implications are huge. We don’t have an option of being furloughed. We are in a 100 percent commission-based, performance-based business and you still have to cover all expenses for that opportunity to play and earn.

Our way of earning money was cut overnight. When tours don’t pay us the prize money earned, which unfortunately has been the case this time around, it leaves us in a very poor financial situation from which I’m sure some players won’t recover. As we have got further down the road and more information has come to light, the worst news was that of [European Tour] Q- School being cancelled this year. To have the opportunity to progress taken away was probably the biggest hit while in quarantine.

That’s what my team and I have been striving towards for the past six months. Another year on the mini-tours is going to be a tough battle and probably not just financially.

Struggle St.

Lockdown has been a mixed bag of emotions. The first day was actually nice as I got to slow down for once, rest and enjoy a socially acceptable sofa day. Day two was pretty similar. I bought some airflow golf balls, set up a net in the lounge – which consisted of a bathroom towel hung over a stretching pole – and started practising. After 15 minutes, I was already getting sick of being stuck 17 floors up and, as I gazed out the window, realised my practice was pretty pointless. I started longing for some grass to play from. My wife, Lauren, wasn’t overly impressed with the amount of abuse her new rug was getting either so golf inside ended after all of a week.

After a few days of feeling sorry for myself, I was determined to be in a better mood. I started to look for part-time/temp jobs so put a CV together and decided I would finally use that business management and insurance degree I earned in the United States. After looking at the job market for a few days, my mood didn’t improve. It became clear that finding work here in the UAE, or anywhere for that matter, was going to prove very difficult as more people were losing jobs than finding them.

Fortunately, Lauren has been a rock star. After recovering from surgery in December and getting back to full health, she has been able to work from home over Zoom to cover us. If I didn’t have her by my side, like many others in this crisis, I would be faced with the horrible decision to leave this beautiful place we call home.

If this time away from the game has taught me anything, is that I don’t do well doing nothing. I need a routine.

It started to take its toll after only a few days. When the highlight of your day is walking to the supermarket, sweating in a face mask, you realise you’re not in a good place mentally. The cascade of thoughts, of the unknown, was literally crippling me. Each day I would wake up with what felt like little to no purpose. To think it was only a few weeks prior that I was in contention to win a golf tournament in Jordan. It was crazy how quickly life had changed.

During lockdown, I wanted to make sure I didn’t waste the time off. Sitting down and being lazy is just not my personality. I wanted to make the best of a bad situation and I can say I’ve definitely kept myself busy. When Yas Links was shut I took the time to recap some stuff from university and I’m currently halfway through a financial analyst course online. I just completed a month-long mindfulness course (randomly interesting), have been learning to cook (some meals more successfully than others), started making Granola (random) and have come to terms with my mild coffee addiction.

My enthusiasm for indoor practice didn’t last long. Nor would have Lauren’s new rug if I’d carried on.

Lockdown Upside

It’s been a few months of learning, an opportunity to do things I never had time for when I was competing. Best of all, I got to spend three months with my wife. I’m not quite sure Lauren feels the same way but I have never been in one place, let alone home, this long before. It’s had its challenges, of course, but also its rewards. I’m very lucky to be able to share this surreal time with Lauren and hopefully this period will allow us to look at our work-life balance a little more and improve it going forward.

I hadn’t quite realised how much I missed the game and how it affected my mood until the courses in Abu Dhabi finally reopened.

The guys at Yas Links and Troon Abu Dhabi have been fantastic in keeping members and guests safe and even though I have not been competing, it’s been amazing to be around the club, playing with different members and personalities which my busy schedule would normally never allow. I really want to thank the clubs here and especially Yas Links as I couldn’t think of a safer place to be. Being outside in the fresh air is something I doubt we’ll ever take for granted again and with golf you get plenty of that.

Next Move

So what does the future have in store? As the weather heats up and the virus seems to be calming down, I’m looking at the option of flying back to the UK to play a few events and to visit my family. I am still very wary though. As much as I want to compete, I also feel this is something we could be dealing with for quite some time so I’m taking a cautious approach. I also have to weigh up the financial side of things. The smaller events away from the main tours are so expensive and if I’m honest, if you’re not on TV at the moment as a professional golfer, chances are you’re not making a living from the game. The prize funds will be very small in relation to the field size.

I will monitor the situation over the next few weeks and try and make the best decision for me and Lauren. The MENA Tour has proposed a six-week, five-event stint in Jordan and it makes a lot of sense to be in one spot for a period of time. But as awesome as it would be to get back to competitive golf, and as much as I like Ayla Golf Club, six weeks is a long time to spend playing the same course.  They always take good care of the players down in Aqaba but time will tell if it materialises in the current environment.

These have been and will continue to be testing times for us all. Massive thanks goes out to all those frontline workers, and the golf clubs, who are keeping us safe. We owe you.

My goal, as always, is to use this opportunity to get better, fitter and stronger. So far, I feel I have used my time wisely. I have a great team behind me in Mike Bolt and Ali Parlane up in Dubai at the Claude Harmon 3 Performance Golf Institute and Karl Morris back in the UK. With help and guidance from them all, I’m sure I will come out of this situation better than I went into it and ready for whatever regular life will be when the time is right.

Until then, stay positive, stay safe and hopefully we’ll see you out on the golf course soon.

The post How the COVID-19 pandemic has left mini-tour grinders like Luke Joy in complete limbo appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Having qualified as an amateur, the English teen’s simmering plans to turn pro were only emboldened after rounds of 72-79 for a +9 total left him in a tie with, among others, Masters champion Adam Scott, a solitary shot shy of Phil Mickelson and a shot better than another former Open winner, Tom Lehman.

“Playing the Open Championship gave me a lot of confidence that I can compete with the best,” Knipes said ahead of the 9th MENA Tour by Arena season a fortnight ago.

Fast-forward to Wednesday at the $75,000 NEWGIZA Open on the outskirts of Cairo and Knipes continued to walk the bold talk. A second-round 68 moved the 19-year-old to -10 at the second event of the new regional development circuit season, a shot clear of countryman Bailey Gill who roared up to solo second with a fine seven-under-par 65.

After earning amateur honours in three MENA Tour events last season to finish runner-up to Dubai 15-year-old Josh Hill in the season-long Journey to Jordan, Knipes now has pole-position to seal what would be a wire-to-wire his maiden victory in just his second start as a professional.

“Tomorrow is obviously a big day for me. First time leading the MENA Tour and being in the final group of the day. I will just try and approach it as I have done every other day. I can’t control what others are doing. I am just going to go out there and shoot the lowest round that I can.”

It’s would be the stuff dreams, a priceless confidence boost worth far more than the winner’s cheque, not that Knipes would sniff at a cool $13,500. But he isn’t there yet, even if he’s recorded just one bogey in his last 36 holes and is a collective 14-under-par for his last four rounds.

Swede Niclas Weiland and Frenchman Sébastien Gros will start Thursday’s final round just two strokes adrift of Knipes and Weiland has the advantage of knowing what it takes to win on the MENA Tour after capturing the Ras Al Khaimah Open late last year.

Just four back in a gaggle of four players in a share of 6th place is Englishman David Langley who won last week’s season-opening Journey to Jordan #1 Championship. At -5, five off the lead, two-time MENA Tour winner Luke Joy can’t be discounted either.

The post Chasing maiden win in just his second pro start, Curtis Knipes leads into final round of NEWGIZA Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
In November 2017, we ran the inspiring story of Luke Joy’s victory at the 10th King Hamad Trophy, quoting from the refreshingly honest online blog the Abu Dhabi-based English professional pens.

Fast forward to last week and the 31-year-old was at it again, except this time his second victory in three attempts in Bahrain prompted a more solemn, introspective post. 

The first victory produced a bright respite from the mostly warts and all account of his challenging 2017. His latest post, however, has put his improved golfing fortunes, and the love of his life, sharply in focus.

RELATED: Joy confident MENA Tour lessons can (finally) help him crack European Tour Q-School

Luke and Lauren Joy

Joy takes up the personal story which both he and wife Lauren hope might help other couples: “This year has been probably my hardest to date. My performance [he also won on the EuroPro Tour] and golfing ability has been getting better and better thanks to the guys I have around me, but I didn’t quite realise how my golf would mean absolutely nothing to me with Lauren, my wife, being sick.”

After twice having her “horrendous” stomach and back pain misdiagnosed in the UAE, Lauren Joy sought a third opinion from a London specialist over the summer. She had a laparoscopy and was diagnosed with stage four endometriosis, a painful inflammatory condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is found outside the uterus.

“My wife is a personal trainer, fit, in great shape and when she could barely walk for three to five days a month, horrendous stomach and back pain, we knew that the advice and pills we had been given [in the UAE] were wrong,” said Joy.

“We found out that it is very common but vastly misdiagnosed and often put down to period pain. Lauren’s case is slightly different as she is riddled with it, hence stage four, and the MRI showed it had spread to her bladder so she is having bladder surgery alongside removing the endometriosis.”

“She has had two injections in her stomach to limit the pain but the side effects bring on symptoms conducive to menopause. For a 27-year-old, going through all of this… it has been a tough year for Lauren and without the surgery happening now it would also make it almost impossible for us to start a family, something we both really want.

“I can’t heap more praise on Lauren for how she has dealt with it all. I’m so proud of her and if this helps one person/wife of a reader of this magazine then she will be happy opening up about it.” 

Lauren is due to have surgery in London this week. The long term outlook for her husband has vastly changed too.

Luke and Lauren Joy in FFA (“Forced Festive Attire”) during their Abu Dhabi Christmas last year.

“We’re in the process of getting her better with surgery but when I saw her in so much pain this summer it put things in perspective really quickly. I have dedicated half my life to golf but when we found out the severity of things in the summer and how much it would cost to put right, I was ready to throw in the towel to get a normal job to pay the medical bills.

“If it wasn’t for Lauren and my family being totally against the idea and supporting me, I would have stopped playing in a heartbeat and I think this week’s performance was a good way to cement that the wife is always right.

“It’s always great to get back in the winner’s circle and playing with something on the line, it’s the reason I get up in the morning and practice. This win was great and it’s a huge relief to get a cheque that will help take care of some of the bills that will be coming up.”

For golfing prosperity, Joy carded rounds of 71, 68 and an impressive eight-under 64 around Royal Golf Club to storm from six shots back starting the final round to -13 and into a playoff. He then edged fellow Brit Sean Towndrow in overtime to be crowned the 12th King Hamad Trophy champion.

Luke Joy | Blog https://t.co/EGte6RoUT1 @YasLinksGC @RemedyOak @mboltpga @KingHamadTrophy pic.twitter.com/ERun9aef9y

— Luke Joy (@JoyBoy59) December 6, 2019

“To say it was a bit of a whirlwind trip is quite the understatement,” said the MENA Tour regular who also plays on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour and the EuroPro Tour.

“I wasn’t actually going to play the event this week, as to be honest funds are pretty limited at the moment and I had my brother in Abu Dhabi visiting for the F1. As it turned out I flew to Bahrain on the morning of the opening round as I had played the course many times before and when the organisers kindly offered to sort out my hotel for the week to keep my costs down and as a past champion, I wanted to support the event, even if my preparation was not exactly going to be ideal. It turned out to be a good decision.”

The post Joy tempered as pro reveals wife’s illness after second King Hamad Trophy win in Bahrain appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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.

By Kent Gray
After winning his debut MENA Tour start by a record-equalling eight strokes last week, it’s hardly breaking news that  Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams has ridden into this week’s Abu Dhabi Open by Arena with oodles of confidence.

But surely Yas Links, one of the toughest tests in the Middle East and especially so when the wind puffs up off the Arabian Gulf, has given the 18-year-old English amateur pause for thought? Apparently not.

“I think the wind will play a very big factor, the same as in Jordan [but] the course is not necessarily a difficult links course in that it’s quite wide fairways, the greens are very big and undulating and it’s very soft,” Williams said.

RELATED: Arena become umbrella sponsor of MENA Tour

“You can land the ball right at the flag and the drives are not really rolling anywhere. So it plays a little differently as a links course but we are right next to the coast so the wind is going to play like a links course so …you’re going to have to control your ball flight.”

The field for this week’s $US75,000 event, which was scheduled to start at 7am today with Austria’s Karl Ableidinger having the honour on the 1st tee, can’t say they haven’t been warned.

It’s not like Williams doesn’t know links golf. After growing up in South Africa, he moved to Scotland when he was eight and joined Royal Aberdeen, as he revealed to MENA Tour media manager Joy Chakravarty in this interesting tweet about how he was given the middle name Tiger. The teen also reveals his one-on-one with Woods at last year’s Ryder Cup where he teed it up for the European Juniors. Check it out:

‘I owe a lot to @TigerWoods.’@IAmRobinTiger reveals the story behind his nickname and how the 15-time major champion continuously inspires him.

Dare we say the England amateur’s win in Jordan last week was almost Tiger-like?#HarderBetterFasterStronger pic.twitter.com/4rOUEIFCcQ

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 6, 2019

Just in case Williams does need some strategic advice before his 9am tee time in the company of Englishmen James Allan and Craig Hinton, he need only seek out Luke Joy who has the penultimate 12.30pm tee time.

The Englishman, a two-time winner on tour, knows the test of the Kyle Phillips layout better than most as a Yas Links-attached player.

How do you tame a course that has consistently won accolades as one of the most strategic golf courses in the region?

We thought there was nobody better than @JoyBoy59 to ask the question. After all, @YasLinksGC has now been his home course for several years. pic.twitter.com/PFulatxlXa

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 6, 2019

After his Senior Open heroics at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, the performance of Steven Kelbrick will also be closely followed this week. The Trump Dubai amateur is off at 8.20am in the opening round of the 54-holer, 70 minutes after Journey to Jordan leader MG Keyser who will be hoping for benign early morning conditions in his 7.20am three-ball including amateur contender Curtis Knipes.

Steven Kelbrick made the cut at the Senior Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
Getty Images

Like Joy, Daniel Gaunt, second to Keyser in the OOM race and the tour’s new anti-plastic bottle poster boy, will face the afternoon conditions when he tees off at noon with Englishman Max Smith and Eliott Bradley.

After missing the cut at Ayla G.C. last week, 15-year-old Josh Hill will be hoping for better things this week. The Trump Dubai member certainly seemed to be swinging it well in practice, a day that looked super busy for his father Russell, a Studio City-based osteopath now helping out on tour. Make sure to scroll to the ‘injury’ shot in Russell Hill’s Instagram post…ooch! 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Very interesting day out on @yaslinksgc for the @themenatour practice round, had a bit of everything, on course treatment, accidents and great shots! @dubai_osteopath @optimaltherapydxb @optimalfitnessdxb #golfrehab #golfrehabilitation #golf #osteopathyworks #osteopathy #sportsrehab

A post shared by Russell (@russellhillgolf) on Oct 6, 2019 at 1:17am PDT

Zane Scotland, the tour’s most successful player and this month’s Golf Digest Middle East cover star, is out at 11.10am in the company of Americans Nicolas Wade and Ben Schlottman.

Do pick up a copy of @GolfDigestME this month. It features the most successful player in the history of our Tour – @ZaneScotland, a 10-time champion. pic.twitter.com/4lKo1hzypy

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 6, 2019

The post Red hot Robin Williams ready for test of ‘soft’ Yas Links appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Fresh from the biggest win of his career, the 31-year-old Englishman is again eyeing the emotional rollercoaster that is European Tour Q-School. The resumption of the MENA Tour season this month is key to the Yas Links-attached touring pro’s bid to finally crack one of the game’s toughest examinations, as Kent Gray discovers.

[divider] [/divider]

You pen one of the most refreshingly honest blogs in golf so we can’t wait for your response to this question: Sum up your professional golf career to this point?
I would say my career so far has been a slow progression. I would love to have moved onto the European Tour by now but I do feel I’m still progressing and hungry for it so it’s just a matter of time. I just need to keep working hard at my game and I’m sure I will get to where I want to be.

How about 2019?
It’s been a mixed bag. I have been spending my time playing in South Africa [on the Sunshine Tour] in the early part of the year with a few MENA events thrown in and was supposed to be playing in SA at the moment. Unfortunately, due to some things off the course, I have decided to play more in the UK so I can be closer to my family.

Your victory at the Cumberwell Park EuroPro event in June was your seventh win as a professional. Where does it stack up in terms of career achievements?
On paper, it was my biggest to date. I have had lots of good performances in Asia and South Africa in bigger events but to get in the winners’ circle after nearly a year since my last win back in the UK on the Jamega Tour is always rewarding and takes the top spot. It’s hard to win in professional sport, especially golf, so you need to appreciate them when they come.

•••

It must give you a lot of confidence heading into the second half of the MENA Tour season?
Absolutely. Winning is what we as professionals always want to do. Hopefully, I can build on that going forward and push on and make it more of a habit.

What events will you play and what’s the goal for the remainder of the MENA Tour season?
Jordan, Yas Links, Al Ain and then hopefully the Tour Championship again back in Jordan. I will have Tour Champs on the EuroPro and [European Tour] Q-School in between the MENA events so I will have a pretty full schedule up until the end of the year.

Joy rates his EuroPro victory in Wiltshire earlier this year as the best of his seven professional wins

You’ve won two MENA Tour titles, the Dubai Creek Open and Ascorp GOLF CITIZEN Abu Dhabi Open, both in 2014, just two years after you turned professional. What a year that must have been?
It was a massive year. I was flat broke when I arrived in the UAE in September 2014 and had £300 in my account that was actually my money. I can remember meeting with my biggest shareholder and now my main sponsor to ask if I could use the money that I had won in previous events that were meant to go to the shareholders to fund my time on the MENA Tour. Their support and confidence in me gave me such a huge boost on what had been a fairly benign year to that point and it worked out pretty well. Those weeks really played a huge part in enabling me to play professional golf and also show just how much of a fine line it is getting the support and funding to play.

You have shareholders?
I have a fantastic sponsor in Kitchen Elegance. At this stage in my career, I couldn’t do it without their help. I also sell shares in myself to raise more funds to help cover the costs. For each share that I sell, the shareholders get a split percentage of my earnings to come the end of the year so it gets them involved so they feel part of the journey with me, with all its ups and downs.

You’ve got a way to go to catch up to Zane Scotland’s record 10 MENA Tour titles but Lee Corfield (England) and Stephen Dodd (Wales) with four and three wins respectively are surely in your crosshairs?
Absolutely. Zane is Mr MENA Tour and I’m always striving to catch him but I might need a few seasons to reach his tally. Me and Zane are good friends so even though he never mentions his win total we all know he is that guy to catch. In regards to Lee and Stephen, hopefully, I can surpass them soon and work my way towards Zane’s tally…but I might need a little time.

As well as being one of the most successful MENA Tour players since the circuit’s inception in 2011, you also own six runner-up finishes including four in playoffs, the most recent to Jamie Elson in the 2017 Jordan’s Ayla Golf Championship.  A case of so close and yet so frustratingly far?
Yeah, the runner-up finishes just show that I have been knocking on the door a lot and it’s always fun to be in contention at events. To not get the job done is very frustrating of course but also seeing the consistency throughout the years is something to be positive about and shows the game is heading in the right direction.

You also lost in a playoff to a young amateur by the name of Rayhan Thomas at the 2016 Dubai Creek Open:
Rayhan has a very bright future ahead of him and I wish him all the best as he heads off to play college golf in America which I was fortunate enough to do. I think the MENA Tour has given him a great platform to play and win like all of us, so hopefully, he can do the same over the other side of the pond. Of course, I wanted to win in the playoff but in that instance, I feel that it was great for the region to see such a hard-working chap get the job done and it will hopefully inspire others to take up the game in the region.

You did beat Trevor Marshall (New Zealand) for your maiden MENA Tour win in extra time. What do you remember about that victory at the 2014 Dubai Creek Open?
All I can remember was thinking that I was going to win that day and didn’t care how I did it. I also remember how hot it was that week as it was my first experience playing in the UAE. I was also probably thinking I need this win so I could afford to pay for my hotel!

You played with Robin Roussel in the final round of the Dubai Open at Dubai Hills in March. Are you surprised by the Frenchman’s form on the Challenge Tour (current top-10) since then?
Not at all. He’s a very solid player and nice bloke. He has gone on to do well on the Challenge Tour and I’m sure he is fully focused on getting his main tour playing privileges come to the end of the year.

The performances of Roussel and lately Matthew Baldwin and Todd Clements must give you a lot of confidence as you look to make the next step in your career?
Absolutely. When you play with these types of players and some weeks you beat them and other weeks you don’t, it’s always a good way to see where your game is at. All three of them are working hard to get onto the European Tour and with players like that in the MENA Tour fields, it always pushes you to keep improving so that you can compete at the highest level.

In a blog after winning at Cumberwell Park, you thanked your “beautiful wife Lauren…for putting up with my moods and general absence at times to pursue a game that is simply stupid but liberating.” We all know golf is hard but how low have been the lows as a pro?
The lows have been pretty low. It does come in waves, but normally comes and goes and just before loathe it turns to love again. It’s a lot of hours on the range, in airports and time away from home and loved ones like Lauren. Sometimes you are flying high in sport but there is so much time spent alone trying to get better and work towards your goals that people don’t see. When you see players winning, it’s just the iceberg of how hard they have worked to get to that point. If you said to any normal person working a 9-5 that they would turn up for two to six weeks at a time, work flat out every day, put in overtime and potentially not get paid a penny for the efforts, it’s always tough for someone to get their head around. When you then tell them it also costs you £500-£2000 a week for the privilege of competing, you normally get a facial expression that looks somewhat comparable to sucking on a lemon.

You’re attached to Yas Links. How is the club helping you become the best golfer you can be?
I absolutely love practising at Yas! For me, it’s the best place in Abu Dhabi with the perfect set up of practice and plays. The course is, in my eyes, one of the best tests you will find as it constantly changes due to the weather. The new short game area at the academy is perfect to work on the scoring aspect of your game.

You are returning for a fifth crack at European Tour Q-School? Some would say you are a sucker for punishment?
I just about have the funds to do it so I’m backing myself to perform and hopefully move up the ranks. It’s a gruelling test as I will be starting at stage one but you have to give it a go if you have the chance. It’s hard to say if I’m looking forward to it as the three stages are pretty brutal and it’s not like a normal competition as there is definitely not too much chat amongst your playing partners. But it’s a great way to see how your game holds up under pressure.

You’ve teed it up in European Tour events before so know what it takes to compete at the top level. What steps do you need to take to finally get a card?
My consistency off the tee needs to get better for me to jump to the next stage. My iron play is normally very good so if I’m in play I seem to be able to do pretty well on the weeks I drive it well.

What has been your European Tour highlight thus far?
Playing in Dubai at Emirates G.C. in Omega Dubai Desert Classic is always a treat. The UAE feels like a second home to me and to have been able to play the event three times and it being my first start on the European Tour will always be something that I hold close to my heart. I’m very much looking forward to playing the event again, hopefully, sooner rather than later. Those opportunities came from my performances on the MENA Tour so I can’t thank the organisers enough for allowing us MENA Tour players the opportunity to battle it out with the best players in the world

How has the MENA Tour helped to get you ready for another crack at European Tour Q-School?
It’s a great platform to compete and play on some of the best courses the region has to offer. It’s always competitive and now attracting some big names to drive the performances even higher.

How has the MENA Tour improved since you first teed it up?
The depth of the tour has improved massively since I first played in 2014. The Tour is fantastic as we play courses that you just don’t find on other developmental tours so I feel it prepares you better for moving up to the next level. I’m sure it will get better and better each year which is great.

The post Joy confident MENA Tour lessons can help him (finally) crack Euro Q-School appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Welcome to the first edition of The Sand Trap, where we scour the worldwide inter-web for the Middle East’s best golf news before expertly splashing it out with absolutely no (okay, sometimes a little) spin. Call it old school polishing (reporting) of today’s social media overload, a light-hearted take on everything that is great about golf in the game’s hottest destination.

We’re unapologetically Middle East centric – our colleagues at Golf Digest H.Q. in New York will continue to update you on the best global goings on via ‘The Grind’ and the ‘Dew Sweeper’ – so if it has even a tenuous link to the game here, we’ll be all over it.

If you win a title and your club does the needful online, check in here – you might just feature (remember to smile and share!) alongside the region’s more high profile players. Don’t be shy to share that viral worthy post either. A trick shot or a laughter educing whiff from one of your golfing pals perhaps? Simply tag us @GolfDigestME and we’ll do the rest. Who knows, you really could go global with the assistance of Golf Digest.

With that, enjoy this, your first escape from with the Sand Trap, which we coincidently launch just as the year’s final major is about to take the starter’s orders in St. Louis. Enjoy.

THIS WEEK IN THE INCREDIBLE RISE AND RISE OF JUNIOR PHENOM JOSH HILL

Before we head to Bellerive Country Club for the 100th staging of the U.S. PGA Championship, divert your attention, Dear Sand Trappers, to Royal Dornoch where they’ve apparently been golfing since 1616. That’s 402 years ago according the abacus at Media One Towers, or 388 years since Josh Hill was born right here in Dubai. The drawn out connection here is that Hill is set to tee it up at Dornoch on Tuesday as England opens the defence of its Boys Home Internationals title. And that’s as stunning as the fabled Scottish highlands links land hosting the matchplay event where each team faces the other over three days in five morning foursomes and 10 afternoon singles matches each day.

Hill’s selection to the U-18 England team – remember he’s 14! – continues a meteoric rise. It wasn’t that long ago he was posing with Ryder Cuppers Andy Sullivan and Rory McIlroy as a wide-eyed 12-year-old having just played the DP World Tour Championship Pro-Am at JGE, coinsidently where he trains.

That was late 2016. Fast-forward to early 2018 and Hill marked himself as the hottest prospect in UAE golf since the emergence of Rayhan Thomas, courtesy of eight wins in a magical three month stretch to April. It will be fascinating to see how Hill fares in the pressure-filled matches against Scotland, Wales and Ireland as England aim for a title three-peat. Whatever happens at Dornach, Dubai looks to have unearthed a genuine gem. Best wishes to Josh and kudos to his supportive parents Russell and Jo and Butch Harmon School of Golf Dubai instructor Joe Marshall. All can be justifiably proud of the unexpected international call-up.

JP ON THE ROAD (AGAIN) TO THE 100th PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Talking of the BHSG Dubai, the stock of the Els Club Dubai-based academy’s Director of Instruction, Justin Parsons, continues to rise. ‘JP’ has been criss-crossing the globe recently working with former major champions Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen who are now firmly ensconced in a stable that also includes Peter Uihlein, Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera and the aforementioned Rayhan Thomas. The Northern Irishman was in Akron last week and departed for the PGA Championship thoroughly encouraged by Schwartzel’s storming finish to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a 63 at Firestone Country Club propelling the former Masters champion up to a share of 31st with, among others, Tiger Woods.

Great to watch @charlschwartzel get it going today- 63 to finish the week strong. Firestone is a great venue and will be missed, glad I saw the last one. On to the @pgachampionship

A post shared by Justin Parsons (@jparsonsgolf) on Aug 5, 2018 at 1:07pm PDT

Here’s more of JP’s recent handiwork (scroll through the Insta post to see Oosty and Schwartzel in practice at Firestone).

Great to be in Akron for the WGC!!

A post shared by Justin Parsons (@jparsonsgolf) on Jul 31, 2018 at 6:12pm PDT

Parsons was headed to Bellerive (Schwartzel, Oosthuizen, Uihlein and Lorenzo-Vera are all in the field) overnight via a road trip with International Sport Management (think Chubby Chandler’s company) player manager Louis Martin in an RV.  (FYI, Oosthuizen and Uihlein are ISM clients).

So the NFL Hall of Fame is here, flights are full. This legend and I are taking a road trip from Akron-St Louis in an RV. Story to follow- seems like a good idea ????? @ Firestone Country… https://t.co/PtJyDK0xQT

— Justin Parsons (@JParsonsGolf) August 5, 2018

It’s a pretty epic sounding trip – all 900km of it – and we do hope JP shares some footage as promised. What we can guarantee, cough, cough, splutter, splutter, is that it’s not the final destination for the UAE’s best known coach. Again, watch this space.

Related: Woods, Rory and WGC-Bridgestone champion Thomas paired for PGA

TALKING OF GLOBE-TROTTING UAE PROS

With the mercury at sizzling point and the UAE’s driving ranges relatively empty as a result, it’s an ideal time for the UAE’s hard working PGA teaching professionals to grab some well-deserved R&R. And some, like Trump International Dubai head pro Sven Nielsen, are doing it better than most as these epic pictures from Scotland highlands illustrate.

Some breathtaking views at @carnegielinks with the guys yesterday!! Great to play in 20 degrees again. #summergolf #golf #golfer #greatgolfcourse #views #unreal

A post shared by Sven Nielsen (@svennielsenpga) on Aug 3, 2018 at 11:17am PDT

The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle is a private club “offering limited tee times to non-residents”. As a former pro at Trump Turnberry, we’re guessing Nielsen didn’t have too much trouble getting on. He certainly had little trouble playing his Tiger-esque stinger:

Little 2-iron stinger here!!! ???? Amazing day at @carnegielinks with @msweenie_golf @rob.satterley.golf and @calsatterley what a phenomenal golf course and experience!! Thanks for having us!!! #golf #golfer #golflesson #golfcoach #greatcourse #greatgolfcourse

A post shared by Sven Nielsen (@svennielsenpga) on Aug 2, 2018 at 4:55pm PDT

Nice shot, Sven. But perhaps not quite as flush as your recent ace at Trump.

?HOLE IN ONE? today for me while playing with one of my clients. 145yards PW. ???? #golf #golfer #holeinone #golfcoach #golflesson @trumpgolf @trumpgolfdubai

A post shared by Sven Nielsen (@svennielsenpga) on Jul 20, 2018 at 11:52pm PDT

We’re genuinely happy for the hard-working South African but won’t be so generous if the Springboks show as much class in the upcoming Rugby Championship. Did we mention the team behind the Sand Trap are ardent supporters of the All Blacks?

LUKE’S PRO V1 JOY

Just like the mighty All Blacks, we love golf swag at the Sand Trap, especially swag of the, well, you know, free kind. Check out the booty MENA Tour player Luke Joy has just recieved from a couple of well-known sponsors.

Huge thanks to @GOLFPRINCIPLES @callawaygolf @Callaway_Mat for all the help with getting the new X- Forged irons set up ?Awesome service and superb product come as standard! Many thanks guys?#golfprinciples #lukejoygolf #callaway #rogue #trackman pic.twitter.com/erN0cnP3Nj

— Luke Joy (@JoyBoy59) July 28, 2018

Always great to get a delivery from @titleistukireland / Africa Thanks @titleist for keeping me stocked up… I use the Pro V1 X Ball and Players glove?. #1 #1ballingolf #prov1x #golf #titleist #golfball #lukejoygolf

A post shared by Luke Joy – ‎ليوك (@lukejoygolf) on Aug 3, 2018 at 10:48am PDT

Nice. We’re guessing these shiny new spheres will travel a little further than the tee shot of Joy’s brother Ollie during a recent social round.

So bit of social golf today with my Bro @ollie_joy85 and Cousin at Queens Park GC… Both didn’t make it past the ladies tee… Rules are Rules ? #queenspark #sunshine #pantsdown #golf #keepingitfun #ladiestee #familygolf #family #priceless #bournemouth #england #funinthesun #chef #aussie #lukejoygolf

A post shared by Luke Joy – ‎ليوك (@lukejoygolf) on Aug 2, 2018 at 1:55pm PDT

Rules are rules but enough of those shenanigans. The Yas Links-attached Englishman is just back from a steady 12th place finish in last week’s Sunshine Tour stop in Kenya, an encouraging bounce-back after playing like a complete plonker – his words, not ours – in Open Championship qualifying. 

Joy still has designs on a European Tour card via Q-School ahead of a series of starts on the Sunshine and Asian Tours towards the end of 2018 “with the end goal of punching a ticket to secure European Tour status or at least have some events with a full playing category on the Challenge Tour”.

“I’m working hard with Matt Parker down at Yas so all seems to be working towards the ET for the coming years.”

Here’s hoping, although don’t be surprised if you see more off the course action on JoyBoy59’s twitter feed in the coming weeks; the 30-year-old Dorset pro is getting married at the end of the month. We’re sure fiancée Lauren-Leanne Bellows wouldn’t mind a prolonged honeymoon following hubby to some of the European Tour’s more exotic locales.

To be fair, Joy will need to keep winning to continue to afford experiences like this watching his beloved England in the World Cup.

Thanks for an amazing few weeks @England … You got a whole nation believing, dreaming and singing! Gutted yes, but the future looks very promising for this young side ???????#threeloins pic.twitter.com/BarrHQw8br

— Luke Joy (@JoyBoy59) July 11, 2018

JoyBoy indeed!

FRIENDLY REMINDER #1

It’s not long now until the climax of the European Tour season at JGE. In fact, it’s 99-days until the DP World Tour Championship. Follow the prompt for free tickets, Sand Trappers.

Only #100daystogo until the #greatestplayersonearth return to @JumeirahGolfEst for the #dpwtc. Register for free general admission now #racetodubai pic.twitter.com/MOX8le3aOw

— DP World Tour Championship (@DPWTC) August 5, 2018

DUBAI TROPHY BLAST FROM THE PAST

Former head pro Malcolm Young is clearly in a nostalgic space as he packs up after 10½ years at Arabian Ranches to take up a new posting in Hong Kong. Or perhaps he just found this picture as he was clearing out some clutter.

Either way, it’s a cool rewind to the 2010 Dubai Golf Trophy which the professionals snuck by a solitary point. The Pros will miss Young’s talents next winter as they try to avert a fourth straight loss to the EGF’s best amateurs, but not half as much as the quietly spoken Scot’s old clientele at Ranches. Dubai’s loss is the Jack Nicklaus Academy of Golf’s gain. Yup, that’s how highly rated Young is.

ANOTHER SAD FOND FAREWELL

There are leaving dos and then there’s the way Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club do the leaving do. Stick with us here.

How about honouring New Zealand-bound course superintendent Marty Brown with his own golf tournament.

Marty Brown, our Golf Course superintendent is leaving (after 12 years service). Come down and join us on his farewell golf day on 10 August.#golf #sharjah #sharjahgolf #golfindubai #farewellgolf pic.twitter.com/KpYl2d4qRF

— Sharjah Golf & SClub (@SharjahGolf) August 2, 2018

A classy move from a club that is making a habit of doing classy things and best of all, there’s still time to farewell Brown by entering the event.  The Kiwi leaves huge steel-capped boots to fill after presenting SGSC in pristine condition for the last two Staysure Tour (formerly European Senior Tour) Sharjah Senior Golf Masters events. Go well Marty. Oh, and I’m sure you’ll join us in wishing the Mighty All Blacks all the best as well. We did warn you!

TODAY’S TEAR-JERKER

Okay, here’s the Sand Trap’s first tenuous Middle East link. Sure Justin Thomas hasn’t played in the Desert Swing yet – perhaps the American will be the star draw at January’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship or even the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic? – but we just couldn’t ignore his win in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational overnight. More to the point, we loved that JT’s grandparents were on hand to see his third win of the season at Firestone.

What a day for the family

A post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on Aug 5, 2018 at 7:59pm PDT

What a keepsake that pic will be. And now on to Bellerive with Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy set to push Thomas all the way in his defence of the Wanamaker Trophy. Golf is deep. Really, really deep as this 72nd hole drive from JT shows. And to think McIlroy hit a 400+ yarder in the final round at Firestone.

JT’s 394 yards drive at the 18th is the second longest drive ever hit on the final hole at Firestone (396, Tiger in 2003). ・・・ #WGCBridgestone Repost #europeantour

A post shared by Golf Digest Middle East (@golfdigestme) on Aug 5, 2018 at 9:54pm PDT

GEORGIA ON OUR MINDS

The newly-minted Ricoh Women’s British Open champion has been a perennial contender at the OMEGA Dubai Ladies Classic is recent years so there’s a genuine Middle East link to this snippet.

Stunning moment @RICOHWomensBrit #champion @georgiahall96 and a crowd of very #excited youngsters just shows what a young #homegrown #talent can do for #golf #congratulations #georgiahall @ricoheurope @CallawayGolfEU @goodwood_golf #berenberg @RandA @GettySport pic.twitter.com/gw0NORULmW

— David Cannon (@Cannonball63) August 5, 2018

And these stunning pictures are from our favourite golf photographer too, UAE regular David Cannon. Enjoy.

David Cannon

David Cannon

David Cannon

David Cannon

THE GULF CLUB

How about the play of David Baldwin and Leighton Johnson in capturing the EGF’s Summer Pairs Open sponsored by Golf Superstore. Check out all the action in his post from Al Ain Equestrian Shooting and Golf Club:

Looks like they were having fun in the sun (okay, blistering heat) at Abu Dhabi and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club too in annual Troon Executive Card Summer Series.

We had fantastic TEC Summer Series over the weekend at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. Thank you all for your participation and congratulations to the winners! #playgolf #troongolf

A post shared by Saadiyat Beach Golf Club (@saadiyatbeachgolfclub) on Aug 5, 2018 at 4:58am PDT

We had fantastic TEC Summer Series over the weekend at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. Thank you all for your participation and congratulations to the winners! #playgolf #troongolf

A post shared by Abu Dhabi Golf Club (@abudhabigolfclub) on Aug 5, 2018 at 5:01am PDT

The winners were grinners in the fourth round of the Summer BMW X5 Series Open Social at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club too.

Aurn & Vivian win. The fourth round of the Summer BMW X5 Series Open Social was hosted on the 4th August 2018. The format was Betterball medal on the front nine and a Texas Scramble Medal on the back nine. The duo returned net 35 (1 under par) in the betterball & net 30 (6 under par) in the nine hole Texas Scramble format. Giving the pair a combined score of 65, 7 under par. Congratulation to both! @bmwmiddleeast #golf #sharjahgolf #sharjah #greatprizes #summergolf #winners

A post shared by Sharjah Golf (@sharjahgolf) on Aug 5, 2018 at 5:38am PDT

WE. CAN’T. STOP. WATCHING.

Finally, if you’re not already following us on Instagram, here’s a couple of recent posts that should entice you to sign-up at golfdigestme:

Father and son weekend goals. ?‍?

A post shared by Golf Digest Middle East (@golfdigestme) on Aug 2, 2018 at 1:38pm PDT

Talk about father-son goals.

And then there is this in the latest installment of Phil Being Phil, just in case you missed it (quite how that is possible is beyond us).

In My Philings ???

A post shared by Golf Digest Middle East (@golfdigestme) on Aug 2, 2018 at 9:35pm PDT

We don’t know what Lefty’s Dad dance is so weirdly alluring. But… We. Can’t. Stop. Watching. At least it was better than his running putt in the U.S. Open. But lets move on, maybe by watching again. Until next time…Wow Phil. Just wow.

The post Welcome to the ‘Sand Trap’, a social media take on all things Middle East golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Luke Joy is the MENA Tour’s answer to Eddie Pepperell, the European Tour star widely hailed for his insightful and often brutally honest blog on the trials and tribulations of the tour life.

Joy mightn’t yet enjoy the same audience as the reigning Commercial Bank Qatar Masters champion but his regular musings are not to be missed. The Yas Links-attached Englishman’s review of his performance in Tuesday’s Open Championship final qualifying on the Kent coast is the most recent case in point.

Starting with “Oh golf… how I loathe to love you!” the 30-year-old doesn’t hold back in his assessment of his is 36-holes at Prince’s in Sandwich, rounds of 79-77 seeing him finish +12 in a share of 44th position, 16 shots behind winner Tom Lewis, the Englishman who hails from Sir Nick Faldo’s old Welwyn City Garden G.C.

Related: Scotland closest of MENA Tour stars but no fairytale Carnoustie return

“I will keep this short but yesterday [Tuesday] was an absolute brutal test of golf down on the Kent coast. I was assigned Prince’s Golf Club for my Open qualifying and after a solid practice round on Monday, Tuesday turned into a long, painful nightmare,” Joy begins.

“After teeing off at 7.10am, my Open challenge and chance to play in the British Open was all but over by around 9.10am after opening with a disastrous 43 (+7) outward nine. The wind was up, the course was comparable to a road and I basically played like a complete plonker.”

We’re certainly not revelling in Joy’s unhappy form but do doff our cap at his ability to self vent analyse. Golf is richer for such honesty.

We’ll certainly be logged on when he resumes playing, likely at the KCB Karen Masters in Kenya from July 19-22, a Sunshine Tour stop that falls, coincidently, in the same week as the 147th Open at Carnoustie. Before Nairobi, Joy admits he has to “sort a few things out before I get back to competing again”.

“My head is a bit all over the place at the moment…I just can’t quite seem to let myself play good golf, which is very frustrating,” he wrote in his blog.

“I actually feel like I’m swinging the club well but just need to sort my mindset out and I think the results and scores will drastically improve. [It’s] just a blip that will be rectified, but sometimes you just have a bad day or week and I now need to get stuck in, clear my mind and get back on the horse.”

Giddy Up, Luke, giddy up.

Luke Joy | Blog https://t.co/svSu9tHtBM pic.twitter.com/BtBaC7ypQ2

— Luke Joy (@JoyBoy59) July 4, 2018

The post Joy pauses for mental reset after playing like “complete plonker” in Open Championship qualifying appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The dream of a third Open Championship appearance remains just that for Zane Scotland while the major hopes of two MENA Tour peers have also been dashed in final qualifying.

Scotland had hoped to make a return to Carnoustie for the 147th Open Championship via Tuesday’s final qualifying – 19 years after he becoming the youngest English player to qualify for the oldest major. But rounds of 70-72 at St Annes Old Links, while tidy scoring, left the 35-year-old on the outside looking in on the year’s final big. Scotland finished -2, 10 shots behind winner James Robinson and eight shots behind the two other players who qualified from the Lancashire qualifier, Marcus Armitage and Jack Green.

Elsewhere, Yas Links-attached Luke Joy finished well off the pace at Prince’s in Sandwich, Kent, scores of 79-77 seeing him finish +12 in a shared of 44th position, 16 shots behind winner Tom Lewis, the Englishman who hails from Nick Faldo’s old Welwyn City Garden G.C.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen punched his ticket to Carnostie for the July 19-22 Open at Prince’s but two members of Scotland’s coaching academy and MENA Tour players in waiting – Jack Yule (+1, T-10) and Louis Hirst (+11, T41) – suffered similar disappointment to Joy.

Related: Goosen qualifies for Open the hard way

Englishman Stuart Archibald, another MENA Tour regular, retired from the Notts (Hollinwell) qualifier won by countryman Ashton Turner after signing for an opening 81.

Former English amateur international Turner won with a -6 aggregate, three strokes ahead of 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links champion Oliver Wilson who was one of seven Englishmen to advance on a memorable day capped by England exorcising their penalty shootout demons in advancing to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup.

England win on penalties & I’m off to @theopen ???????? What a day! Massive thanks to this legend on my bag & for everyone coming out to support me @nottsgolfclub loved every minute. The comeback continues.. pic.twitter.com/sKi2wHI9wK

— Oliver Wilson (@Oliver_Wilson) July 3, 2018

What a day, indeed. Even Scotland, a 10-time MENA Tour winner and the circuit’s first life member, paid tribute to Wilson afterwards.

Seeing/hearing this was even better than England winning a penalty shootout! Work is paying off…. no one works harder in golf than this guy. ??? https://t.co/vvqx6eIFWp

— Zane (@ZaneScotland) July 4, 2018

The post Scotland closest of MENA Tour stars in final Open qualifying but no fairytale return to Carnoustie appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Scotland was just 16 when he became the youngest English player to qualify for The Open at Carnoustie in 1999. Fast-forward 19 years and the Middle East and North Africa developmental circuit’s most decorated player is through to final qualifying for the 147th edition of the oldest major which returns to the toughest of The Open rota’s 10 venues on Thursday week.

Now 35 and battling back from another one of the injuries that have plagued his career, Scotland will tee it up at St Annes Old Links with 71 others on Wednesday chasing one of three spots in the field for Carnoustie. There are a total of 12 spots up for grabs across four (36-hole) final qualifiers and further MENA Tour interest in the performance of Yas Links-attached Luke Joy at Prince’s and Stuart Archibald at Notts (Hollinwell). The other qualifier is being staged at The Renaissance Club.

That Scotland (Woodcote Park) has tempered expectations but high hopes is entirely understandable. His career has been blighted by injury  set-backs ever since he was involved in a minor car accident in the early 2000s which led to major and on-going neck problems.

He’s played the Open twice despite the challenges, beginning with the blur that was the 128th Open at Carnoustie, won by Paul Lawrie but remembered for the playoff meltdown of the Frenchman, Jean Van de Velde.

Related: Injury will keep Paul Lawrie from Carnoustie, site of his 1999 Open win

Scotland carded rounds of 82-81 to finish T-135, no disgrace given he was a shot behind eventual 2009 winner Stewart Cink and shot better than 1963 champion Sir Bob Charles.

The Open Championship is nearly here. Was it really 19 years ago ?‍.

A post shared by Z A N E S C O T L A N D (@zanescotlandgolf) on Jun 21, 2018 at 10:38am PDT

The experience made him doubly determined when he made it back to the Open in 2010, the year Louis Oosthuizen won at St Andrews. Scotland was determined to make the weekend on the Old Course and did so, rounds of 70-74-72-70 seeing him finish T-55 in the 139th edition alongside Steve Stricker.

“The two were real contrasts really,” Scotland said of his Open experiences. “The first time, no real expectations, wasn’t spose to be there, was just a kid, my friends were there, soaked it all up, brilliant.

“Second time around I was into my professional career, had to make it happen. I probably remember more from my second one in terms of the golf because I really wanted to make the cut and play with a big player at the weekend which I did, I got to play with Steve Stricker who was super nice.”

Two players from Scotland’s increasingly successful Zane Scotland Academy – the MENA Tour-bound Louis Hirst (who progressed with a T-1 finish at regional qualifying at Burhill) and Jack Yule – are also through to final qualifying and have understandably pressed the old guy for some tips.

“My guys have asked me for my opinion, how do you approach Open qualifying, what is it like? What I’ve said is enjoy the buzz, there’s three spots from a 100 odd guys, or 80 guys or whatever it is, so it’s not an easy task, and therefore, just relax,” Scotland said.

“There’s going to be a lot of nerves, everyone is thinking about being in The Open before they’re even there so my advice to those guys is just relax, string two rounds together, do what you do.

“I think a lot of guys go in thinking they’ve got to shoot the lights out but actually, two decent rounds and you’ll be there or thereabouts, you haven’t got to go mad. If you make a couple of bogeys, don’t lose hope because you could make four of five birdies in six or seven holes and you are right in there.

“There’s a lot of panic playing. If you can just try and keep your head, and play pretty steady, it leaves you with a little chance.”

As for Scotland’s own expectations of a third Open start, well, they’re muted.

“I have quite low expectations. I’m still recovering from my injury, still trying to work out how I am going to get through four rounds if I did qualify, so they’re pretty low,” he said.

“I’ve played one event since the MENA Tour last season, a week long Pro-Am at Sawgrass where I actually went really well in, won that. When I have been playing, I have been going quite nicely which is great but at this level you’ve got to be really sharp.

The Sawgrass Classic Pro Am by @theproamtour – brilliant event, brilliant team, Golf courses were top notch, also got the joint win with my room mate Guy Woodman.

A post shared by Z A N E S C O T L A N D (@zanescotlandgolf) on May 21, 2018 at 2:40am PDT

“So I’m looking forward to having a go. I’m just going there to enjoy the buzz, there’s a real buzz at final Open qualifying, the leaderboard is being watched like a hawk by locals, club members and players, caddies, family, you know, who is shooting what which adds a tenseness to it.

“I love that tense atmosphere, the anticipation of three of us being at the Open.”

Scotland is off at 8.10am local time (11.10am UAE time) in his opening round at St Annes. Joy tees it up an hour earlier at Prince’s, 10 minutes before Hirst while Archibald has a 1.05pm (UAE time) start at Notts. Yule is paying at Prince’s from 11.25am UAE time.

The Open Championship Final Qualifying draw @ St Anne’s Old Links GC. Looking forward to the buzz. #whyilovethisgame #theopen

A post shared by Z A N E S C O T L A N D (@zanescotlandgolf) on Jun 30, 2018 at 1:32pm PDT

The post MENA Tour ace eyes return to Carnoustie via the ‘buzz’ of Open Championship final qualifying  appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.