By Kent Gray
Sir Nick Faldo pauses momentarily as he reflects on the 21st anniversary of his globe-trotting junior development series.

“It’s been quite a good journey, yeah,” the 60-year-old golfing knight turned commentary box royal says with a hearty dollop of English understatement.

The Faldo Junior Series has indeed come a long way – 40 events in 30 countries annually to be exact – since the six-time major champion created the non-profit organisation in 1996 to give back to a sport that has given him so much. Among the talented youngsters identified and nurtured along the way have been major champions Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng, plus tour winners Nick Dougherty, Oliver Fisher, Marc Warren, John Parry, Rashid Khan, Melissa Reid, Florentyna Parker and Carly Booth.

You can bet a handful of the 57 names on this week’s 21st Faldo Series European Grand Final leaderboard will emerge from Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club as future stars too after benefitting from the unique combination of tough tournament examinations and lashings of expert advice.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy poses with Nick Faldo after winning the U-17 division of the 2006 Faldo Junior Series at The Celtic Manor Resort on October 6, 2006.

From his home in Orlando, Faldo himself has come along way this week to host in Abu Dhabi. He’s brought sports psychologist Kjell Enhager with him, a man Faldo admits he could have done with during his playing days when he feared his mental fortitude might be exposed if he didn’t hide behind that famously aloof “blinkers on from the first tee to the 18th green” exterior.

“Kjell did a great presentation talking about the mind, how to visualise, how to make decisions, how to practice better, how to get yourself in the right mental state,” said Faldo. “It was a real good eye opener for them, they’re getting some good stuff from us.”

The learning, it seems, is a two-way thing.

“When we started [in 1996] you didn’t really appreciate all the differences but when you take European kids to say Asia and they get thrown in the deep end and suddenly they have to learn to play golf with an eight hour time change, different grass and you’re going to get sunburnt even when the sun doesn’t even come out, it’s a great learning experience.”

Faldo has been imparting his wisdom too, playing nine practice holes Sunday with some of the starry-eyed youngsters before holding a clinic for AESGC members on Monday morning as the talented teens from Europe, Asia and the UAE [Reema Al Heloo and Rashed Al Emadi] set off on their 54-hole odyssey.

A separate clinic for the players was planned for Monday afternoon and typical of his playing days, Faldo has come prepared, as much as his busy television commitments allow anyway.

“I always come in with some kind of theme to try and give the kids a bit of insight into what and how top sportsmen think, act and react, and how they can test themselves,” Faldo said

Asked for this weeks theme, the serial swing tinkerer of old emerges and makes for a fascinating listen.

“It’s funny I’ve been practicing and I always talk about my ‘four swing”, I mean I had one backswing and four different follow throughs to hit different shots,” says Faldo, clearly just warming up.

“When you play less you go right to what has to happen, the absolute musts, so if you’re trying to hit the ball high, what do you have to do to make it happen, how do you release the club? If you want to hit it low, if you want to hit a fade, hit a draw…and I’ve been doing that myself from the same stance basically, and then you learn to make minute differences and how to feel the differences and then what happens when you make the differences.

“You know, if you make some kind of difference in your swing, where does the golf ball go and if it goes consistently in a certain direction, can you use that as a positive, in a way to use it on the golf course?”

Just as he’s making a huge difference to the careers of all those involved at Al Ain this week, so too is Faldo playing the mutual appreciation game.

“It’s great, a great spot,” the CBS analyst says of AESGC . “Obviously this time of year its perfect. To try and go as late as possible in the season as we do, I mean you struggle in central Europe, it’s too cold. We’ve been to Loch Lomond where it’s blowing 40 miles an hour and it’s 40°f  (5°c), it snowed in the Greenbrier and well, they’ve got a treat here. They’re in nice breezy conditions in the low 80s (27°c), it’s going to be a good test for them.”

Faldo holds court at Monday’s AESGC members’ clinic.

The first day scoring showed many are up to the test with England’s Charlie Salter and Australian Daniel Gale leading the way with four under 66s. In all, 11 players bettered par.

With the backing of the R&A, World Amateur Golf Ranking points and trips to next year’s Asia Grand Final – Faldo will invite three boys and two girls to the event at his Faldo Design course in Vietnam, Laguna Lang Co, in March – on the line, there is still much to play for.

Regardless of the scoring this week, the chance to glean tips of the trade from Europe’s most majored golfer is a priceless opportunity. The journey – for both Faldo and his juniors – continues.

The post Faldo in Al Ain, and his element, nurturing the next generation appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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The stage is set for brilliance with golf’s young stars Melissa Reid, Carly Booth, Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Aditi Ashok confirming their place in next month’s inaugural Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open (FBMLO), alongside two of the game’s legends, Laura Davies and Trish Johnson.

Carly Booth has been a regular visitor to Abu Dhabi, and played in the Gary Player Invitational at Saadiyat Beach GC earlier this year

One hundred and twenty six players will compete in Abu Dhabi’s first women’s professional golf tournament from 2-5 November for the US$550,000 prize purse and a chance to climb the 2016 Order of Merit rankings. The Ladies European Tour (LET) tournament, held in Abu Dhabi for the first time, is set to inspire the emirate’s female golfers along the way.

The LET’s 2015 season runner-up Melissa Reid will be chasing victory at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, alongside fan favourite Carly Booth, who has two LET wins under her belt. Together, Booth and Reid are strong advocates of golf in the region, regularly choosing the emirate’s world-class golf facilities to hone their skills.

“The perception of playing golf as a woman has certainly changed over recent years,” said Booth. “I’m hoping events like the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open will draw greater attention to the game, especially amongst Emirati women. I’ve trained in Abu Dhabi many times and needless to say the facilities, as well as the climate, make for golfing paradise.”

Reid, who last January contested the Gary Player Invitational on Saadiyat Island said she’s looking forward to her return to the ocean-fronting course.

“I’d love to win in Abu Dhabi and at a golf course as special as this one. I’ve been looking forward to this week ever since playing in this year’s Gary Player Invitational at the same venue. I’ll be up against some extremely talented players, so winning this milestone event would be really special,” she said.

Aditi Ashok is 18 years old and at the head of a new wave of female Indian golfers

The FMBLO will also welcome India’s Aditi Ashok, who, at just 17, became the youngest lady winner of LET’s Lalla Aicha Tour School last year. As the only Indian golfer to have played the Asian Youth Games (2013), Youth Olympic Games (2014), Asian Games (2014) and Olympic Games (2016), Aditi is now 18 years old and looking to make her mark on the LET in Abu Dhabi.

The trio will also face competition from Europe’s up-and-coming stars including the likes of Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen, 21, who completed her first LET Rookie season in 2015 with six top-ten finishes in 16 tournaments before claiming her first professional victory at this year’s Tipsport Golf Masters in the Czech Republic. Spain’s 20-year-old rookie Nuria Iturrios, who came fourth at Lalla Aicha Tour School, will also be looking to build on the strong start that she made to her professional career following her first win at Morocco’s 2016 Lalla Meryem Cup. The other young guns to watch will include 18-year-old Angel Yin from the United States, who has already posted two top-10 finishes from eight starts in her rookie season and Isabelle Boineau of France, who recently claimed her first title at the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.

Adding more edge to the competition, World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Dame Laura Davies will also grace the greens in Abu Dhabi. Since turning pro in 1985, Davies has accumulated 80 international titles including four major championships and her experience is bound to inspire the UAE’s future stars.

English legend Laura Davies has won over 80 titles, including four major championships over the course of a glittering career

Davies will be joined by fellow Englishwoman Trish Johnson, who became the oldest winner on the LET at the tender age of 48, with her 22^nd career win at the 2014 Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.

It was Gwladys Nocera that Johnson beat in Scotland and the seasoned Frenchwoman will be looking for her 15^th LET title in Abu Dhabi.

Commenting on the headline field, His Excellency Aref Al Awani, General Secretary at Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC), which is backing the event, said: “The inaugural Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open is a combination of firsts, supreme golfing facilities and community-inspired activations, and an event that welcomes a glittering collection of leading female golfers and world-class sporting action.

“The combination of young up-and-coming athletes and legends of the game is bound to make the four-day event an historic one that will drive the sport amongst women in the region.”

The FBMLO has been organised by the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy (FBMA), in co-operation with ADSC. The event is free to attend.

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More information is available from www.fbmladiesopen.com, on Instagram and Twitter (@fbmladiesopen), and on Facebook.

The post Young Guns and Legends heading to Abu Dhabi for FBM Ladies Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.