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.

Reigning boys’ green jacket holder Mousa Shana’ah kicked on from where he left off at the season opener at Yas Links – and last season – with a stunning 68 at the Jebel Ali 9-holer. The two-under-par round is a junior course record and helped the 12-year-old (12!) Jordanian up-and-comer to an eight-stroke victory over British 15-year-old Thomas Taylor-Cross. Third in the boys’ event was another Brit, Josh Bibby, whose seven-over 77 was a shot shy of Taylor-Cross.

UAE national team player capped a memorable day for the boys when he scored his first hole-in-one on Jebel Ali’s tricky par-3 8th.

Abdulla Kalbat is rewarded for his hole-in-one on Jebel Ali’s tricky 8th hole.

Kate Bibby backed up her season-opening victory in Yas Links with a two-over-par 72 to again win the girls’ title, this time by four strokes over Indian player Eshna Bhargava. Third place went to the British player Lili Brecken with an 84.

RELATED: Bibby off to brilliant start on Junior Masters Open Tour

Shana’ah easily won the boys’ net prize from Diego Ojeda and third-placed Savansh Chopra. The girls net division went to last season’s green jacket recipient Siti Latifahin ahead of Belgium’s Sien Demelker and Bibby.

The main champions at JA The Resort Golf Course including girls champion Kate Bibby (left) and Mousa Shana’ah (second from right).

The four on-course prizes went to:

– Hole in one: Abdulla Kalbat (UAE)
– Nearest the pin: Jay Pangarkar (India)
– Longest drive for boys: Josh Bibby (UK)
– Longest drive for girls: Kate Bibby (UK)

The Junior Masters Open Tour offers players aged for eight to 19 years old the lure of Global Junior Golf Rankings (GJGR) and Junior Golf Score Board ranking points. It has expanded in its second season with new events in Egypt and Oman.

“It was a great tournament at JA The Resort Golf Course as we see everything you could wish to see in a golf tournament,” said Abedallah Shana’ah , Managing Director of Golf Events Management, owners of the Junior Masters Open Tour.

“The results are amazing and the competition is high between all the players. I am so happy to see a hole in one this season. Our juniors are playing very good golf and I am sure that they will reach to the best position in the ranking globally in a short period. 

RELATED: The Junior Masters Open Tour’s green jacket goals

“We are so proud of all the players and we are happy to see that in each tournament we have more players from different countries which show that the tour give the players what they required, and we will keep encouraging them to reach to the best places over their peers from around the world.

“We are also so proud that we are the first we establish a  tour with the global ranking in the Middle East and also the first we establish the same in Africa, and we add some tournament in Oman as the first round will begin in January, and we will keep developing the tour to be one of the best and biggest junior tours not in the region only but in the world.”

Abu Dhabi Golf Club will host the third round of the 2019-2020 season on November 30.

Winners were grinners at JA The Resort Golf Course.

The post Mousa Shana’ah, just 12, fires 68 to star in latest Junior Masters Open Tour event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.