As well as the chance to win some amazing prizes, we’ve marked the milestone by taking a contemporary spin on many of the features that appeared in our launch issue back in November 2008.

Related: Take our 2017 Reader Survey and win BIG!

The most obvious replication starts right up front where Dubai amateur sensation Rayhan Thomas steps out of the shadows of U.S. singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake to deservedly earn his second Golf Digest ME cover within a year.

The 17-year-old Indian, now up to a career-high 23rd place in the latest Amateur World Golf Rankings (WAGR), also stars in our bumper 30-page “9 for 9” feature which celebrates nine pivotal contributions to the local game during the nine years we’ve been in print.

Inside, we explore what’s next for Thomas, both from a swing and career progression standpoint, while reflecting on his world record-tying birdie blitz during last month’s MENA Tour event at Dubai Creek and his unforgettable Jnr Presidents Cup debut.

Timberlake might have taken the most prominent piece of real estate in our first issue but the key story inside was the impending launch of the Race to Dubai. Ninety nine issues later we sit down for a fascinating one-on-one with a needle-shifting powerbroker from the first issue. The chat with David Spencer is as illuminating as those purple socks he rocked in the subsequent photoshoot.

We’ve also given Thomas’ coach, Justin Parsons, the full treatment. The Northern Irishman is Dubai’s coach to the stars – and not all of them golfers with some neat pictures of cricket demigod Sachin Tendulkar and Hollywood A-lister Will Smith included.

Former Open champion Darren Clarke makes a plea for greater support of the MENA Tour and we meet the character behind the kandura that is Mohamed Juma Buamaim. You also won’t want to miss the fascinating interview with Peter Harradine as the always outspoken Dubai-based Swiss architect opens up on the curse of the contemporary “Championship course” designs.

One of our favourite reflections is a before and after equipment test with Jumeriah Golf Estates 3.8-handicapper Philip Sharpe. We won’t give too much away but you won’t believe the results the Cobra Golf tragic achieved when we got him on the X-Golf simulator at eGolf Megastore.

With a swing tip from UAE PGA champion Cennydd Mills and previews ahead of the Ras Al Khaimah 2017 Golf Challenge and European Challenge Tour’s season-deciding NBO Golf Classic Grand Fina in Muscat, plus the LET’s Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach, you’ll go a long way to find more in-depth local coverage.

Throw in tips from Butch and Claude Harmon, tuition features penned by newly crowned PGA Tour Player-of-the-Year Justin Thomas and world No. 5 Jon Rahm and an amazing “Shots I can’t explain” piece from Jack Nicklaus, and our 100th issue is, well, one in a hundred.

Grab your copy today and get winning!

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The $1.75 million NBO Golf Classic will be played Feb.15-18 at Almouj Golf (pictured) amid The Wave Muscat development the week proceeding the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha GC (Feb.22-25).

The Doha tournament was traditionally sandwiched between the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and $3 million Omega Dubai Desert Classic but the two UAE events, as has been widely reported, are now scheduled back-to-back from Jan. 18-21 and 25-28 respectively.

For the past four seasons the NBO Golf Classic has been a European Challenge Tour event, the last two the secondary circuit’s season-ender and climax to the “Race to Oman” series. There is yet no word on a replacement decider or season-long “Race” for the Challenge Tour although it raises the prospect of Ras Al Khaimah, currently the circuit’s penultimate event, stepping up.

Muscat joins the Philippines Golf Championship (March 15-18) and the Belgian Knockout (May 17-20) as new events on the 2018 European Tour which will visit 30 countries and again include eight Rolex Series event, each with a minimum prize fund of US$7million. Morocco’s The Trophee Hassan II in Rabat, which enjoys close links with the MENA Tour, is scheduled for April 19-22.

Related: Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters to host European Tour knockout event in 2018

With Abu Dhabi and Dubai proceeded by the Jan. 12-14 EurAsia Cup (an important Ryder Cup rehearsal) and leading into the Maybank Championship (Feb. 1-4), also in Malaysia, elite fields are again assured. It will be tougher for Muscat and Doha to attract the same calibre of players however as they are sandwiched between the  ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, a popular addition to the schedule last season, and the $10 million WGC-Mexico Championship which makes a second early season sojourn to the Middle East unlikely for higher ranked players.

The 2018 Race to Dubai will again climax at Jumeriah Golf Estates where the $8 million DP World Tour Championship will celebrate its 10th anniversary from Nov. 15-18.

Keith Waters, the European Tour’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce three new events as part of the 2018 European Tour schedule, providing vital playing opportunities for our members.

“It also combines diversity, visiting 30 different countries on the Race to Dubai, and innovation, through varied formats such as the new Belgian Knockout and GolfSixes alongside more traditional strokeplay events, including the eight Rolex Series tournaments.”

See the full 2018 European Tour schedule here

The post Muscat event added to 2018 European Tour schedule as the Desert Swing is split in two appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.