By Kent Gray
Chris May has seen Dubai grow up around Emirates Golf Club and the club and game mature around the dynamic young city. The Dubai Golf chief executive proudly calls the club the “jewel in crown” of Middle East golf and tonight members and special guests will celebrate with an apt Pearl-themed 30th anniversary bash in the Bedouin camp-shaped clubhouse.

Before the bubbly and toasts, Golf Digest Middle East sat down with the highly respected English administrator for his thoughts on the club’s role in the development of golf regionally and a city. Having served the game in the UAE for the past 19 years, May is also uniquely qualified to engage in some crystal ball gazing.  He started at sister-club Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club in Feb. 1999 before succeeding Mohamed Juma Buamaim as general manager at Emirates G.C. 10 years ago when the influential Emirati relinquished the role to concentrate on the organisation of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

The intervening years have been a memorable whirlwind. Here’s his reflections:

Thirty years in this region is almost like a 100 years in a more established golfing market and to have sustained and remained relevant for all levels of the game, from professionals through to beginners, a 28 handicap player from Germany or a 45 handicap lady player from Belgium…for it to be enjoyable for them as well as our members…that’s pretty impressive in my view and something that stands the club apart.

Some of our members have played it [the Majlis course] literally thousands of times and still really enjoy it when they play it. I think as a golf course it’s a fantastic testament to the designer Karl Litten that it’s still enjoyable to members and a test to the professionals.

There’s lots of memories, firstly how much Dubai has changed since 1999. Obviously the golf industry is almost unrecognisable because there are so many new facilities that have opened since 99 which is great. The game has become much bigger, the industry has become much bigger and Dubai has become much bigger as well so it has been amazing to be a small part of that.

The first week at the Desert Classic in 1999 [the week May started at The Creek], is one of my biggest memories where our club pro Peter Downey was leading the tournament after two and a half rounds. It’s a feat that has never been repeated since and is probably never likely to be repeated because club professionals just don’t do that. The field included O’Meara, Ballesteros, Olzabal, Monty…all the big names in the European Tour.

The Desert Classic in 2001 at Emirates where Thomas Bjorn, who was a resident of Dubai and spent a lot of his time at the club, obviously stands out. He played every single round with Tiger Woods who was at the peak of his powers at that time and went down to the penultimate hole and Thomas made a birdie to tie going down the last and then beat him on the last. It was an amazing feat, especially in those days when Tiger pretty much won between a third and a half of the tournaments he played in.

Tiger Woods and Thomas Bjorn on the 13th hole during the first round of the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic. Ross Kinnaird/ ALLSPORT

We’ve been very, very fortunate to have some great people work with us in the past and currently. We’re very lucky as a company, we have a great retention rate with lots of colleagues that have been with his 10 plus years which, as a member focused club is really, really important because that member recognition is really important. Even for overseas tourists who come back on a regular basis, they get welcomed as if they are long-lost friends which is really important for us and I think for any service industry, is to get that welcome right and I think we have some key people in the right jobs who make a big difference every single day.

I’m also very happy to have worked with some amazing people in the last 19 years that have subsequently gone on to great jobs which I think is always a great testament to any organisation. I’m probably most proud of one of my former colleagues, Shona McRae who now works for the R&A and goes around the world educating people on the rules, seminars, and indeed officiates at many of the majors. To have achieved that from being effectively golf operations manager at Emirates GC and the Creek is a pretty amazing achievement. There are lots of others who have done great things but she sticks out as being one.

Related: Emirates Golf Club returns to No.1 in the Top 10 Courses in the Middle East rankings

More recently we’ve been focused on developing Emirati colleagues which key for the growth and development of the game, sustaining the longevity of the game in this part of the world. We need to have more Emiratis engaged in the game of golf, we need to get more young people involved in the game of golf. That needs one of our core focuses over the next few years to be sure.

South African professional Sven Nielsen plays his approach to the 18th green on the Majlis as the sun went down on the 9th Golf Digest Middle East Classic.

Craig Haldane, Director of Golf Course Maintenance for Dubai Golf, captured the iconic shot of Emirates Golf Club’s closing hole and the Trump International G.C. Dubai head pro.

What makes it such a special place? There’s lots of things to be very honest. The Majlis golf course is really the jewel in the crown of golf in this region. The first grass golf course, it was and still is a very relevant desert golf course. The amount of turfed grass area is still the smallest of any of the golf courses that have been built I the region, so it really was built, not only as an iconic golf course, but it was designed very much with the environment in mind.

I think we’ve got a great amount of loyalty from our membership and colleagues and it creates a really special environment. For many people it really is their home away from home and I say that from a colleague and a member perspective. Many of our members I think spend more time at the club than they perhaps they do spend at home. That’s great.

Emirates Golf Club, in a very changing, dynamic city, the golf club has remained relevant, it’s continued to invest through the stewardship of wasl [wasl Asset Management Group] and remains at the pioneering end of the market. Obviously the new restaurant renovations that we’ve done have really helped and so I think it has continually developed to adapt to the changing market conditions and needs of a very dynamic city.

Yes Emirates Golf Club has changed, but at the same time its also remains a constant for many people in a city that does change very quickly.

I think one thing you can be fairly safe in saying is that Emirates G.C. will still be at the centre of the golf industry in 30 years time. I think its location is now one of the key strengths. When it was built, everyone probably thought Sheikh Mohammed was probably a little crazy building this golf course way out of the city centre but now it’s right in the heart of the city, it’s well established in the world’s top 100 golf courses and I think the continued investment in the facility will enhance that position.

You’ll definitely see growth in the industry, you’ll definitely see some much stronger junior initiatives to bring more people into the game. One of the initiatives that we’re bringing in, TopGolf, it’s going to be making that funnel to attract golfers to play on the grass course that much bigger.  We have to do that.

Related: Emirates G.C. to open Middle East’s first TopGolf facility in 2019

We will see in 30 years time, for sure, an Emirati playing on the European Tour and perhaps even the PGA Tour which I think is something we’ve always wanted to see. If you look at some of the expatriates that have been through Dubai, you’re just starting to see that now. In the early days we had Ross Bain, we’ve now got Sebastian Heisele who’s a three-time Emirates G.C. champion and now has got full European Card. That will help. Rayhan Thomas is another who has done very well and I think the momentum these people will have, it will create more golfers. But it will be a very proud moment when we manage to achieve our first UAE national professional representing the UAE on one of the professional tours and I think that shouldn’t be too far away now.

Thirty years ago, golf in the Emirates was played on sand. Emirates Golf Club was referred to as the Desert Miracle when it opened as the first grass golf course in the Middle East in 1988, and since then has hosted many of the world’s finest golfers and celebrity guests. Emirates Golf Club now ranks among the best in the world, with an extremely strong and loyal membership base, the Club has won countless awards and has been the pioneer of placing Dubai on the world golfing map as a global golfing destination.   I am extremely proud to be part of such a great Club in this very special year”

The post Chris May: Emirates G.C. is an ever-changing but comforting constant in a fast-paced city appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 19-year-old Californian two-putted for birdie from the back of the par 4 17th green to edge 2009 champion In-Kyung Kim on the second hole of sudden death at Emirates Golf Club.

Both had birdied the 18th to extend what had started as a three-way playoff until France’s Celine Herbin dumped her approach into the water guarding the par 5 and eliminated herself with a double bogey.

After bravely trading near tap-in birdies on 18 with Yin, Kim hit her drive on the 17th just shy of pin high. But the reigning British Open champion rushed her chip six foot past the cup and then tugged the birdie try to extend her a 0-5 LPGA playoff heartache all the way to the Ladies European Tour. 

IK Kim narrowly misses her birdie putt & @angelyinlol lands her breakthrough win @OMEGAGolfDubai @EmiratesGC pic.twitter.com/idq8B7vMsm

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 9, 2017

Yin has done it all this week, playing the joker with 36 and 54 hole leader Anne Van Dam (who slid to solo 4th with a closing 71), interviewer of the Dutchwoman on Thursday, interviewee after creeping into contention on Friday before finally emerging as the champion in the first playoff in the 12 year history of the LET’s season-ending event.

The winner’s $75,000 cheque and Omega wristwatch sealed a sensational year during which Yin earned a Solheim Cup captain’s pick from Juli Inkster on the back of a rookie season which netted $455, 235 and 52nd place in the LPGA rankings courtesy of an impressive five top-10s.

It’s clear golf has a new star in its midst after the world No. 57 raised the new Dallah trophy.

“It’s huge for me because at the LPGA, the last event, the CME Tour Championship, I played terribly [T-70] so to close out this year, 2017, which I think I’ve done really well, to close it off on a really good note with such a big win in Dubai , it just gives me that stamp that you can do it next year,” said Yin.

“I feel amazing, my first major tour professional win, so this is big for me.” 

.@angelyinlol looking for payback with a water pistol after winning the @OMEGAGolfDubai & being covered in water.

Watch @broch_nicole & @OliviaCowan run!! pic.twitter.com/JKBSbwFilx

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 9, 2017

Yin could and probably should have won it in regulation but pushed a three-footer for birdie on 17 and then, knowing a birdie would get it done, found that her drive on 18 had trickled into the water hazard on the far side of the left-handed dogleg. She held her nerve to make a two-putt par following the penalty drop and a 178-yard five iron into the green to sign for a 67 which saw her join Kim (65) and Herbin (64) on -15 and in the playoff.

“I wasn’t happy of course with hitting in the water because I know if I just had an iron and two putt I win it easily,” said Yin.

“But I know that I can make birdie there. Earlier this year I was playing in the same situation and I hooked it in the water and I had a two iron and I stuck it to two-feet and made birdie so I was like, I can do that again and even if I don’t I can make par and go in the playoff.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better one [finish to 2017]. The playoff, I think that just added to it. I didn’t want a playoff but obviously…it was awesome to have a playoff and play with IK Kim…that shot [Kim hit into 18 to take extra time to a second hole] was nice, she stuck it. “

Yin says her Solheim experience helped her get across the line. 

“I thought I was going to be very nervous at Solheim but I was more pumped than anything and it just helped me able to deal with my adrenaline better coming to the closing holes. Definitely the Solheim helped me a lot, I mean I think I got better with the crowds too.”

Indian teen Aditi Ashok had been in the conversation until she uncharacteristically doubled the 72nd hole after dunking her third shot into the par to finish tied 5th with Swede Pernilla Lindberg (70) and Englishwoman Charley Hull (69) on -12.

Dame Laura Davies started the day just four strokes out of the lead but a fairytale 46th LET title wasn’t to be as the 54-year-old signed for a frustrating six over 78 to nosedive to a tie for 41st.

In the end it was a player 35 years her junior that was celebrating. But how? In keeping with her unusual week, Yin planned to keep a date visiting the Penguins at Ski Dubai in Emirates Mall. You can take the talented kid out of LA, but you can’t take the kooky character out of the kid.

The final @OMEGAGolfDubai leaderboard @EmiratesGC.

All scores: https://t.co/1jQAQY6Z9r pic.twitter.com/1l7UEgFm7h

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 9, 2017

The post Swings of an Angel as Yin wins dramatic Dubai playoff appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray

The combined US$1 million prize fund for its new four-event Australian Swing in February falls short of the purses the Ladies European Tour (LET) covets but is a start down the tour’s “more flexible” road to recovery, executive chairman Mark Lictenhein says.

The 2018 LET season will again open at the Oates Victorian Open (Feb. 1-4) before new stops at the Actewagl Canberra Classic (Feb. 9-11) and two smaller, yet to be confirmed events in New South Wales.

They are part of a co-sanctioned agreement with the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Association (ALPG) as the embattled LET strives to bolster this season’s disrupted calendar, culled by five events to 15, to at least 20 events in 2018.

Related: LPGA and European Tour talks on-going but merger would be ‘extremely complex’ says new LET boss

Lictenhein said the LET aimed for “at least €300,000” purses at events in Europe which means the Australian swing events fall nearly $50,000 short of that target. But the LET needed to consolidate playing opportunities first and foremost which was achievable given the “great tailwind now behind women’s sport in general and golf in particular.”

“I think when it comes to co sanctioned events and we’re being invited to somebody else’s event, it’s a little bit rude to be dictating terms on that,” Lictenhein said at a media roundtable with LET Player President Helen Alfredsson during this week’s $500,000 (€425,000) Omega Dubai Ladies Classic.

“Again, it’s a question of working together to grow them. We’ve got $1 million U.S., at play in Australia over four weeks. As Helen says, they are a bit imbalanced at the moment, but I think that’s something we can work with the Australians to improve.”

With the purse for the Victorian Open €350,000 last season, it means the prize fund for the NSW events is likely to be less attractive for players although Alfredsson believes the LET’s membership will be simply grateful for a run tournaments in the same territory. 

“Even though two of them are a little smaller, there’s one long trip and they get to play four events during that time. And some of them are only a little [travel] in between, so they won’t spend a lot of money,” said Alfredsson.

“Even on the LPGA, you go one week to Europe and then back; and then you go one week to China and then you go back. These are very big expenses. So if we can put more effort into having Australia and maybe South Africa, maybe Scandinavia three events, then in the beginning, we don’t have to have huge purses, but at least we know they don’t have these huge expenses just to go there.”

Alfredsson said the players were all for swings like Australia to negate travelling expenses.

The retired Swedish pro, who won the 1993 ANA Inspiration among her seven LPGA and 11 LET titles, revealed she budgeted about $2000 per week in her playing days which covered her caddy and swing coach on an hourly rate. She said today’s players may need to cut their cloth to the current market conditions by rethinking all the mental, swing, short game and physical coaches who were “all taking a bunch of money.”

Lictenhein said the LET was open to playing the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach and the Dubai Ladies Classic back-to-back in 2018 –  like the men’s European Tour will do with Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the first time next month – “if that’s what we want to do.” 

He said there was enough “political will” to believe the Qatar Ladies Open would return to the 2018 schedule and acknowledged “discussions with other gulf states” that he hopes will eventuate into events from 2019 onwards. 

Alfredsson admitted 2017 had been “hard for really anybody” especially lower ranking members who hadn’t qualified for the lucrative majors on the LET schedule, the British Open and the Evian Championship.

Players had been forced to take part-time jobs and “then you can’t really practice so it becomes sort of this bad cycle. “

But while she “completely understands the [player’s] frustration” she now has a greater appreciation of the political challenges, sponsorship issues and even regional conflicts facing the game after sitting on the LET Board.

“I just want to make a point that, and I said this to the girls, that it was [similar to when former LPGA commissioner] Carolyn Bivens had left and it was really a crisis in the States, as well. Mike [current commissioner Mike Whan] actually had a tournament in Phoenix, the Founders Cup, that he introduced for no prize fund, and I said to the girls, not that we should not play for money, I understand that. 

“That’s how desperate it was just to be able to [establish] a relationship and showcase what it is to have a tournament. But what that has now grown into now is because of, as Mark is saying, creating relationships [like] in Australia….it’s a process.” 

Lictenhein said rebuilding relationships with national federations was key to rebuilding the lost European part of the LET schedule which had seen the Spanish and German Opens along with Scandinavia events fail.

He acknowledged the former LET leadership had become too rigid in setting out its framework for events, including the costly prerequisite for television coverage. 

“I think we’d kind of developed a one one size fits all proposition, which was heavily predicated on live television, even for new events.

“So we need to be more flexible in terms of what it takes to have an LET event, because clearly, once you have live TV, budgets quickly get over a million dollars, and that’s not necessarily the right starting point for everybody.

“You have to customise the product to what the local market needs, and that might not involve live television, or it might.  It depends on what it is.

“If people haven’t got enough money for the prize fund to start with, then we can work together to find solutions to address that or to grow the event as we go forward.”

Lictenhein said that could mean novel formats in countries where live TV was not the sponsor’s main motivation.

“There are a lot of events particularly in smaller countries where there’s no tourism aspects. If you’ve got a sponsor that is much more focused on customer entertainment, where the Pro Am is the most important part of what they are doing; maybe they want two Pro Ams before the tournament, two Pro Ams and a three day event, for example; or they want a lot of hospitality, and they are really not so concerned about the media side to it. “

“We can’t dictate terms. The promoters are the key, the lifeblood to the tour, and we are not Formula I, we are not going around just bringing a machine and the circus comes to town. We are heavily reliant on commercial partnerships but other people are taking the commercial risk. They understand the local market much better than we do, and can make it happen.“

On both the sponsorship and media front, Lictenhein said LET had to “get away from us competing with men’s golf on men’s terms” to attract new sponsors and become commercially viable.

“The reasons why girls play sport is different from the reasons that men play sport. UEFA has done research on this and I’ve been working with them in Europe on this because I think we can show to sponsors that we actually can be a different kind of product, a more lifestyle component, fashion, conduit for the next generation. A lot of things where the men probably aren’t able to compete.

“I’m absolutely fine with us being on the Golf Channel, SKY Sports Golf, I think that’s important, but we need to be in other places, as well. We need to be in places that are attractive to women, to young girls, to families, and that’s where social media channels become so important.”

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Laura Davies, among others, certainly agrees. “It is, yeah,” said the four-time major champion who finds herself with a decent shot at a 46th Ladies European Tour title after a moving day 66. “You can take corners on. Like the 1st, the big hitters can take the bunker on, no problem. The second is drivable today and the third is reachable in two. So yeah, this is a big hitter’s course, and it’s unusual for us to get one of them.”

In-Kyung Kim, who describes herself as an “average” length hitter, isn’t so sure the new Dallah will be decided by the big-bombers. Rather, the reigning British Open champion and 2009 winner in Dubai thinks it will come down to whoever wields their flat stick best.

“I think it’s not really a long hitter or short hitter’s course,” said the 29-year-old South Korean who matched Davies 66 to move up from 34th at the start of the third round into a share of sixth with the golfing Dame and into the mix, four back of Dutch pace-setter Anne Van Dam.

I think the green reading, trusting it, is tricky, but whoever trusts it [will win] I guess…

“It’s like how many putts drops, I think, [that] kind of course. Because [the greens] are not very slopey but there is a lot of grain. I’m not sure I played with the grain the last time I was here because I heard they changed the greens a few years ago. I think the green reading, trusting it, is tricky, but whoever trusts it, I guess [will win].”

A birdie-birdie finish, both tap ins, has given Kim hope for Saturday although she knows the late afternoon winds that whip
up around Emirates G.C. will be a factor.

“I think I had the privilege to play without the wind [on Friday]. You know, less hassle. It’s not impossible, but when it’s windy, the scores can be tricky.”

After rounds of 73-69-66, Kim is certainly trending in the right direction.

“I really had a lot of fun today and even yesterday I feel I’m getting better with the time change and all that so I look forward tomorrow. Hopefully I can have fun tomorrow.

“You know, that’s the goal [winning], but I just want to play well tomorrow and go home just to my family, see my family.” The Dallah wouldn’t be a bad home-coming gift.

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The big-hitting 22-year-old fired a best of the week 65 Thursday to move to -10 and open up a two shot lead over Scot Kelsey MacDonald at the $500,000 Ladies European Tour season-decider.

Revelling in the fun-filled atmosphere encouraged by her playing partners, American Solheim Cuppers Brittany Lincicome and Angel Yin, Van Dam’s flawless seven under loop of the Majlis was highlighted by three successive birdies from the 2nd (her 11th hole).

The Power Hitters @OMEGAGolfDubai ??!@angelyinlol @Brittany1golf & @Annevandam pic.twitter.com/wfYVgWVRYK

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 7, 2017

What happens next though is anybody’s guess. Van Dam won her maiden LET title at the Xiamen International in China last year but has developed an unfortunate reputation since for mixing sublime scoreboard climbs with the nonsensical blowouts.

The final stage of LPGA Q-School is a still fresh and frustrating case in point. After opening with a 68 to share the first round lead in Florida, Van Dam backed up with a soul-destroying 81 before finishing 75-75 and in a tie for 118th place. It means Van Dam is committed to the LET for next season and how she’d love to take a second title into the New Year. She’s certainly trending well – Florida aside – after finishing T-4 and T-3 in the recent Open de France and Indian Open respectively as well as T-23 at the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi.

What a day for @Annevandan!

Superb 2nd round bogey-free 65 (-7) moves her to the top of the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic leaderboard on -10 pic.twitter.com/7jQl8qMizB

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 7, 2017

She could easily have title No.2 already but for an uncooperative putter in France where she missed a bunch of makeables as Christie Kerr won. We can’t confirm if Van Dam used the same putter in Florida but we do know that mallet was sent to golf’s equivalent of the naughty chair afterwards.

“Well, my putter from last week just needed a break. I didn’t putt well at Q-School… so yeah, he couldn’t come this week,” Van Dam joked.

“It’s actually quite funny because I haven’t been putting great at all, like the last half year. I changed putters two days ago. I completely got something else, normally I have face-balance, and now I have toe hang. It’s a blade. Normally I have a mallet. So everything is different. But I like the look of it and it’s going well, so maybe that’s the change this week.”

What was also funny was Van Dam’s post round interview, conducted by Yin at the behest of the LET media team. The banter flowed between the big hitters with Yin recalling the 350-yard bomb Van Dam hooked over the trees on 18 in the first round to leave an 8 iron into the par 5 and which she duly birdied for an opening 69.

Van Dam was asked what her longest drive was and it sparked a fun back-and –forth. “Probably that one on 18. 320 metres, that’s like 370 yards or something [350 yards to save further confusion],” said Van Dam before Yin quickly retorted: “It’s close to 400.” Van Dam: “No, no, that’s 360. I think it’s like 370 metres.” Yin had the last word on the matter: “That’s pretty freaking long. My excuse is that I broke my driver before I came here. It’s a new thing and I need to warm it up, break it in.”

Van Dam admitted the fairway giggles helped: “We had a lot of fun out there today, and yesterday, as well. We were all playing well, all under par for two rounds in a row, and yeah, we all hit it long, so that helps. All play aggressive.”

Van Dam is out in the final threesome at 11.43am Friday with MacDonald and Georgia Hall. It promises to be a rather more serious affair given MacDonald and Hall are still searching for their first LET titles but Van Dam has vowed to keep smiling.

“Like, it’s the two last days of the season, and I hope to just finish up great and hit some more monster drives, hole a few more putts with my new putter and it should be great.”

Indeed it should.

The post Dutch delight as Van Dam fires 65 to lead in Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 18-year-old Australian inadvertently knocked a parrot out of the sky on Wednesday.

“I was going to hit my shot, and everything was clear, and then once I began, and I hit my shot, a parrot flew by and I hit it in the air and it passed away,” said Yuan who somehow re-gathered her composure to actually birdie the hole en-route to an opening 68.

The Sydneysider backed it up with another five birdies of the golfing kind during a second round 69 to move to -7 for the championship, just three shots off Dutchwoman Anne Van Dam’s halfway lead.

It’s just the second cut Yuan has made but sadly not the only feathered friend that has meet with an untimely end courtesy of one of her shots.

“Somehow these things keep happening to me and it has happened before. Again, it was mid-air and I somehow hit it, hit another bird, two years ago, I was practicing on the range.”

The teen has earned just €750 in six LET starts the season, every euro of it at the Thailand Championship where she finished 66th.

Last place in Dubai is worth nearly double that – €1265 to be exact – but Yuan will be hoping for much more after her great start.

“I never really expected to play like this. Really, I wasn’t striking it very well today, but the score somehow turned out pretty good,” said Yuan, crediting her short game. “I holed a lot of putts that I never really hole any other day. I hope to do just as well the next two days.”

The post Yuan soars with birdies of the golfing kind on the Majlis appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Successive 68s will see the second-placed Scot tee it up with Dutch leader Anne Van Dam and third placed Georgia Hall in the final, 3rd round threesome on Friday at the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic.

Like Hall, MacDonald is gunning for her maiden LET title but unlike the Englishwoman she has the added pressure of playing for her livelihood next season. The top-80 keep their cards and MacDonald came into the season-ender 91st, just shy of €3000 outside of safety. It means that while she’ll endeavour to close the two-shot gap on Van Dam, MacDonald must also guard against a slide down the leaderboard. That’s no easy feat with TV cameras suddenly thrust in your face.

“The thing is for me is that I’ve never really had the cameras, so I was quick on quite a few shots. The shots that they probably are going to show [on TV] are going to be terrible,” said the 27-year-old who mixed six birdies – four on the trot from the 15th – with two second round bogeys.

For context, MacDonald has barely made a cut this year, let alone contended. She arrived in Dubai on the back of four unwanted weekends off and with season earnings of just €10,808 – a sum that would barely cover the cost of one of those cameras.

How good is this by @K_Mac_59 @OMEGAGolfDubai ?? pic.twitter.com/KYSYkPom8R

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 7, 2017

“There were a lot of cameras on me, kind of entering my like, zone, personal space, and the way I hit shots, I’m very quick, so I kind of got a little distracted at times and maybe hit some poor shots today that I wouldn’t have previously. But I’ve got to just learn from that and if I’m in contention, it’s going to happen a lot.”

MacDonald credited McNicoll, a PGA assistant at men’s Scottish Open venue Gullane G.C. in East Lothian, for keeping “me clam and in the moment.”

McNicoll will endeavour to remain that “good influence” given what is at stake this weekend.

Two superb 68s by @K_Mac_59 put her in second place on -8 at the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic @EmiratesGC pic.twitter.com/XB4HvRxiHa

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 7, 2017

“I’ve not had the best of seasons, hard to get a bit of momentum,” said MacDonald. “But I love the course here. I’ve got good vibes from the last few years. So I came in with a lot of confidence and positivity. I just need to press on and enjoy my weekend.”

The post Scottish pro Kelsey MacDonald confronts the cameras and her future in Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The newly crowned European No.1 overcome an almost complete lack of sleep to fire a second round 67 and soar 12 places up the leaderboard into a three-way share of third place.

It edged the 21-year-old Englishwomen to within three shots of halfway leader Anne Van Dam and ever closer to that Ladies European Tour title she’s overdue after seven top 10s this season. Mind you, Hall will do well not to sleep walk her way through the weekend much less challenge. She’s suffering from bad jetlag after a 13.5 hour flight from Florida and a late arrival into Dubai which has seriously messed up her body clock.

“I got two hours. Woke up at like midnight and didn’t get back to sleep,” said Hall of her far from ideal pre-round prep. “I wasn’t in the best of moods today. I’m quite tired. But I played well, so maybe I should do that more often.”

Fortunately the sleepless nights haven’t dulled Hall’s delight at securing an LPGA Tour card for 2018 in Florida.

Order of Merit #1 @georgiahall96 fires a 2nd round 67 (-5) @EmiratesGC to move to -7 at the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic pic.twitter.com/kGU3c30ZQB

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 7, 2017

Before realising her girlhood dream in the U.S. next year she’d love to cap her career year – which has included Solheim Cup selection, a share of third at the British Open and a top-10 at the Evian Championship to take an unassailable LET order of merit lead into this week  – with a victory at Emirates G.C.  She’s certainly trending nicely after finishing runner-up to Aditi Ashok at Saadiyat Beach last month before her Florida success.

A drained 30-foot birdie putt on her final hole, the par 4 9th, also improved her disposition.

“I did putt well today, and I wanted to take advantage of the morning round because the greens were in better condition and less wind, so I’m glad I did.

“Front nine, just nothing was going in. It’s quite frustrating for me but I kind of stayed patient and managed to shoot a good score.” Hall is off at 11.43am in the final threesome today with Anne Van Dam and Kelsey MacDonald.

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He certainly impressed her new boss – that person being the 18-year-old herself – with a pleasing one-under 71 to be just four shots off the pace after the opening day of the 12th OMEGA Dubai Ladies Classic.

“I think it went pretty smoothly,” He said of her first round as a professional after relinquishing her amateur status the previous evening.

“I was a bit nervous just because I came from stage 3 [the final LPGA Tour Q-School qualifier in Florida] and I didn’t really perform too well there [she finished tied 89th with a seven over total]. But I was just kind of able to play my own golf. I had a lot of fun out there.”

After shooting 76-76 to miss the cut as an amateur in Dubai last December, He’s first shift was indeed an unqualified success that no one really saw coming.

“Last year here, it [turning pro] definitely didn’t cross my mind, but I think it became a topic throughout the year and I think I knew it was something that I really wanted to do. I’m very excited for next year.”

She’ll play on the secondary Symetra Tour in 2018 but wants a big finish in Dubai beforehand. Perhaps the most encouraging sign yesterday was an uncooperative putter. He counted six missed birdie attempts inside 18 feet. “I had a lot of really good chances that I missed. That’s okay. It just means there’s room for improvement. I’m pretty happy.”

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The 21-year-old may have been attired in loud golf-themed trousers but her limited and quietly-spoken English meant there were slim post-round pickings for the press following her five-under 67 on the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club.

Rest assured Sangchan is fluent in Siamese and super low scoring. She’ll take a one shot buffer into Thursday’s second round over five players – Scot Kelsey MacDonald, Finland’s Minea Blomqvist and Noora Tamminen, Australian rookie Celina Yuan and Dane Nanna Koerstz Madsen – while Dame Laura Davies and Solheim Cupper Florentyna Parker are among a group of seven players a further stroke back after 69s.

Sangchan’s media huddle afterwards lasted all of five questions, the first of which was clearly lost in translation. Paraphrasing the rest, she arrived in Dubai feeling pretty chipper about her game, stayed in the moment and found the Majlis greens “really fast”.

To flesh that out a little, know that the world’s 228th ranked player arrived in Dubai fresh from four top 30 finishes in her last four events, highlighted by T-11 and T-12 efforts in Abu Dhabi and China, the latter in defense of her thus far sole Ladies European Tour title at last month’s Sanya Open. Her pursuers will also be aware that the Thai won the Hong Kong Ladies Open in June so clearly knows how to get the job done.

With two LET titles, Blomqvist is the most decorated of those closest to Sangchan on the leaderboard but it was her compatriot Tamminen who had the most to cheer about on the centenary of Finland’s independence after acing her second hole, the 11th, with a seven iron from 140 yards.

Elsewhere, newly crowned European No.1 Georgia Hall escaped a tiring day with a pleasing two under 70, a score matched by last December’s Dubai runner-up Charley Hull. Brittany Lincicome and Aditi Ashok signed for 71s but reigning order of merit champion Beth Allen won’t have been thrilled with a 75 on her 36th birthday.

Hall can’t be beaten in this season’s OOM race and it’s just as well as she is running on empty at the LET’s season decider after successfully negotiating last week’s final stage of LPGA Tour Q-School.

“I landed from Orlando at like one o’clock yesterday [Tuesday] afternoon. Didn’t get to the hotel until three. It’s a 13-and-a-half-hour flight and I didn’t sleep. So I had a good sleep last night but still a bit jet-lagged,” said the 21-year-old Englishwoman who is still searching for her maiden LET title.

“I kind of struggled on the back nine today but I played okay. Just some approaches to greens weren’t that great, but I’ll sort it out tomorrow and see what happens.”

In-Kyung Kim is another looking for a big Thursday after signing for a one-over 73. It left the reigning British Open champion sitting on the projected cut line but at least the South Korean slept easier than Camille Chevalier. The Rookie-of-the-Year title is the 23-year-old Frenchwoman’s to lose but she won’t be pleased with her opening 75. It gives Swede Jenny Haglund (76) and third placed Luna Soburn (70) hope, albeit of the slim variety as they’d both need Chevalier to miss the cut as well as finishing at least second. Yuan has a mathematical shout too if Chevalier misses the weekend but would also need Haglund, Soburn and others to finish down the standings.

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