By Kent Gray
The European Tour welcomed the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) to the Race to Dubai decider last November. The MENA Tour by Arena has picked up the baton and really run with it.

The regional developmental circuit has reached an agreement with the EDGA that will give players with an official World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) and a handicap of 4.4 or less a chance to tee it up on one of three MENA Tour event in the next two months.

With the blessing of the European Tour, the EDGA held two events on the sidelines of the Scottish Open and DP World Tour Championship last year. The MENA Tour has taken it a step further by welcoming golfers of determination into already established events. Four EDGA-registered players can apply for invites to the Ras Al Khaimah Open (Tower Links G.C., March 29-April 1); the Northern Emirates Open (Al Hamra G.C., April 5-8) and the Al Ain Classic (Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, April 12-15).

EDGA President Tony Bennett praised the MENA Tour for its latest effort to embrace inclusivity in golf.

“MENA Tour by Arena have shown great vision in making this agreement to include golfers with a disability in this exciting Tour by opening up these invitations,” Bennett said. “The agreement will encourage other organisations to take their responsibility to make golf a truly inclusive game more seriously.

“Such initiatives help create a trickle-down effect and grows awareness of the sport, even for those who have not yet considered golf to be a sport of their choice.”

In Addition to the two European Tour events last year, 12 players competed alongside the professionals in the Australian All Abilities Championship.

“At the MENA Tour by Arena, we want to be proactive in creating awareness and facilitating change, and also play a role in growing the game,” said Wayne Johnson, MENA Tour Tournament Director and Player Liaison Official.

“We are thrilled to announce this opportunity for golfers with disability to play alongside our professionals at three world-class venues in the UAE.

“Last season, the MENA Tour, along with our main sponsors Arena Middle East & Asia, announced we will refrain from using single-use plastic water bottle as part of our commitment to the environment, and this agreement with the EDGA is another example of us being socially responsible.”

Letters of application should be sent to the EDGA Director of Tournaments, Manon Eggermont at manon@edgagolf.com. The closing date for applications for EDGA members for each tournament will be one week before the closing date of entries for the tournament.

After wins for Englishman David Langey and Frenchman Sebastien Gros at the Journey to Jordan #1 Championship and NEWGIZA Open respectively, the MENA Tour moves to Oman this week for the Ghala Open in Muscat.

The post MENA Tour welcomes golfers with disabilities into regional circuit fold appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“Today I woke up and felt like I was 27 again,” he said from his South Florida home.

This after a long day by anyone’s standard, much less a nonagenarian. A legendary teaching pro and the PGA Tour’s leading money winner in 1954, Toski was at Atlantic National Golf Club in Lake Worth, Fla., on Tuesday, playing a nine-hole scramble, then teaching the rest of the day. He was on the lesson tee about 10 a.m., he said, and finished around four.

Then it was off to an old haunt in Boca Raton. “I had dinner with [Golf Channel’s] Brandel Chamblee. Took him to Arturo’s, a restaurant where I sing. I’m a vocalist there. I sang two songs, [I Left my Heart in] San Francisco and My Way. I said to Brandel, ‘Tony Bennett made this song famous. Tony and I have one thing in common. We’re both the same age.’”

Toski and Chamblee had arrived at six and left at 10.

Four months ago, Toski’s destination was altogether different.

“I was halfway to heaven,” he said. “But He sent me back. Said ‘I’ll call you later.’

“They put two stents in my heart. They were delivering me to ICU and my heart stopped. It stopped five times. They had to regenerate my heart. The answer they gave me when they put the two stents in, the heart flow became so great that blood was rushing too fast. It was like the heart was drowning. They were able to control that so that my heart beat consistently.”

He credits his therapists and nurses for how well he now feels. That along with a walk-in bathtub with a whirlpool device.

“Got it about 10 years ago. Best investment I made,” he said of the tub. “What I do after I get through playing is I sit in there for 20 or 30 minutes. It soothes the muscles and relaxes them. It regenerates the blood flow. When I get through I massage my legs a little bit. What I’m doing is regenerating the flow in my muscles.

“I’m happy that I’m feeling well. I go to my doctor once a month. He says my heartbeat is fine. I’m gaining strength in my legs. That was my biggest problem. The therapy I’m taking from therapists, it’s difficult. They had me walking on my toes and walking on my heels. It’s hard to do. But my body has recovered very well from these therapists.

“My nurses that give me the exercises give me an A every time so I must be doing them right. It’s not easy. It’s like trying to relearn a golf swing. At 92, I’m blessed. I’m blessed because my recovery has been very quick and effective.”

The word frail is often applied to the elderly, but doesn’t fit Toski. He was the size of a jockey in his playing days, 120 pounds, hence his nickname, the Mouse.

“Now I weigh 145 pounds, the heaviest I’ve ever been,” he said. “Everyday I step on the scale and it’s always 144, 145. My blood pressure is the same every day, too, 118 over 60.”

Even four hours spent with Chamblee, who, according to Twitter, apparently is capable of raising blood pressure readings, did not elevate Toski’s. “He’s one smart person,” Toski said. “He knows the history of the game.”

Toski embodies the history of the game. He played alongside Hogan, Nelson and Snead and has lived long enough to watch Tiger and, in the wake of his recovery from a heart attack, whoever and whatever comes next.

“I’m a lucky guy,” he said. “[Before] this heart attack I never realized how beautiful the earth is. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener.”

The post Bob Toski, 92, ‘was halfway to heaven’ after his heart attack, now back to playing and teaching appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.