Could Saudi Arabia one day be a new European Tour destination?
The likelihood the country with the world’s second largest oil reserves hosting a Race to Dubai event was boosted with news Saudi Arabia has agreed to stage a MENA (Middle East North Africa) Tour event later this year.
It is believed to be the first time the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has hosted an international golf tournament.
Saudi Arabia has a population of some 28 million and also is the second largest Arab nation after Algeria.
But the country boasts just two 18-hole championship grass golf course including the Dirab Golf Club and located some 45 kilometres south-west of the capital of Riyadh that will host the MENA Tour event.
Dirah Golf Club in Saudi Arabia and hosting it's first big tournament later this year.
Saudi Arabian Golf Federation officials spoke with European Tour officials early last year in neighbouring Bahrain, and during the staging of the inaugural Volvo Champions event won by Paul Casey.
Vice-President of the Federation, Yusuf Eddiweesh said: “We had a good meeting with the European Tour, and yes we said to them that we would welcome the European Tour in Saudia Arabia.
“We have one or two excellent venues in Riyadh that could host the event so we shall see what transpires.”
The second edition of the MENA Golf Tour will boast six tournaments with a combined prize fund of $US 325,000 and up $US 100,000 on 2011.
The 2012 MENA Tour schedule is:
September 24th to 26th – Dubai Creek and Yacht Club (Title to be confirmed) – $50,000
October 1st to 3rd – Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen Open at Saadiyat Beach – $50,000
October 8th to 10th – Ras Al Khaimah Classic at Tower Links Golf Club, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE – $50,000
October 15th to 17th – The Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open at Al Badia Golf Club, Dubai, UAE – $50,000
October 22nd to 24th – Saudi Arabia, Dirab Golf Club (Title to be confirmed) – $50,000
November 5th to 7th – The MENA Tour Championship, Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club – $75,000.
As was the scenario this week, the top three on the MENA Tour will earn a place in the 2012 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
England’s Jake Shepherd and Peter Richardson along with American, Sean McNamara qualified for this year’s Desert Classic.
Shepherd took out the 2011 MENA money list title with total earnings of $17,749, ahead of Richardson with $15,087, and McNamara with $13,271.
Caddying for McNamara this week in Dubai was fellow American and popular Asian Tour pro, Bryan Saltus, a former winner of the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open.
