Entries to Mena Golf Tour events in Morocco to have a global feel
Intermittent rain shower notwithstanding, the air is thick with anticipation as preparations ramp up for MENA Golf Tour’s opening two events in Morocco, fondly referred to as the ‘home of Arab golf.’
The capital city of Rabat will play host to the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Open from March 12 to 14 while the second event will be played at Royal D’Anfa Mohammedia in Casablanca from March 19 to 21, marking the beginning of the tour’s first foray into the North Africa region.
With only a couple of days left until the first tee off, entries to both tournament wear a global look with players from as many as 13 countries, especially Morocco, represented in the field in what promises to see absorbing back-to-back tournaments at the country’s premier courses.
In 50 players, including 13 amateurs, will line up for honours in the first event to be played at Royal Golf of Dar Es Salam, which is only 15 minutes from the centre of Rabat. Hosts Morocco spearhead the field with 22 players.
“We look forward to welcoming the players to Morocco for the first time,” said Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the MENA Golf Tour. “Morocco is old hand when it comes to hosting international events such as the Hassan II Golf Trophy and the Lalla Meryem Cup.
“The addition of the MENA Tour events to their portfolio will further enhance the country’s reputation as an exotic golfing destination, steeped in history and tradition.
“More importantly, the tour events will provide the local talent there an ideal opportunity to hone their competitive skills in home conditions and graduate to the next level. In fact, the very intention of the tour is to see amateurs from the Arab world, in particular, come through the ranks and make a name for themselves.
“With golf returning to the Olympics in 2016 for the first time since 1904, the region’s players need regular exposures to top-class events if they aim to make the cut and fly their country’s flag. The experience gained on MENA Tour may well come in handy,” he added.
The two events in Morocco are part of the MENA Tour’s first leg while nine tournaments, including the season-ending Tour Championship, will be played in the second leg, starting in September. A player, whether an amateur or professional, is required to play a minimum of six events to feature in the final Order of Merit standings.
The top three professionals and the leading amateur will receive special invitations to compete in the 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic while the top amateur will also be rewarded with the prestigious Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation scholarship.
The all-expenses-paid scholarship sees the leading amateur return to Dubai for a five-week intensive training stint to fine tune his skills in the run to the European Tour event, promoted and organised by golf in DUBAi, at Emirates Golf Club next year.
A new initiative by the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation, the MENA Golf Tour is supported by Omega and Mercedes-Benz. It is affiliated to the Arab Golf Federation and the R&A – golf’s governing body and boasts a combined prize fund of $ 575,000, including $75,000 for the Tour Championship.
A TV highlight package, featuring the two events, will also showcase Morocco’s rich cultural heritage and ancient civilization besides its fabulous golfing facilities to a worldwide audience.
Designed by Robert Trent Jones in 971, the Royal Golf of Dar Es Salam is spread over 440 hectares of trees, flowers, water. Ideally placed in the heart of a cork oak forest, the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam has been home to international tournaments, including the Trophy Hassan II Golf Trophy, a European Tour event.
Located next to the Atlantic Ocean, the Royal Golf D’Anfa Mohammedia’s Course, designed in 1920, runs through avenues of pine and eucalyptus trees, progressing onto more links-like terrain along the shoreline where the landscape is reminiscent of an old-fashioned Scottish seaside course with small dunes and tumbling fairways. “Heavily bulbous because of its proximity to the sea” is the quaint way the course has been described by the Moroccans.
Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of MENA Golf Tour, and Bouftas Abderrahman, president of Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, with some of the players competing in the Tour’s first event in Rabat
