MENA Golf Tour stars El Maouas and Corfield drawn together in the 25th Omega Dubai Desert Classic first round

MENA Golf Tour stars Mustapha El Maouas and Lee Corfied have been drawn together for the opening two rounds of this week’s 25th anniversary edition of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club.

The two, who are making their debut in the longest-running European Tour event in the region, will be joined by Marco Crespi of Italy in a three ball, going out at 08:55 from the first tee.
England’s Zane Scotland, who won the MENA Golf Tour Order of Merit winner for professionals in 2013, returns to the Majlis course for the second successive year with France’s Alexander Levy and Jaco van Zyl of South Africa for company over the first 36 holes.
Rounding out the MENA Golf Tour players taking part this week is Stephen Dodd, who finished second on the tour’s Order of Merit last year. The experienced Welshman will play alongside England’s Barry Lane, the only player in the field to have featured in all 24 editions of the tournament, and Australia’s Scott Hend. The trio will get under way at 13:15.
The top three professionals and the leading amateur from their respective Order of Merit rankings were handed special invites to compete in the tournament by golf in DUBAi as part of their drive to promote golf in the region.
Of the four, Dodd is the most experienced, having won three times on the European Tour and finishing runner-up to Ernie Els in the 2005 edition of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic while Scotland enjoyed a highly-successful amateur career before a series of injuries put his burgeoning career on hold.
The Englishman, who won four times on the MENA Golf Tour in 2013, is happy to be pain-free and looking forward to the challenge ahead. “If I continue to play the way I did on the tour, I think I stand a good chance of posting a good finish,” said Scotland.
El Maouas, who became the second Moroccan after Ahmed Marjan to win the Order of Merit title for amateurs, was equally upbeat about his chances.
 “I know there are many big names in the field, but I have faith in my abilities. You can’t put a price on what you learn from the European Tour events; it’s an opportunity money can’t buy. So it’s perfect, really,” he added.
England’s Corfied, who made it to the 2013 MENA Golf Tour after finishing runner-up on United Kingdom’s Jamega Golf Tour Order of Merit, is also rubbing his hands in anticipation. “It will be a big moment in my career and looking forward to it. It will be fun to play the first two rounds with Mustapha,” said Corfield, who will be out at 08:55.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s Faycal Serghini, who has been invited by golf in DUBAi as part of their strong ties with organizers of the Hassan II Trophy, is paired with South Africa’s Hennie Otto and England’s Steve Webster for 08:15 first round tee time.
“It will be a very special week for Morocco golf as it will put our country on the golfing map and this makes us all very proud,” said Serghini, who has also featured many times in Hassan II Trophy even before it became a full European Tour event in 2010.