Future Stars Embark on ‘Journey to Jordan’

Ayla Golf Club is finalising preparations to stage three consecutive events on the MENA Tour calendar, kick-starting what will be an action-packed season for the spectacular Red Sea venue.

The stunning Greg Norman-designed course in Aqaba, Jordan, will play a key role in the staging of the regional circuit in 2019, hosting five events throughout the season, including a two-part Qualifying School set for the 29th January-1st February and 2nd-5th February.

Further demonstrating Ayla Golf Club’s commitment to supporting the growth of the game in the region, the club will also play host to the Tour’s season-opener from 9th-11th February, a regular season tournament slated for the end of September before welcoming the leading players back in November for the season-ending $100,000 MENA Tour Championship.

The quintet of tournaments comes after a year’s hiatus for the Middle East’s principal golf tour, which returns with a streamlined and more lucrative schedule for 2019, coined the ‘Journey to Jordan’.

The revamped MENA Tour will also offer enhanced playing opportunities for its members in 2019 with the top-five ranked players after the circuit’s spring swing guaranteed a start in events on the Asian, Challenge and the European Tours.

As a result, there will be plenty on the line when the Qualifying School hopefuls tee it up on Ayla’s spectacular championship course next week, with a spot in the inaugural Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla among the opportunities up for grabs for those who successfully negotiate the first five events of the season.

Highlighting the MENA Tour’s reinvigorated appeal and the allure of Ayla as a championship venue, the opening tournament in the ‘Journey to Jordan’ has received entries from across three continents, with Jordanian amateur Shergo Al Kurdi joining a global field which encompasses players from as far afield as South Africa, Sweden and India.

The standout year for the forward-thinking resort, located close to many of Jordan’s key attractions, including Petra and Wadi Rum, will be headlined by the Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla, 4th- 6th April, an innovative new tournament which will see players from the Ladies European Tour, Challenge Tour and Staysure Tour come together to compete over the same course for a single prize fund for the first time. It will, in fact, be the first time in history that men, women and seniors have competed in such circumstances, making this a true world-first event.

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