The MENA Golf Tour's historic Egypt Swing reaches its conclusion this week as the Egypt Golf Series Madinaty gets underway at Madinaty Golf Club in Cairo, with nine Egyptian players set to compete alongside some of the region's best emerging professionals.
The four-event series has been a resounding success for the
Egyptian Golf Federation, whose partnership with the MENA Golf Tour was
designed to provide local players with crucial competitive experience against
international opposition and a pathway toward global careers.
That vision has come to life over the past three weeks, with
Egyptian players competing alongside professionals from across Europe and the
MENA region – gaining invaluable exposure to the demands of professional
tournament golf and the chance to earn Official World Golf Ranking and World
Amateur Golf Ranking points.
"The Egypt Golf Series has exceeded all
expectations," said Keith Waters, Chairman and Tour Commissioner of the
MENA Golf Tour. "The Egyptian Golf Federation's commitment to developing
their players is clear, and it's been fantastic to see local talent competing
alongside our international membership. This is exactly what the partnership
was designed to achieve – providing Egyptian players with the experience and
ranking points they need to progress their careers on the global stage."
Nine Egyptian players feature in the field at Madinaty,
including professionals Ahmed Morgan and Nour Shebl, along with amateurs
Abdelmonem Elshafei, Adam Elshamy, Ibrahim Ezzat, Adib Shabana, Aly Fahmy, Omar
Abo El Shafei and Abdelrahman El Defrawy. Amateur Adam Elshamy has been particularly
impressive during the swing, claiming the leading Egyptian honours in each of
the past two events.
"I'm really looking forward to playing at Madinaty Golf
Club but more than anything, I'm excited to be back competing on the MENA Golf
Tour," said Elshamy. "This is my fourth event back-to-back, and the
last three have been nothing short of incredible. Playing alongside such
high-level golfers is a great opportunity to benchmark my game, see where I'm
up to and identify what still needs improving.
"I've got some momentum coming off the last event at Marassi and I'm keen to build on that at Madinaty. To complete a hat-trick of leading Egyptian performances on the MENA Golf Tour would mean a lot, not just as a reflection of the work I've been putting into my game, but also as a showcase of the talent and potential that exists within Egyptian golf."
Aly Fahmy will enjoy home course advantage this week at
Madinaty.
"Madinaty is one of the newest clubs in Egypt and it's
now my home course," said Fahmy. "I grew up playing at Katameya
Heights, but Madinaty is where I'm based now and it's definitely one of the
trickiest courses we have. It's very long and quite wide off the tee, but the
greens are extremely slick with a lot of tricky slopes and heavy breaks, so you
really have to be sharp around the greens. My short game feels good this week
and although my driver is a little off, that's something I can fix on the
range. Hopefully I can put it all together and have a good round."
Leading the international challenge is last week's champion
Jack Davidson, who arrives in Cairo riding a wave of confidence following his
dramatic play-off victory at Address Marassi Golf Resort. The Welshman holed an
eagle putt on the first extra hole to defeat Spain's Juan Salama and claim his
maiden MENA Golf Tour title, climbing to fourth in the rankings in the process.
"Obviously winning gives you a lot of confidence,"
Davidson said. "I feel like my game has been in a good place for a little
while now, and that win is something I can really take forward into this week.
I'll be seeing the course for the first time today, but I've heard really good
things about it and I'm really looking forward to getting started."
The victory capped a remarkable turnaround for Davidson, who
fired a course record-equalling 63 in round two after opening with a one-over
71.
"The return of the MENA Golf Tour has come at the
perfect time for me," Davidson said after his win. "I was starting to
see improvements in my game but didn't have anywhere to play, and this tour has
given me the chance to compete against strong international fields on fantastic
golf courses."
With rankings leader Chris Wood absent this week – the
former DP World Tour winner is competing at the Qatar Masters, an event he has
won previously – those chasing him have an opportunity to close the gap. Wood
leads on 39,820 points, with Italy's Ludovico Addabbo (22,910), England's
Charlie Crockett (22,450) and Davidson (21,355) all within striking distance
should they perform well at Madinaty.
The field features considerable experience at the highest
level, with Spain's Alejandro Cañizares – a two-time DP World Tour winner with
over 400 starts on the circuit – joined by England's Ashley Chesters and a host
of fellow HotelPlanner Tour campaigners.
Among the other category one tournament winners in the field
are Austria's Aron Zemmer, England's David Hague and Ben Jones, and France's
Robin Roussel.
The week marks the final opportunity for players to accumulate ranking points in Egypt, with $100,000 in prize money and Official World Golf Ranking points on offer. The Tour then heads to Morocco later this month before continuing to Jordan and the GCC.