Seventh edition Saudi Open set to get rolling

Riyadh Golf Club. Golf Saudi

By GolfDigestME.com
History will be made next week when the Asian Development Tour (ADT) comes to Saudi Arabia for the first time. The Saudi Open, which gets under way on December 8 at Riyadh Golf Club, will see a prize fund of $200,000 up for grabs. Participation in the tournament will be open to ADT players, as well as professional and amateur golf players in the Middle East and North Africa who are registered with a golf club.

As a result of Golf Saudi entering a 10-year partnership with the Asian Tour, the tournament is expected to receive wide interest from golf fans inside and outside the Kingdom. The fact that the Saudi Open is being played on the ADT for the first time is confirmation of the strengthening of ties between the Asian Tour and Golf Saudi. Particularly as the 2023 edition of the US$5 million Saudi International has now officially become the opening event on the Asian Tour’s annual calendar.

The Saudi Open will also see the participation of a raft of up-and-coming players from the GCC and Arab countries, in addition to Saudi Arabia’s growing home talents from the National Team, who have all gone from strength to strength in recent years, as part of Golf Saudi wider Mass Participation programme to grow the game of golf in the Kingdom.

Majed Al Sorour, Deputy Chairman and CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation and Golf Saudi, said: “All of us at both the Saudi Golf Federation and Golf Saudi are incredibly excited about next week’s seventh edition of the PIF Saudi Open. Each and every year we host the tournament, it gets bigger and better. I am especially proud of how each edition provides Saudi and Arab golf players the opportunity to participate in a top tier competition in their home country and be able to not only develop their skill levels but also to test themselves and go head-to-head against players from different countries in the Middle East, North Africa and now the Asian Development Tour in a competitive environment.

“By hosting tournaments such as the PIF Saudi Open, we hope to encourage and facilitate greater uptake in the game and offer our elite golfers the chance to compete against the very best. So, thanks must go to our strategic partners the Asian Tour for helping us to achieve that aim, as their involvement will mean the strongest player field in the PIF Saudi Open’s history.”

The tournament will witness the participation of the most prominent Saudi players, including professional Othman Almulla, along with other National Team players Abdulrahman Al-Mansour, Faisal Salhab and Saud Al Sharif. The Saudi Open also offers qualification for the 2023 Saudi International, which will be held in February.

The ADT has been a springboard to the Asian Tour for dozens of players, including reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Joohyung Kim of Korea and American John Catlin, a four-time winner on the Asian Tour.