MENA Golf Tour announces major 2025 relaunch in bid to boost regional golf
Since its launch in 2011, the MENA Golf Tour has been a critical springboard for emerging golf professionals and amateurs, offering world-ranking points, competitive purses, and international exposure that have helped players from the Middle East and beyond break through to the game's top tours.
After being abandoned for the entire 2018 season and enduring a stop-start return in 2020 that was cut short by the pandemic, the MENA Golf Tour is now poised for a full-scale comeback, aiming to reclaim its position as one of the Middle East's leading professional and amateur circuits and rebuild the momentum lost during years of disruption.
Leading the Tour's resurgence is Keith Waters, former Chief Operating Officer of the DP World Tour and long-standing board member of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), who steps in as the new Chairman and Commissioner.
Waters' appointment brings heavyweight experience to the only OWGR-recognised circuit headquartered in the Middle East. Now, with over four decades of top-tier golf administration, including his pivotal role in launching the OWGR in 2004, Waters is expected to drive the Tour into an ambitious new era.
The 2025/2026 season will feature 12 events, opening in Portugal following a November Qualifying School for non-exempt players. Talks are underway with both the DP World Tour and the HotelPlanner Tour to create a formal development pathway, giving the MENA Golf Tour's top performers direct access to DP World Tour Qualifying School and the HotelPlanner Tour.
Waters backs Tour revival
'I'm delighted to be involved in the relaunch of the MENA Golf Tour,' said Waters. 'This Tour has tremendous potential and serves as a crucial pathway for golfers, not just from the Middle East, but internationally.
'We have already seen success stories such as Robert MacIntyre, who progressed from the MENA Golf Tour to winning prestigious titles like the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR and the Genesis Scottish Open on the DP World Tour.'
MacIntyre, now a two-time DP World Tour winner and sitting second on the European Ryder Cup ranking, paid tribute to the Tour's influence on his career.
'The MENA Golf Tour opened doors, taught me how to win, and prepared me for the challenges of the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR,' said the Scot. 'I'm excited to see it return and give the next generation of players the same opportunities I had.'
OWGR status, prize hike
Under Waters' leadership, the revitalised circuit will retain its OWGR eligibility while significantly increasing prize purses with each event.
"We're pleased the MENA Golf Tour will remain an eligible Official World Golf Ranking tour as well as prize money of $100,000 per event," said Waters. "Each tournament will be contested over 54 holes, featuring a 36-hole cut to the top 60 players and ties, with the winner taking home $18,000."
Rayhan Thomas is another standout product of the MENA Golf Tour's talent pipeline and proof of its reach beyond the region. The Indian golfer, who was born and raised in Dubai, made headlines in 2016 when, at just 16, he became the first amateur to win a MENA Golf Tour event, the Dubai Creek Open. The following year, he gained international attention by tying a world record with nine consecutive birdies during the same tournament.
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