The MENA Golf Tour received a major boost on Saturday when Darren Clarke, one of the most respected names in the world of golf and the man favoured to be named European Ryder Cup captain for 2016, accepted the invitation to become a Patron of the Tour.
The 2012 Open champion is no stranger to the region, having competed in the Dubai Desert Classic 20 times since making his first appearance in 1992. Clarke also took part in last year’s inaugural DUBAi Open.
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In his new role as Patron, the popular Ulsterman will provide strategic input into the planning, implementation and management of the programmes of the Tour.
Clarke said: “I’ve been coming to Dubai for a very long time. It is one of my favourite places in the world to keep coming back to. I’ve always been actively involved in trying to promote golf to youngsters, especially in Ireland. When the opportunity came up and Mohamed (Juma Buamaim, Chairman of MENA Tour) asked me to be a Patron of the Tour, I was only too glad to accept.
Fantastic to see @DarrenClarke60 now patron of @MENAGolfTour another big step forward for a great tour@golfindubai pic.twitter.com/yKFodWdxaR
— Chris Cannon (@cccannon10) January 31, 2015
“I will be playing at least one of the MENA Tour events. I’m a Patron and I want to support it, so I will be playing. But I see my role as someone who advises the MENA Tour members, if any of them want to ask for my advice, through my years of playing and what I’ve learned. It could be advice on how to manage their time when they are on Tour; advice as to how to improve. I also want to be involved with it and I want to try to make the tournaments themselves better.
“My participation with the MENA Tour is not only to help the pros, but also to try to promote golf in the area and get more people playing the game because you have some of the best facilities here in the world.”
Welcoming Clarke on board, Buamaim said: “We have grown tremendously in the last four years, but needed to give this tour a little bit of a push, and also we needed a little bit of guidance and we needed somebody who is a friend of ours who has been with us for a long time, and we couldn’t find anyone better than Darren.
“Many more countries in the region have expressed their interest in hosting the event, which is a good sign. With Darren being the Patron, I am confident that there are truly exciting times ahead as he shares our mission to drive the game forward. The journey that began four years also is fast picking up pace.”
The MENA Golf Tour was created in 2011.
