England’s Luke Joy, the defending champion at this week’s Dubai Creek Open, feels that none of development tours back home compare to the MENA Golf Tour.
The 27-year-old was the toast of the MENA Tour last year when he won in his first start by prevailing in a playoff over New Zealand’s Trevor Marshal, and then backed it up with a second place finish at Al Badia the following week before winning again at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
Speaking on the eve of the Dubai Creek Open, Joy spoke of his delight to be back in the Middle East and gave a ringing endorsement to the MENA Tour.
“Obviously, we have a lot of feeder tournaments in England. From a distance it might look really, really good, but I can tell you there is a massive amount of quantity, but there is not much quality. So, you have to be very selective on which tours you do there,” said Joy.
“It’s actually interesting to see the MENA Tour get it right and do it really well from the start. We are looked after very well from the moment you get in to the time you leave.
“Out in the UK, you get a mixture of course, and facilities that are not very good. You won’t be surprised to find a range that is 100 yards long and has 120 players crammed in and hitting wedge shots there.
“You won’t find better facilities than Dubai Creek or any of the other courses we go to on the Tour. And with what is planned by the MENA Tour officials, with more tournaments, the future is looking very good. It really is one of the best tours to feed into the Asian Tour or the European Tour.”
Joy, who won the Dorset Open back home in May, is back in the UAE and hoping to run into a similar vein of form soon.
“Last year was a bit of a whirlwind really. I played the first stage of the European Tour Q-School two days before the start of Dubai Creek Open, then drove nine hours from Scotland to home which is on the south coast of England, and then flew in to Dubai,” reminisced Joy.
“Had a quick practice round and yeah…it was nice to get the win early. Then it was one of those things you see on Tours, you get one win and you then get another quickly. No one understands why form comes and goes. But it is obviously the confidence that you get from it.
“Obviously, I would be delighted if I can repeat it, but really, my chances this week are just as good as anybody else’s in the field.”
