Azaan, Ali lead home challenge in Mena event at Muscat Hills

Mundhir Al Barwani, chairman of Oman Golf Committee; Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the Mena Golf Tour, and leading Omani golfer Azaan Al Rumhy at the Press conference in Muscat on Sunday.

 Top-ranked Omani golfers Azaan Al Rumhy and Ali Hameed Al Saleh will have everything to gain when they spearhead the home challenge at the Muscat Hills Golf Citizen Championship which makes its debut on the Mena Golf Tour this week.
Playing alongside a deeply-talented international field will offer the duo a perfect platform to mentally warm-up and fine tune their game ahead of the Nomura Cup to be held at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi from October 22 to 25.
Included in the field, which is represented by players from 17 countries, are nine winners on the tour, led by England's Joshua White, the 2014 Mena Golf Tour champion, and his compatriot Gary King, who has moved atop the Order of Merit standings following his top-five finish at last week's event at The Els Club.
With the first seven events on the 11-stop tour producing a new winner each time in a reflection of the growing talent on show, the inaugural Muscat Hills Golf Citizen Championship, starting on Monday, has the potential to throw up its own storyline. Waiting in the wings are a string of regular contenders, especially the English trio of Lee Corfield, Luke Joy and Jake Shepherd, all multiple winners on the tour, and Morocco's Ahmed Marjan, who will be itching to break back into the winner's circle as the tour is fast reaching its business end.
The Omani duo - Al Rumhy and Al Saleh - will be hoping to put local knowledge to good use when they join the amateur division, led by England's James Allan and India's Rayhan Thomas.
Both Allan and Thomas have flirted with victory this season, indicating amateurs are now competitive on level terms with professionals in a sign of the growing standards of the game in the region. Al Rumhy and Al Saleh, along with Saudi Arabia's Prince Khaled Saud Al Faisal, will certainly fancy their chances of making a breakthrough in the Mena Division. They will be up against the likes of Morocco's Ayoub Lguirati and Karim El Hali, who currently lead the region's amateur division, in what promises to be an interesting duel.
The Muscat Hills Golf Citizen Championship will also showcase investments made by Oman in positioning the Sultanate as one of the major golf destinations in the region.
"We are delighted to be part of the Mena Golf Tour as we support all initiatives which target the overall development of the game in the region," Mundhir Al Barwani, chairman of Oman Golf Committee, told newsmen on Sunday.
"The tour has done a great job in creating a competitive environment for the region's players to grow and excel on the international stage," he added.
Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the tour, thanked Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club and the Oman Golf Committee for their enthusiastic support in hosting the event.
"Oman has made great strides in putting together solid infrastructure for golf and hosting of a Tour event here strongly endorses the Sultanate's commitment to broadening the base of golfers in the Arab world.
"I hope the experience gained from playing in this event will immensely benefit Azaan and Ali in the run up to the Nomura Cup. The tour is basically meant for the region's players and they should be more proactive in using this platform for achieving better results." Azaan, Ray Stopforth, director of golf at Muscast Hills and Country Club, and Leon Sassen, general manager Ghala Golf Club, were also present at the conference.