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European golf’s drive to innovate continues apace this week with a ground-breaking initiative that will see players from the Challenge Tour, Staysure Tour and Ladies European Tour compete against each other.
The Jordan Mixed Open takes place at Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba and will be the first professional tournament to draw together male, female and senior golfers in one field for the same trophy and prize fund.
Forty players from each of three circuits, plus three invited amateurs, will play a 54-hole event that includes a 36-hole cut for the top 60 and ties. The Greg Norman-designed layout will play to a yardage of 7,100-yards for the Challenge Tour, 6,601 for the Staysure (senior), and 6,139 for the L.E.T.; officials will select pin positions which take into account differences in trajectory and spin rates.
The European Tour, which governs the Challenge and Staysure Tours, has focused on shortened versions of the game (GolfSixes) and speeded-up editions (the now defunct Shot Clock Masters) in recent years, but this season has already witnessed the introduction of the Vic Open to the schedule, a tournament based near Melbourne, Australia which has been banging the drum of male-female golfing inclusivity since 2013.
Five-time European Tour winner Michael Hoey is in this week’s field as a Challenge Tour competitor and told Forbes: “I thought the Vic Open was good. I got to play practice rounds with some of the girls and I’d never seen their game before. The format felt normal and it drew bigger crowds.
“This week will be different. I’ve never actually played against women or seniors and I’m not sure how their games compare to ours so it will be interesting to see. The course is 500-yards, and then another 500 different, but that’s not a huge difference.”
As with anything unfamiliar difficulties arise. For Challenge Tour competitors the prize money will not count for the rankings (officially because it is not a 72-hole event). Hoey explained: “It’s just awkward (that it doesn’t count), that’s disappointing. With some tweaking, it could count, but it has to be fair.”
Beth Allen, winner of the 2016 L.E.T. Order of Merit and co-presenter of the On The Dancefloor podcast which focuses on the women’s game, said: “My gut instinct when I first heard about the event was excitement. Mainly excited to have a new event added to the LET schedule, then more excitement to visit Jordan for the first time and then, of course, the format is intriguing.
“I’m hoping this idea becomes more popular. The Vic Open has been successful over the last several years, but we don't actually play with the men and we certainly don't play against them.
“Differences are being made, and playing with the men, whether it is for equal prize money or actually against them like this week, is a big talking point on social media. It’s creating a buzz.”
The simple detail of arriving at a tournament location and witnessing a different dynamic has been a breath of fresh air.
“The entire idea was so different it was hard for me to get my head around it until I arrived and saw everyone together on the practice ground,” the San Diego native explained. “It feels really comfortable, fresh and exciting.
“A lot of the Europeans know each other and have played practice rounds together. I even saw one of the Staysure guys helping an L.E.T. player on the range and I thought to myself, ‘How cool is this?’
“Of course we are all curious about what the scoring will be like and I hope that the result is that all of the tours are in the mix.”
2017 Staysure Tour top-ranked performer Clark Dennis has traveled from his Texas home for the week, encouraged by a new destination and the sense that this is quite the week for the sport, with the Masters host club holding the inaugural Augusta Women’s National Amateur in Georgia.
“I think there is a buzz in the world of golf,” he said. “You've got our event here and the Augusta Amateur, so it's really good for the ladies to get the exposure this week. I don't think women's golf gets the credit it deserves.”
The tournament takes place April 4th to 6th.
