Mohamed Juma Buamaim, the chairman of the <a href="gopher://topicL3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL1N1YmplY3RzL01lbmEgR29sZiBUb3Vy" inlink="topic::L3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL1N1YmplY3RzL01lbmEgR29sZiBUb3Vy">Mena Golf Tour</a>, says he wants the tournament to have a "minimum of 10" events in the future, although admits the recent unrest in the region has affected plans for expansion. The Mena Tour, now in its second season, is taking place this week outside the UAE for the first time, with Dirab Golf and Country Club in Saudi Arabia playing host to the Dirab Golf Championship. The event forms one of six on this year's circuit, an increase of two events from the inaugural tournament last year. Organisers agree sustaining the tour's early success is dependent on the initiative, funded by the Sheikh Maktoum Golf Federation, extending throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Developed golf nations such as Morocco and Egypt would be obvious choices to host future tournaments - yet the uncertainty precipitated by the Arab Spring has, understandably, stunted the Mena Tour's growth. "At the beginning we wrote to every association in the Mena region telling them what the tour is about and inviting them to participate," Buamaim said. "Only Saudi came back. The others are interested but certain problems happened in the Middle East, which obviously slowed things down. But I don't doubt that next year is going to be much, much bigger than this. "If you're going to have a tour you need as many events as possible otherwise it's not worth participating for a lot of the professionals. We were looking at a minimum of 10 - that's the objective - but, again, things in the world are not how they used to be. "In terms of numbers, we're going to do tournaments we can afford, it's as simple as that. We're not going to stretch our resources so that we're not able to continue for another number of years." Buamaim applauded the Saudi Arabian Golf Federation for its work in bringing this week's event to the Arab state. The field comprises 98 players, 28 of which are amateurs, including 13 from the host country. "The organisers of the event are the only ones who are actually paying the US$50,000 [Dh184,000]prize fund, which shows their commitment. We need to spread this fact: that the tour has to be self-supportive in the future. That's how successful tours work." Follow us
