England’s Joshua Grenville-Wood set a blistering pace on the first day of the PIF Saudi Open, with 12 birdies and only two dropped shots propelling him to a 10-under-par round of 62 and a three shot lead over the field.

His endeavors, which set a new course record, eclipsed an otherwise impressive start by Saudi amateur Saud Abdullah Al Sharif, the early clubhouse leader at the Riyadh Golf Club after a bogey free 65, who shares second place with Morocco’s Ahmed Marjan and Indonesia’s Naraajie E. Ramadhanputra.

It is Grenville-Wood’s second visit to Saudi Arabia, but his first playing golf. “It’s great fun out here. I love being out here in the Middle East playing golf,” he said after his round.

“I’m very pleased with my round today. Solid, stress-free golf. Hit the ball really good and just happened to make a couple of nice putts.

“I love the course,” he added. “The fairways are in really good condition, just like carpet. You can clip it off the fairways and the greens are rolling at a really nice speed. I’m really enjoying it out there.”

Ahmad Baig of Pakistan leads a group on six under at the US$200,000 Asian Development Tour event, the first tournament of its kind to be staged by the ADT in Saudi Arabia. Baig shares fifth place with amateur Issa Abouelela of Egypt and Malaysia’s Galven Green

Thailand’s Chanat Sakulpolphaisan and Benjamin Follett-Smith of Zimbabwe matched each other with scores of 67, both reaching five under with three birdies, an eagle and no dropped shots, albeit on completely different holes.

The duo share eighth place after the first round with England’s William Harold, Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines and the Thai pair of Puwit Anupansuebsai and Pisitchai Thippong.

Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan leads a group in 14th on four under par, with a single bogey offsetting a clutch of five birdies. Dodge Kemmer of the USA is also on 68 after a flawless round with four birdies on no dropped shots.

They head a truly international group which includes Harrison Gilbert of Australia, Kevin Esteve of Andorra, Sweden’s Erik Jonasson, Ahmed Reda Rhazali of Morocco, Norway’s Jarand Ekeland Arnoy, Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin and Tunisian amateur Elyes Barhoumi.

A total of 121 golfers started the event which will be played over 54 holes. The winner of the tournament, which is organised by Golf Saudi, will qualify for the 2023 edition of the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.

The ADT season is drawing to a close, with just two more tournaments to play before the end of the year, and the Order Of Merit is still very much open. Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin, who won the Selangor Masters at the end of last month, is the best placed contender after Round One.

Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai, who has three wins already this season, was only able to post a one under 71 for his opening round, which leaves him two shots adrift of compatriot Chonlatit Chuenboonngam. China’s Chen Guxin, in fourth place in the OOM, is not teeing it up this week.

Faisal Salhab, one of Saudi Arabia’s most promising young golfers, is hoping for a repeat victory at the 2022 Saudi Open, which gets underway tomorrow at the Riyadh Golf Club, the first event on the Asian Development Tour to take place in the kingdom.

“I definitely hope to do well,” said Salhab about his expectations of playing at his home course. “I know what I’m capable of on the course and hopefully, I’m able to perform to my best abilities at the event.”

“It was nice to win at my home course and also was nice seeing friendly faces around and having that support,” he added.

His victory last season came with a total score of 11 under-par after three rounds. A total of 88 players from 27 countries took part in the tournament, which was open to both professionals and amateurs from the Middle East and North Africa.

In 2022, the event takes place from December 8-10 and is open to all of Asia, and more than 50 players will be making the journey from countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Korea. The total field will be 120 players with approximately 25 Saudis lining up in the field.

The winner of the tournament, which is organised by Golf Saudi and has a purse of $200,000, will qualify for the 2023 edition of the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.

Taking the field will be Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin, who won the Selangor Masters at the end of last month, together with other ADT tournament winners such as Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai who has three wins already this season and compatriot Chonlatit Chuenboonngam.

The three currently lead the ADT Order of Merit and will be seeking to take advantage of the fact that their main contender, China’s Chen Guxin will not be teeing it up tomorrow.

Australia’s Harrison Gilbert, who won the Indo Masters Golf Invitational presented by TNE in June, and Jack Murdoch will be joining the field in a clutch of international players, alongside Dodge Kemmer of the USA, Sweden’s Oscar Zetterwall and Mathias Keyser of South Africa. English players include Matt Killen and Joshua Grenville-Wood, Joe Heraty, William Harrold and David Langley.

Lloyd Jefferson Go, who has shown some strong performances this season, will be looking to finish the year on a high note, as will Japan’s Shinichi Mizuno and Indonesia’s Naraajie E. Ramadhanputra, winner of the OBGolf Invitational in Jakarta in June.

Thailand has a strong contingent in addition to Suteepat and Chonlatit, including in-form players like Sarun Sirithon, winner of the Laguna Phuket Cup in May, Nirun Sae-ueng, Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij, Denwit Boriboonsub and Chanat Sakulpolphaisan.

Salhab, Golf Saudi’s highest-ranked amateur golfer, welcomes the arrival of the Asian Development Tour to Saudi Arabia.

“I’m very happy that Saudi Arabia is getting more professional events and having the ADT come to the Kingdom is going to bring better competition and it’s good to see these type of events start happening more in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“By having an event of this status in Saudi Arabia shows the people the quality of players around the world and for the future generations it gives them a real benchmark to strive for.”

Host venue of the Saudi Open, the Riyadh Golf Club boasts a challenging 18-hole golf course with exceptional practice facilities.

The course’s undulating terrain, wide fairways and manicured greens offer golfers a pleasurable and challenging experience but the man-made lakes and streams traversing the course will keep golfers at the top of their game.

Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin showed steely determination to clinch victory at the PKNS Selangor Masters today, shrugging off a double bogey on the par-five 13th hole to face down Thailand’s Denwit Boriboonsub at the finish.

Denwit, who started the day tied with Ariffin (275) at Kelab Golf Seri Selangor, was unable to take advantage of his playing partner’s misstep on 13, and instead posted a string of dropped shots in the closing holes as he watched his title chance slip away.

The pair, who had traded birdies and bogeys to remain in lockstep throughout most of the day at the US$150,000 Asian Development Tour event, were eventually parted in the finishing stretch. Denwit finished in second, two shots back of Ariffin with 277.

Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines briefly held second place with Denwit until a final hole bogey dropped him into a share of third with veteran Danny Chia. Malaysia’s Chia, who posted par for the day, for a closing score of 278. They were followed by Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent in solo fifth with 279 and Australia’s Jack Murdoch in sixth with 280.

Joe Heraty of England finished with 283 strokes and a share of seventh place, together with Singapore’s Gregory Foo and Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin. Nazrin, who was the early tournament leader after round one with a score of 65, was unable to repeat his opening day heroics and posted his third plus par score of 73.

Suteepat Prateeptienchai of Thailand rounded out the top 10 for a par tournament score of 284, followed by compatriots Chanat Sakulpolphaisan and Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij on 285 in 11th place, together with Malaysia’s Edven Ying.

Joshua Greville-Wood of England finished in 14th spot with a score of 286, a position he shared with Thai duo Chonlatit Chuenboonngam and Puwit Anupansuebsai.

Filling the remain places in the top 20 were Kemarol Baharin and Ervin Chang of Malaysia, and Thailand’s Nirun See-ueng and Peradol Panyathanasedh, who shared 17th spot with a score of 287.

Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin seized the initiative in round three of the PKNS Selangor Masters, posting a five-under-par score of 66 to grab a share of the lead at Kebab Golf Seri Selangor on Friday with a combined score of 205.

Denwit Boriboonsub of Thailand, who had a share of the lead at the start of play, managed to keep pace with Ariffin by posting a 68, but his fellow overnight leader Amir Nazrin of Malaysia had a disappointing day, dropping five shots in the last four hole to finish with a 73.

Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines also posted a 66 to move into third place, a position he shares with Malaysia’s Danny Chia who shot 67 to make it to six under (207) for the US$150,000 Asian Development Tour event.

Australia’s Jack Murdoch scored a round of par, with just a birdie/bogey combo on the pair of par fives on the front nine and holds solo fifth on 209, followed by Nazrin in sixth with 210 shots after three rounds.

Thailand’s Sutteepat Prateeptienchai carded the low round of the day with a bogey-free score of 65 to move into seventh spot, followed by Gregory Foo of Singapore, who lost ground with a disappointing 74 to drop into solo eight spot.

Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent, fresh from his adventures in Africa at the International Series Morocco and International Series Egypt, moved up into ninth spot with a 69 today, and joined England’s Joe Heraty who had an up and down day but ended up with a par score to remain on 213, par score for the three days.

Malaysia’s Edvin Ying, tied for third overnight, had an unfortunate reversal of fortunes, scoring five over in his round to drop into a share of 11th, which he shares with Abdul Hadi of Singapore and Puwit Anupansuebsai of Thailand.

Denwit Boriboonsub of Thailand closed the gap on overnight leader Amir Nazrin during Round Two of the PKNS Selangor Masters in Petaling Jaya on Friday, posting a one under score of 70 to tie the lead going into the final rounds.

Malaysia’s Nazrin, who posted a six under score of 65 yesterday, was not able to maintain the pace for a second day, scoring bogeys on the final hole of each nine at Kebab Golf Seri Selangor for a two round total of 137.

Amir Nazrin

His compatriot Edven Ying, who held a share of second place in the US$150,000 Asian development Tour event overnight, managed to keep in touch with the leaders, but after a colorful round with five birdies and as many bogeys, drops to third on four under.

Sharing the group in third place were two overnight movers, Jack Murdoch of Australia and Singapore’s Gregory Foo, who both carded rounds of 68 to add to their first round totals of 70. Both posted one of the few eagles on the board, Foo on the par five fifth hole, and Murdoch on the equally lengthy par five sixth.

Edven Ying

Shariffuddin Ariffin holds solo sixth after his one over par round, which although it included six birdies, also saw too many dropped shots, including a double on the par 3 third hole.

Fellow Malaysian Danny Chia matched his first round score of 70, as dis Van Thomas of the USA, and the pair share seventh spot with a combined score of 140, three shots back of the leaders.

Gregory Foo

The Philippine duo of Lloyd Jefferson Go and Ira Alido occupy ninth place on the board at one under par, Alido posting a four under score of 67 to make up for his three over 74 in Round One.

In a group of four in 11th place, Abdul Hadi of Singapore and England’s Joe Heraty are joined by Thailand’s Nattawat Suvajanakorn and Nirun Sae-ueng, all on even par after two rounds with a score of 142.

The cut after Round Two was set at eight over par, and 50 golfers will continue into Round Three.

Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin overcame a shaky start to set the early pace at the PKNS Selangor Masters on Wednesday, recovering from a first hole bogey to claim a final score of 65 and a lead of two strokes in the first round.

A powerful closing stretch with five birdies in seven holes set him apart from his nearest contenders, Thailand’s Denwit Boriboonsub and fellow Malaysian Shariffuddin Ariffin, who each posted a four-under 67.

Edven Ying, also of Malaysia, was part of the afternoon wave and joined the group in second place as play drew to a close at the par 71 Seri Selangor course.

Shahriffuddin Ariffin

England’s Joe Heraty leads a group in fifth place on three under, joined by Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines, Malaysia’s Galven Green and Suttjet Kooratanapisan of Thailand.

Chonlatit Chuenboonngam of Thailand sits in solo ninth place at two under, with a big group in joint 10th on one under par, including Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij of Thailand, England’s Joshua Grenville-Wood, Singapore’s Gregory Foo, Jack Murdoch of Australia, America’s Van Thomas and the Malaysian trio of veteran Danny Chia, Leunkwang Kim and amateur Hariz Hezri.

Joe Heraty

Japanese amateur Daichi Hayashi, only 12 years old, set a new record as the event got underway, becoming the youngest ever to tee it up on tour. The previous record was set by Malaysia’s Gavin Green at 13 when he started in the Iskandar Johor Open.

The Japanese youngster, who posted a first round score of 82, has quite a bit of work to do to break his next record, that of Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond.

In 2010, the 2019 Order of Merit winner became the youngest player ever to make the halfway cut in an Asian Tour event, playing the weekend as an amateur at the age of 14 years, 71 days.