Sensational 60 lifts Ben Jones to a second career title at Madinaty
October 1: Playing one of his rounds of golf, England’s Ben Jones (main picture) came close to a 59 in the final round of the $125,000 Egyptian Golf Series 14. He finally settled for a 10-under par 60, but that was enough to win his maiden Asian Development Tour title and change the course of his career.
In Thursday’s final round at Madinaty Golf Club, Jones showed his love for the spectacular Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course in New Cairo. It was his second win on the course, having earlier won a MENA Golf Tour event here in 2023. This time, the victory margin was five shots.
Jones started the day two shots behind overnight leaders – India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill and Korea’s Minhyeok Yang – and even though he was 1-under par through five, he had fallen three behind Gill.
It was then that Jones produced two stunning stretches of golf – four birdies in five holes from the sixth to 10th, and then five straight birdies from 13th to 17th. That gave him a chance to shoot a 59 but he missed a makeable birdie putt on the 18th.
Minhyeok Yang of Korea. Picture by Toha Bin Dol/ADT
The win earned him a cheque of $21,875 and lifted him to 17th in the ADT Order of Merit. A solid outing in the season-ending Aramco Invitational in November could lift him inside the top-10, which would guarantee a card on the 2027 Asian Tour season.
Yang (67) started with a crippling triple bogey seven on the opening hole but birdied his last two holes to edge ahead of Gill (68) in solo second place at 17-under 263. Gill, who has played the last two holes really well this week, could not pick up shots and was solo third at 264.
Korea’s Jaeil Kim (65) was fourth at 15-under, while England’s Thomas Plumb (66) and American Carson Herron (67) were tied fifth at 266. Frenchman Alexis Leray (65) and American Brent Ito (66) were tied for seventh place at 13-under 267.
The win for Jones also means the 26-year-old will have to take a critical look at the construction job he has taken on and focused on. It was his first tournament in over two months, and he made the trip to Egypt only because of his track record on Madinaty.
“Considering I haven’t played golf for the last couple of months, to come and get a win is beyond expectation,” said the man from Northampton, who shot an eight-under par 62 last week in the opening round of Egyptian Golf Series 13.
“Obviously, I clearly like it. Even last week, starting off with an eight-under…the course seems to suit my eye, and I have always done well around here.”
Pukhraj Singh Gill of India. Picture courtesy Egyptian Golf Federation.
Jones said he made a conscious decision not to look at leaderboard at any stage, but was aware that he was 10-under as he approached the 18th hole.
“I knew I was 10-under, but to be honest, I was just zoned out and thinking about the job, and I forgot the golf course was par-70. So, I was a little bit annoyed with my putting going on the last, but I didn’t realise that was for a 59,” said Jones.
“I just play every hole to try and hit the best shot I can, and make as many birdies as possible, give myself an opportunity for a birdie anyway. So, that’s why I chose not to look at leaderboards and think about it, or overthink it. Just tried to hit the best shot I can at the time.”
Asked what a win meant to him, Jones said: “It means I play a bit more golf.”
The Egyptian Golf Series 13 and 14 were both co-sanctioned by the Egyptian Golf Federation. The events were partnered by The Arab Golf Federation and Golf Saudi.
September 30: India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill and Korea’s Minhyeok Yang both birdied the last two holes of Madinaty Golf Club to edge ahead of a fast-charging American Henry Chung (main picture) and England’s Ben Jones after the penultimate round of the $125,000 Egyptian Golf Series 14.
Overnight joint leaders at nine-under par, Gill and Yang shot identical rounds of five-under par 65 to reach 14-under 196.
Chung, who played the opening round of the tournament blind after landing on Sunday night from Taiwan, found his bearings with the day’s lowest round of 63. He trailed the leaders by one and was ahead of Jones (65) by one.
American Carson Herron, son of four-time PGA Tour winner Tim, also moved into contention in solo fifth place at 11-under following a bogey-free round of 65.
England’s Thomas Plumb (66), China’s Andi Xu (67), Korea’s Jaeil Kim (68), Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool (69) and Australian Darcy Brereton (69) were tied sixth at 10-under.
Pukhraj Singh Gill of India. Picture courtesy Egyptian Golf Federation.
Gill, who turned 29 four days ago, is intent on giving himself the best birthday gift possible. The round seemed to be going away from him when he made bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes, but the man from Ludhiana, Punjab, bounced right back with birdies in his last two holes.
Earlier, Gill did the bulk of his scoring from the fourth to ninth holes, making an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole and birdies on the fourth, sixth and ninth.
“It was a quiet birthday, and I am hoping to get the job done tomorrow and then have a big celebration when I go back home to India,” said Gill, who chipped in from 12 yards for his eagle on the fifth hole.
“I got off to a pretty hot start today and was four-under through my first six hole, and I was playing good golf. The two bogeys on the 15th and 16th damaged my round a bit, but I am grateful that I could birdie the last two and limit that damage.”
Yang also made four birdies in five holes from the fifth to ninth, before a bogey on the 10th set him back. He then birdied the last two holes as well.
Chung is currently 29th in the Asian Development Tour Order of Merit and 105th in the Asian Tour Order of Merit, which means he is fighting the battle to a full Asian Tour card on two fronts. He played the Mercuries Taiwan Masters last week and decided to make the trip to Egypt after missing the cut.
Ben Jones of England. Picture by Jason Butler/Asian Tour.
While Chung is fighting for a card in 2027, Jones is hoping a good finish will help him decide more professional golf next year. The man from Sheffield is now working in a construction business, and will be returning to office on Friday morning after he flies back.
“I was planning to come here only in the scenario where I missed the cut in Taiwan. I missed by one, which was unfortunate, flew out Sunday morning, got to my Airbnb at 11pm and I had a 9:50 morning tee time on Monday,” said Chung.
“If everything went according to plan and I had a great season, I would not be playing on the ADT, but it didn’t. So, I’m kind of bouncing between both Tours. If I am able to get in the top-10 here, it would take a lot of pressure off going into the last couple of events on the Asian Tour, and hopefully, good golf here would lead to good golf there.”
Jones, who was bogey-free for his round, said: “Working on the side has definitely helped my enjoyment levels. When you play week in, week out and sometimes you don’t play as well as you can, then it does get a little bit depressing. So, I’ve definitely enjoyed playing these two weeks, and coming in with very little expectations. Happy to be back playing,” said Jones.
“If I do well here and in the Aramco Invitational, I’d probably give golf a go again. I wouldn’t go back to mixing concrete and bumping slabs around. So, if I had a good finish tomorrow, it would put me in a position where I definitely consider playing more golf again next year.”
The Egyptian Golf Series 14, as well as last week’s Egyptian Golf Series 13, are co-sanctioned by the Egyptian Golf Federation. The Arab Golf Federation and Golf Saudi are partnering on the two tournaments.
September 29: It got crowded at the top as four players shared the lead at the halfway stage of the $125,000 Egyptian Golf Series 14.
On Tuesday at the Madinaty Golf Club, overnight leader India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill managed to turn things around with five birdies on his back nine in a round of three-under par 67, but that could only take him to nine-under 131. He was joined at that score by Australia’s Darcy Brereton (66, main picture), Korea’s Minhyeok Yang (64) and Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool (66).
Malaysia’s Marcus Lim and Korea’s Jaeil Kim both shot identical rounds of 67 to remain one behind the leaders at 132, while Australia’s Deyen Lawson (67), China’s Andi Xu (64), Frenchman Edgar Catherine (65) and England’s Ben Jones (67) were very much in the mix at seven-under total.
The lowest round of the day was by Welshman David Boote (63), who improved to tied 11th place at -6 after a bogey-free round that included seven birdies.
Minhyeok Yang of Korea. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT.
Yang, who recently moved to Thailand with his father to be able to travel more comfortably within Asia, was bogey-free for his round, and hoped the wind would be up for the next two days.
“I played nicely today. My putting was very good, even though I missed a few wedge shots. My swing felt really nice, especially on the back nine,” said Yang, who is fifth in the Order of Merit and wants to seal his Asian Tour card for the next season with a good performance this week.
“I need to keep playing like this because I think the winning score will be around 22-under. It will be lower than last week because all the players were here last week as well, and they know the course conditions, are used to the wind, and can read the green better.
“I want more wind because this course is very wide.”
Like Yang, 32-year-old Brereton is also searching for his first professional win. He is currently 17th in the Order of Merit, and a good week will take him closer to the all-important top-10, which secures a graduation to the Asian Tour.
David Boote of Wales. Picture by Jason Butler/Asian Tour.
His only mistake on the day was a bogey on the 11th hole, but Brereton was pleased with how he played.
“It’s been a solid couple of days. Didn’t really find myself in too much trouble, so just looking forward to seeing what the next couple of days hold,” said the Melbourne resident.
“I think everything’s just complete. I’m hitting it pretty decent off the tee, hitting the right spots into the greens, holding a few putts between five and 15 feet and chipping it good. So, not much stress on my game. I think I found the rhythm of the course and would like to just keep doing what I’m doing.”
Gill, who shot a 64 on the opening day with three birdies and an eagle in his last six holes, needed to dig deep after a rough start, which saw him finish his front nine (back nine of the course) in two-over.
“I got off to quite a slow start today. I had a pretty easy opening couple of holes, but I was one-over through the first three. I then lost my ball on the 17th hole (his ninth) and made another bogey after making a birdie with my second ball,” said the 28-year-old.
“I think I came back quite well. I was able to stay patient and make five birdies in my closing nine holes. I felt the course conditions overall were slightly easier than yesterday, which is why I am not too surprised by the scores. Nevertheless, I’m quite grateful that I was able to recover from a rough front nine, and still stay in co-lead going into the last two days.”
The Egyptian Golf Series 14, as well as last week’s Egyptian Golf Series 13, are co-sanctioned by the Egyptian Golf Federation. The Arab Golf Federation and Golf Saudi are partnering the two tournaments.
September 28: India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill (main picture) stormed into the clubhouse with an eagle and two birdies over his last four holes to clinch the opening-round lead in the $125,000 Egyptian Golf Series 14.
On Monday at the Madinaty Golf Club, Gill was one-under after his first 12 holes despite some good golf. A birdie on the par-5 13th kickstarted a superb stretch of holes for the 30-year-old as he birdied the 16th, eagled the 17th and picked up his final shot on the 18th to break the logjam at 5-under and set the marker with a 64.
Malaysia’s Marcus Lim, Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool, Korea’s Jaeil Kim and Australian Darcy Brereton were tied for second place at 65 on a day when swirling wind at the Robert Trent Jones-designed course challenged the Asian Development Tour players.
England’s Ben Jones, Aussie Deyen Lawson and American Tim Nielsen were tied for sixth place at 66 on the par-70 layout, which is hosting back-to-back events on the ADT schedule.
Tanapat Pichaikool of Thailand. Picture by Storyline/IGPL..
Gill, who hails from the industrial city of Ludhiana in the northern state of Punjab, has already secured his breakthrough international win at the ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year. He secured a top-10 finish in the Egyptian Golf Series 13 last week and entered the penultimate event on the ADT schedule in 10th place in the Order of Merit.
The top-10 players at the end of Aramco Invitational in the last week of November will graduate to the Asian Tour next season.
The Asian Tour card was a thought in Gill’s mind for a long time after his win, but he says he has now forced himself to forget about that and just focus on the golf in hand.
“I’ve been trying to predict the Order of Merit quite a bit. I thought $33,000 would have been safe. I thought four events ago that, you know,
Marcus Lim of Malaysia. Picture by Toha Bin Dol/ADT
anyone who gets close to about 35 is good. But we’ve had so many new guys playing really good. Like Kevin (Akbar) winning the Ciputra event, and then Sean (Ramos) was due an event, so he made a big jump last week. So, it’s really difficult to predict. I’ve now just been trying to focus on the shots at hand,” said Gill, who is a member of the Indian Golf Premier League back home.
Speaking on his opening round, Gill added: “Pretty solid overall today. I think it helps that we’re playing here for the second week. I was quite good off the tee today. Pretty much hit all the fairways. Stayed patient up until the end of the game, so the finish was pretty good.
“On 17th, I had a great shot off the tee with favourable wind. The crucial one was the second shot. I hit a four-iron from about 250 yards, chased it up to a back flag to about 12 feet, and made it. On 18th, I was able to sink a 15-20 footer. So that was a good finish to the round.”
Tanapat is playing his 10th straight week, but seems to be managing his weary body well after a round of six birdies. Winner of the am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars tournament in Morocco earlier this year, he is 12th in the Order of Merit and also chasing his Asian Tour card.
The Thai star arrived on Sunday from India, where he has been playing on the domestic DP World-PGTI for the past four weeks, and admitted rest was top of mind.
“Lots of positive today. This is my 10th week in a row, so lots of rest and lots of planning to do this week. I am trying to rest as much as possible. Got a little bit of swing change this morning. We have got a fantastic range here in Madinaty, so I can work on my game a little bit before the round,” said Tanapat.
“Today was just a combination of everything coming together. I hit my shot decently well. My putting was on most of the time when I got the chance.”
Lim was bogey-free for 65. The Malaysian, who is still searching for his first win, said: “Tee to green was solid all day. I missed only one green. Missed one green on a par five because I hit the lip of the waste bunker. Left a couple of putts out there, but can’t complain.”
The Egyptian Golf Series 14, as well as last week’s Egyptian Golf Series 13, are co-sanctioned by the Egyptian Golf Federation. The Arab Golf Federation and Golf Saudi are partnering in the two tournaments.
The Asian Development Tour (ADT) will welcome on board two tournaments in Egypt in the ensuing few weeks – in a major win for the Asian Tour’s feeder circuit.
The Egypt Golf Series events will be played back-to-back from 23-26 September, and 28 September–1 October, at Madinaty Golf Club, Cairo.
Jointly sanctioned with the Egypt Golf Federation, they will help the season come to a thrilling conclusion as the second and third from last events of the season.
Both events will boast lucrative purses of US$125,000.
Said Ken Kudo, General Manager, ADT: “We have been working hard behind the scenes with our friends at the Egypt Golf Federation to secure the Egypt Golf Series events on the Asian Development Tour and we are delighted to finally confirm them.
“We visited Egypt twice last year and after a successful trip we vowed to return. It’s a new golfing nation that has so much potential and of course two weeks at the award winning Madinaty Golf Club is real treat for our members.”
The tournaments will be followed by the season-ending Aramco Invitational at Rolling Hills Golf Club, to be played from 25-28 November.
Last year saw the Egyptian Open and the Egypt Golf Series – Red Sea Open staged on the ADT. It marked the first time the tour had visited the country. Niklas Regner [main picture] from Austria won the former, also played at Madinaty, while Indian Karandeep Kochhar claimed the latter, which was staged at Sokhna Golf Club.
Omar Hisham Talaat, Chairman of the Egyptian Golf Federation, said: “We are extremely proud to welcome the Asian Development Tour back to Egypt and to host two consecutive international tournaments at Madinaty Golf Club. Last year demonstrated what Egypt is capable of delivering. We welcomed players from around the world, staged successful international tournaments and showcased not only the quality of our golf courses, but also Egypt as a destination.”
Madinaty, which boasts an 18-hole championship course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, hosted the International Series Egypt in 2022 on the Asian Tour – when American Andy Ogletree triumphed. The course was so popular with the players that they voted it The Players’ Choice Golf Course of the Year on the Asian Tour.
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