Joshua Grenville-Wood is hoping to build on his tied second place finish at the Abu Dhabi Challenge when he tees it up in the UAE Challenge at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club this week.
The UAE Challenge is the second of back-to-back European Challenge Tour events taking place in the UAE as part of the long-term partnership between the European Tour group and the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF).
The Dubai resident, who was born in the UK but moved to the UAE in 2019, led the Abu Dhabi Challenge at the halfway stage and remained in contention heading to the 72nd hole in the final round before narrowly missing out to eventual winner Ricardo Gouveia from Portugal.
The 25-year-old was pleased with his runner up finish last week, in what was his first Challenge Tour appearance since 2021, and he’s targeting more of the same with temperatures set to soar once again on the Arabian Gulf.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “It was nice to get some good golf under my belt and I’m now really looking forward to this week.
“I took a four-month break from playing competitive golf so to see that I can come back and play some high-quality golf with some extremely good players is a real boost.
“The adrenaline and the nerves were flowing, but that’s what I’m here for and that’s what I work hard for. It’s that feeling that makes me love this game.”
Grenville-Wood received an invitation from the EGF to play in both events and he’s hoping that course knowledge can turn the tables in his favour for a second week running.
“I know what the greens are like around here which is definitely a bonus for me,” he said. “The greens can be brutal as they’re very big and have lots of undulations. They’re also extremely quick which is nice.
“It’s an absolutely stunning golf course so I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do out there this week.”
Another top ten finish could see Grenville-Wood earn more playing rights on the Challenge Tour, but his focus remains on the immediate future and competing for places at the top of the leaderboard this week.
“I’m trying not to think about how life-changing these two weeks could be,” he said. “I think I just want to build on last week and play some good golf.”
The back-to-back events in Abu Dhabi have been made possible due to the long-term partnership between the European Tour group and the EGF, in addition to the support of the host venues Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, along with sponsors ARENA, Phoenix Capital and Al Laith.
The UAE Challenge will get underway at 6:45am local time, with Grenville-Wood teeing it up alongside Frenchman Pierre Pineau and German Marc Hammer at 12.35pm.
