Adri Arnaus has risen through the ranks of tour golf at sensational speed. He won the Alps Tour Order of Merit in 2017, while still an amateur, after two victories including the tour’s season-ending grand final. He then repeated the feat by winning the Challenge Tour finale in Ras Al Khaimah in 2018 to take second place on the Rankings and gain promotion to the European Tour. His maiden campaign on the Race to Dubai was also a success after he secured a place at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship following three runner-up finishes throughout 2019.
It felt great to get my 2020 season going again after a nice Christmas break and what better place to begin my Race to Dubai campaign than the European Tour’s Desert Swing. Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Emirates Golf Club are two brilliant venues and both tournaments are superbly run which, makes it a nice way to begin the season. Coming tied-third in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic was a fantastic result after a tied 51st finish in Abu Dhabi.
As I’m writing this, I’m preparing for the Saudi International powered by SBIA and I’m really looking forward to getting back out to the Kingdom and helping to grow the game there for the locals and youngsters.
The in-form Spaniard and Golf Saudi Ambassador @AdriArnaus spent some valuable time with our first ever tour pro @o_almulla_golf out on course today. . .Good luck this week gents 🇸🇦🏆 #PowerOfTheGame pic.twitter.com/uAe180uBtN
— Golf Saudi جولف السعودية (@Golf_Saudi) January 28, 2020
At the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, the European Tour brought in their new slow play rule which went really well and the stats showed it had a positive effect. The Tour have been doing a really good job with slow play and it’s good to see that we are trying to make the game faster. The slow players are going to need to speed up!
I had some nice time off over Christmas but it was probably the weirdest break I’ve had since I started playing golf as I didn’t touch a club for three weeks. I never used to be able to go three or four days without hitting a ball but after the long season I had last year I decided to put them away for a bit and enjoy myself with friends and family.
It was nice when I finally got the clubs back out to have a little bit of practice but I also focussed a lot on gym work to try and build my strength up in preparation for this season. I realised last year how important it is to be in peak physical condition with the amount of travelling we are doing all over the world. If you aren’t fit when you turn up to golf tournaments then you are never going to give yourself an opportunity at winning. I’ll keep up the gym work throughout the season and hopefully I’ll feel better as the season progresses.
Super excited to start my 2nd season on @EuropeanTour here @ADGolfChamps! Going to be a big year for me💪🏻💥⛳️ pic.twitter.com/0lsUtPYgCp
— Adri Arnaus (@AdriArnaus) January 13, 2020
I finally made the move out to Dubai last month and I’m really enjoying being out here with so much to do and the perfect weather. Dubai is an ideal destination for me to practice my game but it’s also a great hub to travel to golf tournaments all over the world. The emirate has a great community and there is so much to do here from the nice restaurants to going on nice walks around the marina, it’s starting to feel like home already.
Aside from practicing my golf, I’ve also been watching plenty of football and my team Barcelona played in Saudi Arabia recently in the Spanish Super Cup. Unfortunately, we lost 3-2 which was disappointing but it was great to see such a prestigious club come over to this part of the world and showcase their skills to fans in the Middle East. I think it’s important for golf and other sports to visit places like Saudi Arabia to help grow the game there and also show how beautiful these places are as people may not know too much about them before seeing them on TV.
