DUBAI: On the eve of next week’s Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, four major champions will be among the eight golfing greats battling it out for a good cause in a charity match-play tournament as the JA Lake View Hotel at JA The Resort Dubai welcomes back its Rooftop Charity Challenge on Monday Jan. 24.
Rafa Cabrera Bello will lead the star-studded field, which also includes the challenge’s defending champion Adri Arnaus, along with Charl Schwartzel and Danny Willett, masters champions from 2011 and 2016 respectively, Open winners Henrik Stenson (2016) and Shane Lowry (2019), Swedish star Sebastian Soderberg and US amateur hotshot Sam Bennett.
The challenge takes place from 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 in the BIBÉ rooftop lounge on the JA Lakeview Hotel, with the players hitting 90-yard shots from an elevated tee onto the stunning second hole of the nine-hole golf course 30 yards below. The winning player will secure up to $6,800 for the Al-Jalila Foundation.
The JA Lake View Hotel’s Rooftop Charity Challenge will see players and guests overlook a nine-hole, par 35 championship standard golf course with driving range, putting and pitching greens and Leadbetter Golf Academy Dubai of JA The Resort.
Director of golf at JA The Resort, Stuart McMurdo, said: “We are privileged to host this event once again, after its inception in 2020. This year features some of the world’s best players who come from all corners of the globe. It’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase our wonderful golf course and resort facilities.”
The event is being held in the build-up to the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, the region’s longest-running golf event, which has been elevated to a Rolex Series event for 2022.
For the first time in the event’s 33-year history, the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic is free to attend for all spectators. This year’s field includes four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, recently crowned DP World Tour Number One Collin Morikawa, defending champion Paul Casey, world No. 7 Viktor Hovland, 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia, five-time DP World Tour winner Tommy Fleetwood and more.
