Jordan Mixed Open: Everything You Need To Know

Women & Golf interviewed Chris White, Director of Operations at Ayla Oasis, to learn more about the Jordan Mixed Open and why it’s got the whole golfing world talking …

The Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla is a ground-breaking event that will see the Staysure Tour, Challenge Tour and Ladies European Tour join forces. For the first time in history, men and women from each of the tours will compete for one grand prize.

Taking place from 4-6 April 2019, the first-of-its-kind event will see 40 competitors from each tour and three leading amateurs go head-to-head in an individual strokeplay format. They’ll play from separate tees that have been cleverly calculated to create a set up that resembles that of each tour, but they’ll play the same course, in mixed groups, for the same overall prize.

This event will be monumental in moving the gender equality narrative forward. We’ve already seen glimmers of hope with the likes of GolfSixes and the Vic Open, but will the Jordan Mixed Open be the real turning point?

Chris has been at the helm of some of the most exciting new golf developments in the Middle East, including Abu Dhabi Golf Club, venue of the HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, Al Hamra Golf Club and Yas Links in Abu Dhabi. Now in his role as Director of Operations at Ayla Oasis, Chris and his team are gearing for another world first: The Jordan Mixed Open.

How has the tournament been received by the golfing world so far?

The feedback has been overwhelming, and I’ve had so many people get in touch; key people in the industry, tour officials, players – everyone is so excited for this event. We all know we have to do things a bit differently in golf and people are ready to make that change.

There has been a lot in the news recently about the disparity between men and women’s golf – how does this tournament address those issues?

First and foremost, it gives men and women the opportunity to compete side by side for exactly the same prize money and trophy. A lot of consideration and research has gone into understanding how to set the course up so that men, women and seniors can all compete from a level playing field, so it really is a case of whoever plays the best golf will win – male or female.

Where did the vision for the tournament come from?

Something that’s been with me for the past four or five years is a desire to do a mixed open. Some of my fondest memories are when my wife, children and I played golf together, and that really is the beauty of the game – we can all play together and we can do it fairly, whether that’s by your handicap or the length of the course. And whilst mixed golf exists quite a lot at an amateur level, we really don’t see it enough in the professional game. There has been so much progress with regards to equality across so many other industries and I just thought, why can’t that same mindset be applied to golf? So, I discussed the idea with our Chairman in January 2018 and he loved it, I wrote to the tours and they loved it, so what we’ve ended up with is the world’s first professional mixed open where men and women can compete for the same prize.

What is the format?

The Jordan Mixed Open will be a 54-hole strokeplay tournament with one player from each tour in every group. There will be a cut after 36 holes with the top 60 plus ties progressing to the final round. The tournament will be televised and aired to 390 million homes, plus there’ll be live feeds through online and through social media so that viewers can stay-up-to-date with the scores in real-time.

How will the course be set up?

An awful lot of science, research and study have gone into making sure that the course is set up as equally as we can for all players. Each tour provided us with the average hitting distance of every single golf club – from a sand wedge to a driver. Once we understood how far an average player on each tour hits each club, then we could work backwards to decide the course set up. For instance, if a challenge tour player has an 8 iron into the green, what would we have to do for one of the LET players to have an 8 iron into the same green? Then we used that information to work out where each of the tees should be positioned. What we’ve ended up with is that the guys from the Challenge Tour will play from the back tees at 7,100 yards, the Staysure seniors will be further forward at 6,600 yards and the ladies slightly ahead of them at 6,139 yards. The result is that, principally, every player should have roughly the same sort of shot into the green.

The other thing to keep in mind is that each of the tours have a very different ball flight – some hit it high with lots of spin, others hit lower with less spin – so not only has the distance been considered but the direction and angle of the hole has been really well thought through as well. As much as possible, every player will have the same angle and line of attack. 

We're really lucky at Ayla - we have a huge amount of flexibility as the course lends itself to so many different setups.

Do you think this tournament will set a precedence - will we see more tournaments like this in the future?

I really hope it does. As I’ve said before, we all know that we need to do things differently in golf and I hope that events like the GolfSixes, the Vic Open and now the Jordan Mixed Open can be catalysts to that change.

How can the values of the tournament be applied at club level or grassroots?

The ideal outcome for me is that the format of the Jordan Mixed Open becomes the norm – at a professional level, amateur level and at club level. I think it will be inspiring for everyone to see their favourite golfers all competing together and from that, I hope that there’s a realisation that golf is a game to be enjoyed equally.

To find out more about the Jordan Mixed Open or Ayla Oasis please visit Ayla.com