So what have we got to talk about? A lot I guess as I look back on another satisfying season on the tour and what is ahead for me in 2024.
Some exciting stuff as well with an idea that I have been mulling on for quite some time now.
Well, well well. Last week I turned 52 years young and I enjoyed a fun evening with superb food and beverages in good company, in Dubai with both golfing and non-golfing friends.
I have just returned from Mauritius, after playing the final event of the Legends Tour 2023 season, The MCB Tour Championship
Having started my season in February with a warm-up in Oman at Al Mouj Golf, Muscat, on the Asian Tour, I won the 2023 Qualifying School in March on the Japanese Senior Tour, then played nine events of 13 on their Tour and kept my card.
I have been shuttling around the world playing the Tours between Europe and Japan with bases here in Dubai, my home country of India and Sunningdale in England, where I am a member and I live just 1,000 yards from the 1st tee.
In Europe, I finished 13th on the Legends Tour Order of Merit. I played well, especially a run of form in July and at the Senior British Open where I also came in 13th. So I am exempt from that Major next year.
As a result of being in the top 20 on the European OOM, I am also exempt from the 2024 US PGA Seniors Championship.
My family is in India. My son, Haraj, who is a sprightly 13-year-old, is playing this week in a big junior golf tournament in Pune. We wish him well.
He will also be coming to the UAE early next year to play in the Faldo Series event at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club. He has already shown some inherited family talent by winning the U13 Division in the US Kids European Championship at Royal Musselburgh Golf Club in Scotland earlier in the year as well as other impressive performances on the golf courses in tournaments around the world.
It’s so funny how my wife, Saksi, used to travel with me when I was playing on the regular Tours. Now she travels and looks after all my son’s golf stuff – the next generation and she does it so well. I know she enjoys it.
Here comes the good news.
Whilst here this time I am exploring the opportunity to host a Legends Tour event in Dubai in the future. I currently host a similar event in India under the auspices of the PGTI and the next logical step would be to have a ‘Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational’ in my ‘home away from home’ here in Dubai.
I believe, despite a lot of professional golf tournaments happening in Dubai and the UAE, there is a place in the market for a Legends Tour event for the over 50 Pros with a unique Pro-Am format involving amateurs. A week’s Festival of Golf which genuinely engages with the local golf community – seniors, ladies and, of course, the all-important next generation – the youth of the UAE, both UAE Nationals and Ex-pats.
After all, the Legends Tour is famous for being called the ‘Friendly Tour,’ and it does what it says on the can.
These are early days, however, I am connecting with my corporate contacts and approaching golf clubs. Then, hopefully, once I have some financial commitments we will finalise everything with the Emirates Golf Federation, DP World Tour and all local government and other related authorities.
Watch this space for further news.
Back to my season. I played 30 events this year and plan to play around the same number in 2024 – health and everything else considered. That is my right number.
I am excited about what is ahead. Senior golf has energized both me and my golf game.
Oman on the Asian Tour will once again start my season in 2024.
Currently, I am putting in the off-season hard work. Three days my weekly routine involves some work in the gym, yoga every morning and some stretching at the end of the day with a physio – this is what my body needs to keep me going and to be competitive.
It was great to catch up last night with my young buddy Shiv Kapur and some good friends at The Els Club, Dubai at a Golf Clinic and Skills Challenge hosted by Jupiter Wealth Advisors and Charles Monat. Thanks, guys, for the invite.
And last but not least, Season’s Greetings to all the Khaleej Times readers!
See you all soon.
Jeev Milkha Singh is a Dubai Golden Visa Awardee who has won 20 professional tournaments around the world.