Dubai event is tipped to light up LET

Lights, camera… action! It might not be the normal way to get a golf tournament under way but seems appropriate in this instance.

The Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic, after all, is the world’s first professional day-night tournament, and tees off today at the Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club.

Each of the 56 professionals in the field for the 54-hole LET event – Carly Booth and Kylie Henry are flying the Saltire – will play at least nine holes of one of their opening two rounds under new eco-friendly LED floodlights.

“It will be a very new challenge but I’m excited,” said Cheyenne Woods, Tiger’s niece. “I think it’s a great event for golf. I think these formats keep the fans interested.”

The event comes hot on the heels of the new Jordan Mixed Open, which involved LET, Challenge Tour and Staysure Tour players. Meghan Maclaren almost won that and is now looking forward to something a bit different again.

“Any time that golf tries to innovate it creates a bit of a buzz, which I think is exactly what the game needs,” said the English player. “Hopefully this event means a few more people will be paying attention just to see something different happening.

“The playing level is and always will be there, so it’s about forcing people to sit up and take notice. The idea of playing under floodlights is pretty cool. I’ve always enjoyed going to watch evening football matches so, hopefully, golf will be the same.”