Andrew's Abu Dhabi Challenge (HPT) Preview
Wednesday sees the start of the final regular season event of the HotelPlanner Tour season. Not Thursday, Wednesday, folks. As a reminder, after this, there are two events co-sanctioned with the China Tour, for the top seventy players on the HPT, with the remainder of the field made up of the best players on the China Tour and a few invitees, and then we move onto the Grand Final in Alcanada for the top forty-five. But first, we go to Abu Dhabi. We were supposed to be going to the UAE and Abu Dhabi in April before it became unsafe to travel that close to Iran, and thus we have seen the UAE event cancelled and this postponed to the end of the year.
This tournament follows a welcome week-off after the Open de Portugal, which was won by Sebastian Friedrichsen, who picked up his maiden HPT victory. He beat a list of broadly second-shot specialists of exactly the kind that we thought would facing the players at the new course. Unfortunately our three selections performed very poorly as a frustrating run on this tour continues. Let’s hope we can turn it around in Abu Dhabi.
The Tournament
In many ways the Open de Portugal is a great event to start building a shortlist from; after a few weeks in cooler climes Portugal offered a similar resort type test to Abu Dhabi. This week is much more open, however, so there’s less penalty for spraying it from the tee. We’re looking at a fairly conventional, middling course. Inland by Emirati standards, this isn’t somewhere that stands out for distance (7,117 yard par-70 with a drivable par-four – the fourth – as well as, unusually enough, three par-fives and five par-threes) or for course design. Winning scores have been -16, -24 and -17, so whilst it isn’t especially challenging it isn’t usually a pushover, and with high places for players as varied as Wilco Nienaber and David Law, it is hard to find a golfer really suited to this specific challenge.
Although we’ve had two years at this course, they were held in April and obviously that brings a bit of a change. That said, there is relatively little seasonality here and the course is likely to play in a similar way. I previewed this event some eighteen months ago and found a full place from five picks, but couldn’t get to Renato Paratore who went back-to-back after winning in the UAE. This will be our fourth trip here, and the course has also hosted Faldo events and Clutch Tour events (as I detailed last year.)
It is a shame that Caleb Surratt has forsaken this tour before it reached a second venue that would have been ideal for him (he goes to the Dunhill Links,) but the competition is wide open and I have struggled to find ways to narrow the field. I’m really looking at an all-round game with a premium on quality approach shots, familiarity with the Middle East if not with this course, and good recent form. Which is as close to a generic starting point for shortlisting golfers as you’ll ever see.
It is worth noting that, despite the postponement of this tournament, there are plenty of golfers who are worried about visiting the region – at a more covered level where players have greater freedom, Robert MacIntyre and Matt Fitzpatrick have already expressed misgivings about the season-ending events in the region. So although I’ve written my preview off early entry lists, it’ll be tee-times that are decisive. In happier news, the weather looks excellent and fair, as you’d expect.
The Selections
It is frustrating that, in addition to Surratt, Tatsunori Shogenji doesn’t attend this week. Both would have been considered for this event. However, the likes of Matthew Southgate have prioritized getting a card through HPT positioning over taking up a place in the Dunhill Links, for which I’m confident he could have grabbed a tee time. With a wide-open market (the first book to open are 20/1 the field) I had real difficulty narrowing down a shortlist but I’ve made three picks on a value basis.
First on my list is Dominic Foos, who I think could reasonably be considered among the favourites for this event, yet sits at an enticing 40/1. Somehow it is 11 years since he won on this Tour (he’s only 29 now, so had barely got the vote when he won the GANT Open in Finland.) His game has been somewhat in the doldrums since but after winning on the Asian Tour last year he gained a second HPT win – again, curiously, in Finland – this season, and at 28th sits just outside the card-winning spots on the Road to Majorca. A poor week at a course in Portugal that wouldn’t suit can be overlooked, but otherwise his win was one of four consecutive top 25 finishes. He’s genuinely globally experienced at this point, is in great form and fully motivated, with an all-round game that can see him outplay his odds.
Secondly, I have been delighted to see something of a return to form for Albert Boneta, who I’ve been a fan of since he graduated from New Mexico and immediately won on the Alps Tour in 2024. The former Lobos star ended a stellar 2024 by winning a card at DPWT Q-school but has struggled since, particularly at that higher level. In 2025, his best result was fifth in this event, and he’s recently ended a string of missed cuts with a 37th in England and a tenth in Portugal. If he’s found his best form again, we know he can be extremely competitive at this level and on this course.
Finally, another youngster looking to parlay college experience into HPT success is Jerry Ji, who was at the University of Illinois alongside until 2025. He is another, like Boneta who went on from the NCAAs to show serious talent on the Alps Tour, winning the Andorra event and finishing fourth in the Grand Final last year to win his HPT card for this season. He’s played his best golf late, with an 18th place in the Rosa Challenge soon after a 21st in Finland, and this will be his last HPT start unless he does something exceptional this week, which I think he might. He went to the first stage of Q-school in Denmark last week and finished second to Hunter Epson to show he’s in great form and still hungry for success.
Domnic Foos, 40/1
Albert Boneta, 125/1
Jerry Ji, 100/1
All 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Sporting Index
Again, this is posted early with only one book available, so better odds may come through before you bet. With a Wednesday start time, I didn’t want to wait!
*I think this is right. Very hard to get exact numbers from the HPT website. It may be seventy-five into China and fifty into the grand final.
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