The MENA Golf Tour has scheduled three international Qualifying Schools for October to expand access to its 2026/27 season, beginning at Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club near Edinburgh from October 1 to 2. The programme then moves to the Slammer and Squire course at World Golf Village in Florida between October 13 and 15 before concluding at the historic Old Course at the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Park in Epsom, England, on October 20 and 21. According to the tour’s announcement, entry for the UK events is set at $350 while the top 10 finishers at each venue will earn Category 3 status that guarantees a place in every tournament on the schedule.
The Qualifying Schools will award playing rights to as many as 20 competitors at each site, with positions from 11th to tied-20th securing the highest available category of MENA Golf Tour card. A MENA Golf Tour statement indicated that each of the 12 events on the 2026/27 calendar carries a $100,000 prize fund, underlining the financial incentive for successful qualifiers. The expansion forms part of a deliberate strategy to draw talent from beyond the Middle East and North Africa region.
Keith Waters, chairman and commissioner of the MENA Golf Tour, stated that the American Q School introduces the circuit to a fresh and exciting group of players while Dalmahoy and the Royal Automobile Club offer competitors from the UK and Europe two prestigious locations at which to secure their Tour status. Waters added that together these additions demonstrate just how far the tour’s footprint now extends beyond the MENA region itself. The comments came as the governing body confirmed the venues and dates on Monday.
The announcement builds on the tour’s earlier decision to stage its first United States Qualifying School, which was revealed in June at the same Florida venue. Worldwide Golf reported in June that the move represented the most significant international development in the tour’s history and laid groundwork for a potential American swing of events in future seasons. The MENA Golf Tour remains the only Official World Golf Ranking-recognised circuit headquartered in the Middle East, a status it has held since its establishment more than a decade ago.
Earlier schedules for the 2025/26 season featured a Qualifying School in Portugal and a mid-season Q-Sprint in Morocco, according to previous Worldwide Golf coverage of the relaunch under Waters’ leadership. Those events formed part of a 12-tournament programme spanning Portugal, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and several Gulf states, each offering tax-free prize money with rapid payouts. The tour has held active discussions with the DP World Tour and HotelPlanner Tour to create formal progression routes, including potential direct entry to higher-level qualifying schools.
Successful graduates from the new Qualifying Schools will join leading players from the current season who already hold exemptions, creating a competitive field across the expanded calendar. The MENA Golf Tour has emphasised that the pathway offers a genuine opportunity for professionals from diverse backgrounds to compete for Official World Golf Ranking points and career-advancing prize funds. Venues chosen for the 2026 events reflect a blend of historic British golf tradition and established American facilities.
