This week, I am playing on the DP World Tour in the $2 million Soudal Open at Rinkven International Golf Club, Antwerp, Belgium. It is the 14th of 44 tournaments so far on this year’s DP World Tour calendar and my fourth event this season.
I will be sending over my Gulf News daily diary every day, with a little help from my manager Richard Rayment, who is joining me this week. I will also be collaborating with one of the top Instagram guys in world golf, Mac Boucher who is also with me this week.
Mac is a professional golfer, a lefty, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has played on many of the Development Golf Tours around the world from 2012 – 2016, but was forced to give up tournament golf due to injury.
After taking up a teaching position in New Zealand, Mac returned to Canada due to Covid. He then took up social media as a hobby and it has really taken off.
His stats do not lie as with my stats in golf: 130,000 followers and in the last 30 days has achieved 14.6 million impressions. It is not my specialist topic, but is something I know I have to work on, as a professional athlete in the entertainment industry.
My schedule this week will be playing in the Pro-Am tomorrow (Wednesday). It is a nine hole Pro-Am and I am playing twice with separate groups at 1.25 pm and 4.06 pm. Let’s see how it goes for both the amateurs and myself.
Then to the four rounds of the tournament.
I was disappointed with my play last week in the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett at The Belfry, and look forward to a good week here in Belgium.
Others of note in the field to watch include home players Thomas Pieters, Thomas Detry and my fellow Dubai Golden Visa awardee Nicolas Colsaerts, as well as Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) and fellow Dubai resident Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.
My round one tee time on Thursday is at 1.10 pm off Tee 1 - along with playing partners - home favourite Thomas Detry and Shubhankar Sharma (India). Wish me a good week and speak to you all again soon!
- Rafa Cabrera Bello is born in Spain and a Dubai Golden Visa awardee and Dubai resident. He is a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, including the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic, represented Europe in the Ryder Cup in 2016 and is a JA Resorts and Hotels Ambassador.
