Joshua Grenville-Wood is hoping to use local knowledge to his advantage as he prepares to tee it up in this week’s Abu Dhabi Challenge, the second of back-to-back HotelPlanner Tour events in the United Arab Emirates.
Grenville-Wood, who has lived in Dubai for the past six years and has represented both the UAE and Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) since 2023, has played this week’s venue Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club on numerous occasions.
“I come up here quite a bit. It’s a great golf course,” he said. “The protection around here is when it gets quite windy. It is quite firm and fast which is okay.
“The greens are big, and the fairways are pretty wide. There’s not too much rough but enough to make you think. There will be some long drives hit this week, and a lot of putts made.”
Grenville-Wood is fresh of posting his best finish of 2025 at last week’s UAE Challenge, and the 26-year-old believes his game is trending in the right direction.
“I am feeling good,” he said. “I played some decent golf last week which was nice and good to build on. I felt like there were a lot of positives out there.
“The courses are similar. The same grass and green speed so you feel comfortable changing from one week to another. I just want to try and stick to the processes that I’ve been working on and stick to what I’ve been doing well.”
Temperatures in Al Ain are set to exceed 40 degrees this week, however Grenville-Wood believes his experience of playing golf in these temperatures on a regular basis could give him an edge over his competitors.
“I am used to the conditions being quite firm and warm. That definitely helps and gives me a little advantage on the rest of the field,” he said.
“It was a bit of a change coming from Europe. A warm day in Europe is 25 degrees, a warm day here is 45 degrees. It certainly takes a few years to really adjust to it and really figure out how to keep cool.
“You’re guaranteed good weather, and the golf courses are second to none. There aren’t many places where you’ll find this many good golf courses in such a small space. I think that’s a good part.”
Grenville-Wood is part of a strong field in Al Ain, that includes UAE Challenge winner Renato Paratore, two-time DP World Tour winner Eddie Pepperell and Road to Mallorca Number Four Wilco Nienaber.
The Abu Dhabi Challenge is part of the European Tour group’s long-term partnership with the EGF and has allocated 30 spots specifically to create opportunities for the UAE’s brightest talent.
