Grant Forrest happy to be back at Al Hamra for DP World Tour double-header

Now the 28-year-old Haddington-based player is hoping to use a DP World Tour double-header at the Peter Harradine-designed course to really kickstart his 2022 campaign.

After missing the cut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in his first outing of the year, Forrest made it to the weekend in last week’s Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.

But, after landing his maiden win on the circuit in last year’s Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews, he’s looking to do better than a top-50 finish, even allowing for the fact that it was in a Rolex Series event.

“I’m not really pleased where I am (in the Race to Dubai) after two events, so it’s a disappointing start to the season,” said Forrest, who is attached to The Renaissance Club in East Lothian.

“But it is what it is and there were a lot of positives in Dubai, especially long-game wise compared to Abu Dhabi.”

Forrest is among 11 Scots teeing up in the Ras al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital, with the Ras al Khaimah Classic starting seven days later on the same course.

In 2016, having made his professional debut in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship a few weeks earlier, Forrest tied 32nd in a Challenge Tour event at Al Hamra.

Twelve months later, he then finished joint-28th in the event before ending up 10th when staged the Challenge Tour Grand Final in 2018.

“The latter was the year I earned my step up to the main tour, so I certainly have good memories from being here,” he admitted. “Going into that week, I had already had my card secured, so it was a nice feeling to play without any pressure.

“It’s nice to now be back here to play on the main tour and I think there will be a few more birdies than last week (smiling).

“There are some tough holes, but I don’t think