Golf-Asian Tour heads to pastures new with Dubai yearender

SINGAPORE, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The Asian Tour launched its first foray into the Middle East on Monday when it announced its new season-ending tournament would take place in the United Arab Emirates and be called the Dubai Open. Under the terms of a three-year deal, the new tournament will take place in December at an as yet to be determined course and will be promoted and organised by Golf in Dubai, which has run the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic since 1989. "The Asian Tour is delighted to be coming to Dubai and I am sure our players will be very excited to compete in this new and exciting event in December," Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han said in a statement. "As a players' organisation, the Asian Tour is represented by an eclectic mix of the finest players from across the region and internationally and we look forward to entertaining golf fans in Dubai." The Asian Tour, which competes with the OneAsia Tour for supremacy on the world's most populous continent, earlier this month announced it would hold its first event in Africa. The $1.3 million AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open will take place for the first time next May and be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and southern Africa's Sunshine Tour. The Asian Tour also co-sanctions the European Masters in Switzerland as well as four events with the European Tour in Asia and the CIMB Classic in Malaysia with the U.S. PGA Tour. (1 US dollar = 0.7720 euro) (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Sudipto Ganguly)