Dubai: The fact 11 out of 24 Mena Golf Tour invitees made the cut at the Asian Tour’s season-ending Dubai Open speaks volumes of the regional series, according to the tournament’s highest-ranked Mena Tour player Joshua White.

The Englishman, 23, stands top of that list of 11 at five under par for the tournament, tied for seventh in the leaderboard after rounds of 71 and 68. The other Mena Tour players to make the weekend were Luke Joy, Zane Scotland, Lee Corfield, Matt Fitzpatrick, Chris Cannon, Stuart Archibald, Carlos Balmaseda, Younes Al Hassani, Mehdi Saissi and Tyler Hogarty.

“It’s great for the Mena Tour,” said White, who won this year’s Mena Tour Order of Merit. “They’ve done a very good job with the tour for the last four years, and to be able to have 11 players make the cut here is just fantastic.”

White added he wasn’t surprised by the number of Mena Tour players who were able to step up a level in class, and added that none of his colleagues should be overawed by the challenge.

“The game is progressing in the region now, which is a good thing, so no I’m not too surprised,” he said. “As you can tell, there’s not too much of a difference between the two tours.

“A lot of the players in the Mena Tour are all very good. When they are on their day, they are as good as people on the Asian Tour. Maybe the people on the Asian Tour don’t have as many bad days. But it’s good to see so many Mena players are now in their good days.

“I didn’t really feel pressured by playing my debut in an Asian Tour event. They’re all still humans, they’re not machines. It’s just nice to come out and play with some of the big names.”

Having topped the Mena Tour rankings this year, White will now get an invite to play in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in February. And he said a strong finish in this event would set him up well for his European Tour debut.

“Both of the guys I’ve played with [India’s S.S.P. Chowrasia and Singapore’s Mardan Mamat] have won on the European Tour, and I’ve managed to beat them the last two days. That’s my confidence. Okay, if these guys have won, maybe I can do the same thing here.

“It’s nice to get your name out there a bit more, and to be seen. It’s nice to move up, to progress and take that ladder up.”