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iger Woods has called it a “great venue” that reminds him of being back home in Florida; Greg Norman rates it amongst the 12 best tournaments in the world; and Ernie Els clearly has a special affinity for it, claiming the title a record three times. If any further proof were needed that the Dubai Desert Classic has finally arrived as an event of global significance, then the endorsement of the world’s biggest stars is surely it. Without doubt, the event has become the glittering centrepiece of Dubai’s bid to become a new hub for world golf. Mohamed Juma Buamaim, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Golf in Dubai – the promoters and organisers of the Dubai Desert Classic – is the man at the forefront of this movement. One of the first UAE nationals to take to golf in the early 1990s, Buamaim played a key role in streamlining the affairs of the game in his capacity as a board member of the UAE Golf Association and Chairman of the Junior Development Programme. Wellknown for his formidable marketing skills, he is also widely credited with being the man who first persuaded Tiger Woods to play in Dubai. Since 2001, Woods has made five appearances in the Dubai Desert Classic, winning the title twice – in 2005, and again in 2008. Buamaim believes his event, now in it’s 21st year, has been instrumental in helping put Dubai on the sporting map. “It fits well with the ambitions and visions of Dubai,” he explains. “Building sporting infrastructure of an international standard is just one part of Dubai’s drive to develop the emirate into a thriving business and tourist centre.” Indeed, in the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of the emirate, Dubai has created the “right environment where big ideas and thinking can take off”. That environment – and the modern facilities that have sprung up all over the city – has made Dubai the sporting capital of the region. “As the city is growing, so is golf because it’s very much a business-oriented sport,” continues Buamaim. “It’s the way it’s being marketed, making it attractive to so many people. Big names like Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Greg Norman and Colin Montgomerie have already designed their signature courses or are in the process of doing so.” And not even the slowdown in Dubai’s economy has stopped the UAE’s burgeoning golf industry growing through the downturn. Although the prize purse for the Dubai World Championship – held in November last year as the finale to the season-long Race to Dubai – may have been slashed from the original US$10 million to US$7.5 million, it remained the richest tournament on the European Tour. That and the addition of four new golf courses over the past 12 months suggests that the despite a natural contraction in the market, the industry is still alive
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and well. Indeed, according to a recent report from KPMG, while most European golf courses suffered from a loss of revenue – with Western Europe down eight percent and Great Britain and Ireland down six percent – the Middle East and North Africa region, led by the UAE, clocked revenue growth of almost four percent. Leading that charge was Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital city of the UAE that made a clear statement of its intent to become a major golfing destination by unveiling two distinctly different golf courses – the Gary Player-designed Saadiyat Beach Golf Club and the Kyle Phillips-designed Yas Links Abu Dhabi – earlier this year. Meanwhile in Dubai, Jumeirah Golf Estates launched both its Earth and Fire courses, while the Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club, the sister course to the well-known Majlis, added floodlights on all holes
Above: Rory McIlroy tees off on the eighth hole during the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament Right: The huge crowds watch the big screen of the play-off from the clubhouse as the sun sets after the final round of the 2010 Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the Majilis Course at the Emirates Golf Club
16/09/2010 10:03