Captain’s Message

EMIRATES GOLF CLUB LADY CAPTAIN

Dear Members,

Hoping this doesn’t sound repetitive, and for the benefit of old and new members whom I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting (yet), I would like to introduce myself as the new Lady Captain for the season of 2022-2023.

My name is Marivi Arias, I was born in Peru, I am a lawyer, mother of Sergio (Peruvian Diplomat) and Sebastian (Physics student at Herriot Watt University in Edinburgh), and wife of Andy, who is responsible for bringing me here and spending the past 11 years of my life in Dubai.

My love affair with golf started quite young. I was 12 years old and getting ready to board a flight from Lima airport with my parents when a strangely dressed man (White trousers, white shirt and bright red blazer – the colours of the Peruvian flag) came over to talk to my father. He was my dad’s lawyer and the Captain of the Peruvian Junior Golf team travelling to Quito, Ecuador for a South American Golf Tournament. After chatting with my dad, he turned to me and said “Why don’t you start playing golf? We need new girls for the national team”. And that was it!! I started to investigate all about the game of golf and became quite intrigued about how it was possible for someone to enjoy hitting a little white ball with those funny sticks made of metal and wood (yes! real wood! I come from that era).

My parents didn’t understand my newfound obsession. My dad, a serious football follower and a Fronton player, and mum, fond of badminton didn’t comprehend the fun in whacking a motionless ball in the air with no one to hit it back to me!

After my annoying insistence, my dad jointed a golf club near our house and I started to take golf lessons. A year and a half later I was selected for the National Team, to play in a Junior South American Golf Tournament in Bogota, Colombia. Subsequently, I was honoured to dress in the Peruvian colours many times, representing my country for fifteen years as a Junior and then as an adult.

The road to this moment in my life has been long, countless tournaments, a few golf clubs in different countries, and many friendships cemented through our sport.

The past year as Lady Vice Captain, allowed me to learn so much working closely with our outgoing Lady Captain - Amarjeet Radia - to whom I’ll be eternally grateful. One of my proudest memories as a Lady Vice Captain was to be able to help a new group of Lady Beginners start to play golf and pass to them vital information about etiquette rules, game formats and golf rules. They are a fantastic group of new golfers (I called them “my daughters”) with whom I had so many fun moments together. I’m sure they will keep progressing and will turn into great golfers very soon.

Many people asked me if I’m excited upon my new role as the Emirates Golf Club Lady Captain, and the truth is that I’m beyond excitement. It is such an honour and a responsibility to lead such a unique group of Ladies. The EGC Ladies Section is truly the heart and soul of our club, no question about it.

Every day among the Lady members is an experience, a challenge, a party, and a time to reflect. The Ladies section is a composite of women from so many different parts of the world, with their own traditions, customs and beliefs, all wonderful and unique in their own particular way.

I have been planning for months the details of my year as a Lady Captain. I’d like to make the new golf season a memorable and enjoyable one for all the ladies. Maybe the highlight of the year will be our annual golfing trip away. I’m planning to propose that the Ladies travel to Peru at the end of May 2023 to enjoy the wonders that my country has to offer. This could be one of those trips that stays in your memory for a lifetime.

I can’t wait for all the action to start: our weekly tournaments, our social gatherings, the Ladies Moonlight Tournament, the Desert Classic, our always fun Curtisy Cup, our annual trip away and so many more moments in between to enjoy together, creating new memories close to our hearts.

I feel so lucky to be able to work this year with our Club Captain, Campbell Steedman, and our new Vice-Captains, Fiona Berry and Frank Duggan. I’m sure that together we will achieve all our targets and goals for the season ahead, among them maintaining the good work of our past captains, and introducing new ideas and initiatives for the benefit and enjoyment of all our members.

Golfing Season 2022-2023, let the fun begin!!

EMIRATES GOLF CLUB CAPTAIN

Dear Members,

As we enter into the new 2022-23 Season, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our Members to the Club, and to wish you a happy and healthy season ahead. I would also like to start by thanking last year’s Club and Ladies’ Captains, Abdulfattah Sharaf and Amarjeet Radia, for their leadership, engagement and support throughout the 2021-22 Season.

To those who I have not yet met, my name is Campbell Steedman, and it is a great privilege and honour to assume the role of Club Captain for the coming season. Emirates GC is a very special Club, and to assume the responsibility of both leading the Club, and supporting all of you as our Members, is a quite unique opportunity to which our former Captains over the past 33 seasons have set the highest standards.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, some years ago, I have been based in the UAE for the past 16 years – throughout which time it has been a pleasure to be a member of the Club, building a core group of friends who all engage actively in Club life. Sally (my wife) and I got married in the same year as the Club was established, while our children (Stephanie and Charles) have each got married over the past year.

Although based primarily in the UK, all are very supportive of this very special opportunity, and all look forward to visiting the UAE and joining a number our Club events throughout the year ahead. On the work front, I qualified in Scotland (and then England and, subsequently, the Czech Republic) and have been practising law for over 35 years - with my current role being to lead the regional Corporate practice as a Partner with the international law firm, Squire Patton Boggs, based out of the DIFC.

Sport has always been an essential part of my life, with an interest in all sports and having played many (not always to the best standards) – including rugby, tennis, hockey (field and ice), cricket, squash, football (soccer and American), baseball and lacrosse! However, golf (again, not always to the best standard) is my core sporting passion, and was always an essential part of my childhood – with my father having been

a scratch golfer. I first played in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), before continuing to play while my parents lived in Tanzania, Malaysia, Canada and, of course, Scotland. I continue to be a member of clubs in both England and Scotland, and play regularly with our son and son-in-law (both of whom are good golfers), while my brother, Hamish, owns the oldest club manufacturing business in St Andrews.

Turning to the Season ahead, a key aspect of my interest in golf has always been to embrace and apply the core values of the sport to both my golf and career. While seeking to win is always a driver in any sport, golf’s core values of honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgement are all key values to life and business, and are all aspects of the sport which, if we all adopt the same, will continue to make Emirates Golf Club one of the world’s leading clubs – not just in the playing standard which we all enjoy, but also in the culture of the Club.

To engage with all staff at the Club with respect and courtesy, and to play with honesty, integrity and sportsmanship are key goals which I hope we will all continue to embrace this coming Season. This will also help to create an environment which I hope we will all enjoy, and where time spent in the Club facilities (and not just on the course) will add value, and enjoyment, to our golfing lives.

In addition to embracing the values set out above, it is also my aim to help grow our Club profile through deliverable initiatives such as increasing youth golf, supporting our Scratch League team and integrating the various golfing groups across the Club, while also encouraging increased utilisation of the Club facilities – whether par-3 golf, tennis, F&B, spa treatment, swimming, gym sessions, padel tennis or any other Club activities. I hope also to support certain charitable initiatives during the year ahead, about which we will share further details in due course. While all such initiatives are goals for the coming year, the most exciting aspect of Club Captaincy which I am looking forward to in the season ahead is, without doubt, golf. The events which the Club hosts are always exceptional – whether our Club championship, our monthly medals, the Desert Classic or just a round with friends. I hope that Captain’s Day will be a special event for all participating, and in May 2023 I shall be looking to arrange a Captain’s Tour to the country which is the “Home of Golf”. I hope that all such occasions will be enjoyable, and memorable, to all.

In looking forward, there are two groups with whom it will be a privilege to work with in the year ahead. Firstly, our entire Club Management and Staff teams, under the leadership and direction of Chris May, Barney Coleman and Cian Hurley, are a very special group of people, and I look forward to working together with them throughout the season. The other group is a quite unique and committed group, and comprises our Lady Captain, Marivi Arias, Club Vice-Captain, Frank Duggan, and Lady Vice-Captain, Fiona Berry. It will be an honour, privilege and great experience to work together. Marivi and I have been discussing how best to continue to build the Club, and we very much hope that you will all find the 2022-23 Season to be memorable, and enjoyable, with an engaged, collegiate, respectful and friendly Club culture which sees Emirates Golf Club continue to be recognised as a unique and very special club.

Provided I can successfully drive a golf ball on 8th October, I look forward to assuming responsibility as Club Captain, and to a memorable year ahead, in relation to which I wish you all an enjoyable, and successful season.