Club Manager Update

CLUB MANAGER

I hope that you are keeping well and that you are enjoying the slightly cooler weather here in Dubai.

Clearly many people escaped the heat through July and August and so the Club was a great deal quieter than the previous two summers. This has allowed us to make significant progress on the golf courses and with the training of team members in our restaurants and the golf operation.

It has been wonderful to see the restaurants buzzing over the last couple of weeks since most people have returned from holiday. The recent quiz in Crafty Fox was a big success and the enhancements to Al Botanica and the pool bar have been very well received.

Over at the Tennis Academy, Tap & Grill has reopened after a short closure. The inside of the restaurant received a small refurbishment and new furniture, while the outside grass areas have been levelled to allow for increased capacity for the busy season ahead. The new furniture for outside will arrive at the beginning of October.

Our Italian and Indian offerings Bussola and Kasturi continue to prove popular with our members. If you haven’t tried them yet, then I highly recommend you do so. They both provide wonderful dining experiences!

This year’s summer aeration projects are now complete, and our Golf Course Superintendent Stuart Horwood and his Agronomy Team are delighted with what has been achieved on both courses. Significant progress has been made in recent months with the removal of the invasive weed grasses, particularly on the Fire course. The landscaping projects to improve the look and playability of the desert and mulch areas continue to produce excellent results.

The re-grassing of the golf academy short game area has been successful. The new Paspalum surfaces will provide members with an enhanced experience for their practice and are growing well. We expect to open the much-improved academy at the beginning of November.

We are delighted to welcome our new golf pro at the academy Charlotte Austwick. Charlotte comes is a British PGA Professional who brings a wealth of experience in coaching people of all ages and abilities. Please give her a warm welcome when you see her around the Club.

We are excited to have started the planning for our inaugural Captain’s Golf Day which will take place in December.

Our Club Captains, Steve Drake and Sheila McIlroy, have done an outstanding job in their roles, and we are all looking forward to creating a special day for our members to celebrate their year. The event is going to incorporate golf on both courses plus some great on-course food and drinks and a very fancy dinner afterwards. So that we can make the event extra memorable we are looking for sponsorship support.

If you are interested, then please let me know or speak to Steve or Sheila. More on the event will be announced soon. Thank you once again for all your support of our wonderful Club and for taking the time to read this update. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Warm Wishes, Stephen