Golf in UAE to be Boosted after New European Tour Partnership

The development of Golf in the UAE is set to be boosted after DP World along with the DP World Tour Championship joined forces with The European Tour, the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF), Jumeirah Golf Estates and the European Tour Performance Institute (ETPI), to support the UAE National Golf Teams programme.

The initiative will see the UAE National Golf Teams, which consist of seventeen men, ladies and juniors, benefit from the state-of-the-art European Tour Performance Institute (ETPI) based at Jumeirah Golf Estates, home of the DP World Tour Championship, the season ending tournament of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World said: “We’re absolutely delighted with this partnership which offers us the chance to play a part in the development of our UAE National Golf Teams. The growth of the game in the region is extremely important to us and giving our local golfers access to a facility as admired as the European Tour Performance Institute offers them the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.”

The programme, which will be coordinated by Greg Holmes, EGF National First Team Coach, with coordination from the ETPI’s Director of Instruction Wayne Johnson on ETPI activities, will see the national golf teams given full access to the ETPI’s outstanding facilities and practice areas during a minimum of a three year partnership.

They will receive a series of elite coaching sessions, utilising the very latest in modern technologies in the ETPI performance labs, and will enjoy group and individual training programmes, skills challenges and specialised gym work aimed at helping them reach their full potential.

International tournaments scheduled on the calendar for the UAE National Golf Teams for the remainder of 2014 include the World Amateur Team Championships (Eisenhower Trophy) in Karuizawa, Japan 3 – 14 September and the Arab Golf Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in October.

George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, commented: “It is exciting to be able to show a genuine golf legacy from all The European Tour activities in Dubai and the UAE. It is one of our models to embrace the local golfing bodies and national golfers when we travel the world organising tournaments. We first came to Dubai in 1989 and it is important to show our commitment to Dubai in the light of Dubai’s support of The European Tour in various activities over the last 25 years. We wish the UAE National Golf Teams and the Emirates Golf Federation all the best and thank our partners in this initiative DP World and Jumeirah Golf Estates.”

Yousuf Kazim, General Manager of Jumeirah Golf Estates said: “We see this as another important step in the development of our community, which has been growing with an increasingly large number of families enjoying the experience of living here. With this initiative and the influence it will hopefully have on junior golfers taking up the game, we hope to play our part in producing the golf superstars of tomorrow.”