It’s just over two months since I took up the position of Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation and I think busy is not a strong enough word, it’s been exciting to say the least!
We’ve been trying to get all of the elements aligned with the vision we have for the future and have gone through a comprehensive evaluation of what has been done in the past and how we can improve on that to get to the next level. I believe we have the correct strategy in place and everyone involved in the federation is working extremely hard to reach the goals we have set.
The main vision for the EGF is to produce great golfers who can compete worldwide. I think most people are aware that golf is not in the culture of the GCC region and we want to change that. If we can do that it will be a great help for the National Team. We all know that golf is a game where you can meet people, socialize, close business deals – so it’s really a way of life.
I think that any sport requires more than just going and playing it once. In the past there have been initiatives to bring the kids, give them golf clubs and let them hit a few shots or spend one hour on the course. Then they leave and they take that with them in the back of their head so maybe if someone asks them about golf they would say, ‘yes, I tried it once when I was a kid at school’. But they don’t commit to it.
What we are doing right now is trying to get schools to have golf as a part of the syllabus. We’ve gone to a number of schools where there are a lot of UAE Nationals and it’s proving to be a success. In the past two months we’ve recruited 150 players from all the emirates and I think that’s an amazing number for two months. We give some of their families, and especially the younger parents, golf lessons here and that makes a big difference. It becomes more family-oriented – we’re trying to build a golfing community going and I think we will succeed in that. When we are determined to do something, it will be done and I’m very focused on the family-oriented players in the UAE.
The golf clubs across the UAE also have a key role to play in the fulfilment of our vision and I thank Al Hamra Golf Club and Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club for the initiatives they have put in place to encourage more junior and UAE Nationals to play golf. Al Hamra has launched a 50% discount on membership for UAE Nationals which is wonderful, Al Ain’s Junior Academy Pass allows youngsters full complementary access to the academy facilities and par 3 course. I look forward to seeing how other clubs follow suit. “I would really like to thank Al Ain and Al Hamra for the initiatives they have in place and I look forward to seeing how other clubs follow them,” he said at the GCC Championship.
It’s all about the future interest of the game – the more junior golfers we have today, the more adult golfers we have playing consistently tomorrow. Not everybody can be an elite player, but that doesn’t stop you from participating in the game. Once you start playing golf it’s very easy to become addicted and these juniors will more than likely become members of a golf club in the future. This is all about sustainability at golf clubs. By offering these initiatives they are investing in their future members. If the other clubs follow the same path as Al Ain and Al Hamra it would be great for the local game in the UAE.
Our Under 18 team recently finished first in the GCC Junior Golf Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. We spent one week together as a team working on course management and fine tuning our short games. Commitment like this are all good signs that we will have a golden team in the future. With that said, we need to focus on providing our young players with more playing opportunities and training camps.
Ahmed Skaik has done fantastically well to rise to 29th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking but our goal in the next 4 years is to have a team full of top amateur ranked golfers. Ahmad is doing great, and is a fantastic leader for our juniors. We are excited to see a number of young talented Emirati golfers follow in his footsteps. Thanks to Ahmed’s ranking, he will now have the ability to compete in some of the biggest amateur championships in the world.
We are trying to bring more golfers through from the juniors and I think we have a good pipeline right now for them. We’re working on gaining sponsorships with schools and universities in the UAE and in countries like the USA for elite golfers. Our aim is to get those juniors to be scratch players or +1 and +2 level players where they can really compete in the amateur world.
The UAE is now probably the most important destination for the DP World Tour and the sponsors of these major global events. We are lucky to have the opportunity to host these events which can be a major platform in supporting us to achieve our goals for the growth of the game in our country. I thank HSBC for their support with the successful Future Falcon Programme which has been going on since 2016. We need more support like this. We need the golf clubs, academies, and other key stakeholders to make an impact when it comes to National Development in the sport. A lot of the golf industry here in the UAE is commercially driven. We need to refocus that drive into National Grassroots Development. With more investments into Emiratis and under the Federation’s supervision, UAE golf can produce the best products in the world.
