SHEILA MCILROY
JUMEIRAH GOLF ESTATES LADY CAPTAIN Dear Members,
I
’m delighted that Jumeirah Golf Estates is featuring in this latest edition of Club Life and happy to share how life has been as Lady Captain.
The beginning of our Captaincy started in October with the Captain’s Drive-In been a very popular event. Ismail Sharif, Managing Director, presented Steve Drake and I with our club jackets and thankfully nerves did not stop us both hitting receptable shots and teeing off into a role of what is a tremendous honor and privilege. Massive thanks to Lux Homes and The Lounge Spa for their very generous sponsorship of our inaugural event. Format of the day was a friendly scramble with dinner and prize giving followed with a Q&A with Stephen Hubner Director of Golf Operations. October was a busy month on the Ladies Calendar with our Wednesday mornings group competing in both individual and team events with wonderful prizes from Park Hyatt and The Lounge Spa, our excellent award winning spa that’s based here at JGE. November was a little quieter on our home schedule as JGE played host to The AVIV Tournament on Fire and Earth showcasing the DP WORLD Championship. Having the big boys demonstrate how both courses should be played is always a highlight on any JGE member’s list and always a wonderful opportunity for us to volunteer and get extra close to the action. We certainly weren’t disappointed, with the performance of Colin Morikawa and his outstanding ending to a magical year. December had us back playing, with both courses presenting extra long rough and faster greens, all fruits of the hard work that Stuart Horwood and his agronomy team had put in preparation of the European Tour
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Events. Our season closed with the popular Christmas Scramble with decorated golf carts, face masks, lots of sparkles and prizes for all.
Although, the role of Lady Captain is new to JGE, our Ladies Section has been in existence for a number of years and comprises of an amazing group of ladies with a common goal to play golf and enjoy the banter both on and off the course. Massive thanks to Annie Browne and Wilemijn Huizer for establishing a strong foundation and representing JGE in our ICC events. January will see us teeing off in our ICC competition with Saadiyat and Emirates Golf Federation and we are all looking forward to the excitement and drama that this exciting event always delivers. Part of the New Year plan is to grow our group and focus on encouraging the ladies that are new to golf and having lessons at the Peter Cowan academy to join our regular Wednesday group. I wish you all a very safe and healthy 2022 and I hope that golf will be a major part of it. Sheila McIlroy Lady Captain
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