CLUB MANAGER’S MESSAGE

STEPHEN HUBNER

JUMEIRAH GOLF ESTATES DIRECTOR OF GOLF

Dear Valued Members,

I hope you are well and enjoying your golf during this beautiful winter weather.

It has been a very busy start to the year here at Jumeirah Golf Estates and it has been wonderful to see so many of our members playing regularly and competing in our many club competitions.

Our wonderful team of colleagues are fully committed to improving the member experience here at the Club and below is a brief update on what is currently being done to achieve this. As always, any questions or feedback is welcome and you can reach me at shubner@dubaigolf.com.

ETIQUETTE DRIVE

To help improve the on-course etiquette and in turn the experience for our members, we recently announced that the Club will be recording all etiquette breaches made by members. Our Marshals have been doing a super job informing offending members on the course of breaches they see and reporting these to the Golf Office each day. In the first month there have been over 100 member breaches! While this number is alarmingly high, the positive is that members are being reminded of the importance of etiquette so that they can avoid future occurrences.

Offending members are receiving warning letters from the Club outlining the breach with a reminder of the importance of respecting other golfers by ensuring etiquette guidelines are followed. If a member is found to have had a second breach in a 12-month period, then a 7-day playing ban will be issued. Thankfully this has not happened so far.

To assist members in successfully carrying out their etiquette obligations, we have recently added additional rakes to large bunkers and added sand bottle fixings to trolleys for walking golfers. In addition, our Starters are giving a more thorough brief and we are happy to report that all these small changes are certainly helping. Thank you for your support with this.

TEE TIME AVAILABILITY

Dubai’s golf courses continue to be extremely busy due to a combination of members wanting to play more golf, local visitors having more time to play, and of course the return of tourists in large numbers.

To maximize availability for members, we have further reduced the options for visitors to play golf on the Earth and Fire courses. In addition, there have been recent changes in the member booking and cancelation policy which is helping. Removing the ability for single members to book multiple consecutive 4balls is meaning the tee sheet fills up slower, and the longer tiered cancelation policy is resulting in members releasing unwanted slots sooner so they can be taken by others.

This is a gradual process, but the signs are there that we are moving in the right direction, and I thank all members for their understanding regarding the recent changes.

NEW MEMBER BAG TAGS

Please ensure that you pass by the Membership Desk to collect your lovely new JGE Member Bag Tag. It comes in a nice handy pouch and with a new up-to-date Member Rules & Regulations booklet which I am sure you will find useful.

MEMBER SURVEY

We were delighted that so many members completed the annual survey and that a large percentage of you took the extra time to provide detailed feedback. This is extremely helpful for the management team and provides a roadmap to improvement. We are finalizing the analysis and action plan and will share this with all members soon to show that we are listening, that we care and that we will improve with your help and support.

VIGGO SØRENSEN

We were immensely sad to hear the news of our Junior Member, Viggo Sørensen, passing away in late January. I would like to thank our members who attended the tribute evening here at Jumeirah Golf Estates Clubhouse Ballroom on Sunday 6th February. Also, thanks to all who sent such lovely messages of support to Viggo’s loving parents Thomas and Nathalie. They were overwhelmed with all that the Club did to support during such a difficult time.

Viggo was extremely well regarded within the Club and the golfing community in the UAE. As a member and golf academy student, our team are extremely proud of all his contributions both on and off the course. He was incredibly talented and committed to the game, but most importantly Viggo was a lovely young chap and will be remembered fondly by us all.

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.

Warmest wishes,