Lady Captain’s Message

EMIRATES GOLF CLUB LADY CAPTAIN

Dear Members,

It’s almost two months since the beginning of the season; time flies when you are having fun, right? And what a fantastic two months we have had!

Trying to recall the highlights brings to my memory so many laughs, faces, hugs and of course rounds of golf.

The Season Opener 2022-2023 for the Ladies Section will be a forever great memory in my mind, not only because I managed to deliver a long drive like in the old days (199 yards), but because I was showered with the affection of the wonderful women who make up the section.

The format was Scramble, always a fun one to play with friends and have lots of laughs together. Some pisco sours (traditional Peruvian cocktail) in between and we were ready to have our traditional lunch and prize-giving presentation at our fantastic new Pavilion…how truly lucky we are. A day of love, laughs and fun crowned by a gathering in a fantastic new facility for the enjoyment of all.

The food was excellent, Chef Dyan and his team make their best effort to produce some Peruvian dishes very successfully for the enjoyment of all the ladies.

After the main speech, we managed to put together a presentation about the future trip to Peru, which I anticipate will be a dream trip.

Sometimes you take for granted all the effort and dedication that is needed to create an event like this, from our fantastic

Management team (Barney, Cian, Joe and Conor), Nishanti, Steen and Shirash, to Mary-Ann and Anoop, and so many others building up a moment that will remain in our memories for ever.

Four days later we did it all again, this time on a bigger scale for our Mixed Season Opener. Scramble format again: we had a full house that day. Our dear Captain, Campbell Steedman, had his honour drive, and the Lady Captain had hers for a second time (unfortunately not as long as four days before!). The atmosphere was tremendous, I felt so proud and privileged for being in the position I am as a Lady Captain supported by so many people and surrounded by so many fantastic friends.

The icing on the cake came in the form of a much anticipated and awaited Colleagues Party. On the 10th of October, after two long years of covid postponement, finally our colleagues could have their well-deserved party.

It was the first time I had the opportunity to attend such a party. If I could express in one sentence the essence of the event, I would say…What a fabulous night!

Our colleagues dressed in their national attire or summer dress. All were very happy, very willing to celebrate and to have a good time together. I have to say how impressed I was by the talent competition; these guys can sing and dance like professionals! It was an honour to be part of the judges who voted for the winners, even when in my heart all of them deserved to be winners.

The most striking realization for me was to see how many colleagues we have working at Emirates Golf Club. That night they were more than 600 hundred - partying together (only Emirates Golf Club and Topgolf) and a good number couldn’t make it that night. That means that we have over 700 colleagues working at our Club…that was the first time I understood the magnitude of enterprise Emirates Golf Club means in terms of human beings working with us and for our enjoyment each time we put a foot in our Club.

More than 700 souls, each one a whole and a unique world, with their own dreams, expectations and desires, with happy moments but also with their own worries and responsibilities, but nevertheless always with a big smile on their face to greet us and make us feel welcome every time we arrive at the club.

Many of our colleagues are anonymous to us members since they work in offices and places we hardly see, all working toward a single goal… making our stay in the Club the most pleasant possible, no matter if it is on the golf course, in the club-house, on the driving range, in the locker rooms, the gym, swimming pool, tennis and padel courts, and the restaurants. They are always there, a constant force that keep everything working.

Emirates Golf Club seems to me like a well calibrated machine where each person who works there is a little piece of it, all finely tuned to make each task complement the other and together make that machine deliver what was promised…a great time and an enjoyable experience, how lucky we really are!

As the Lady Captain it’s a privilege to be part of that unique machine, even when it is only for a brief time. Having a close view of how things work at our Club made me understand much better the enormous effort and dedication in human resources that is needed to make Emirates Golf Club work smoothly - synchronised on so many levels. Each person working in the club has an important and unique role, always done with lots of care and love for their job and the Club. My sincere gratitude to each and every one of them, you are simply amazing!