Thanks once again to Surender Kandhari and family for their generous support of the Hankook Greensomes event with goes from strength to strength each year; it is always oversubscribed, attracting players from many other clubs around the Gulf and it is always a great weekend of socialising and fun (and good golf too, by many of the participants!) We often take some of the Club events for granted but they happen and run smoothly thanks to our colleagues in the Golf Office who put everything together - the draw, arranging the on-course special prizes and general organisation of each event. Thanks to the entire team at the Golf Office, also to the F&B department and to Rhys, Cian, and Jonathan who deal with registration, checking of cards and post-tournament press releases. We are nearing the end of our season; it’s incredible how quickly the time has flown and we are now moving towards the very hot summer months so many members will soon start heading out to cooler climates; however, there is still a lot happening at our fantastic Club to keep you all busy if you are here, so check out the golfing and social events and try to support them. Although there will be one more issue of Club Life after this one..the summer issue...which sees us through to the beginning of the new season in September, I would like to thank all the contributors for their help throughout the season. I know I hassle you all for material and set you deadlines, but I really appreciate all your efforts, in particular, Club Captain, Paul Byrne, Lady Captain, Sulafa Hamdan, GCM Superintendent Matt Perry, Recreation Manager, Andy Meech, the Bespoke Wellness team, Sarah Dufton, PR for SensAsia Spa, Stephen Deane and all the Professionals Executive Chef Nicholas Cuomo, Barney Coleman, Golf Services Manager Rhys James as well as Cian and Jonathan who are always my ‘go-to’ guys when I am missing photos or information. Special thanks also to Dubai Golf Publishing, especially to Ganesh, Vinod and Eugene who are always so obliging and hard-working and who are often under pressure to do rush jobs.
Dear Members, As we draw to the end of the season, it would be remiss of me not to reflect on 14th April 2019 and the awesome performance of one Tiger Woods to clinch his 15th Major title. The Spike Bar was a full house to see our two-time Omega Dubai Desert Classic champion clinch his 5th Green Jacket …fantastic! I would also like to acknowledge and congratulate our Captain Paul Byrne for hosting a fabulous Captain’s Day on 26th April; it was truly one of the best days I have been part of at the Club in 13 years. Well done and thanks to all the members who supported the day. The Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic was well received by Professionals, Amateurs and Sponsors; hats off to Matthew Perry and his Golf Course Maintenance team for presenting the Faldo course in the best condition it has been since opening in 2006. We now move into May and the last official month on the golfing calendar. Off the course, our Ramadan Tent is definitely worth a visit and look out for the summer extension to our Carine restaurant as we increase our dining capacity over the summer months. Barney Coleman Club Manager
MEMBER QUESTIONNAIRE Thank you to those members who took the time to complete the member questionnaire - the feedback is much appreciated. Throughout my time as Club Manager, I have been committed to listening to feedback and working with the Members’ Consultative Committee to promote positive change, where applicable, to benefit the membership as a whole. Please find below some of the frequently raised points with my responses. If you feel any specific feedback that you forwarded through the questionnaire has not been addressed, please do not hesitate to contact me and we can talk through at the Club.
Finally, thank you to everyone who takes the time to write to me with comments about Club Life - these are much appreciated.
you are, on or off the golf course, please forward your photos to jaxdubai@ gmail.com (high resolution, if possible please!) With the high temperatures already upon is, don’t forget to keep yourself hydrated on the golf course, slap on the sunscreen and drink plenty....of water!
Who could not have been impressed by Tiger Woods’ win at the Augusta Masters last month. It was an incredible comeback and a superb win, putting Tiger back in the spotlight again when he had been written off by many. It was a moment that many sports fans thought would never happen after a series of back surgeries pushed Woods to the brink of retirement.
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04 417 9850
Accounts
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Service
Facility
73.60%
72.20%
75.40%
Pro Team 77.60%
F&B 69.50%
Golf Course 77%
Club Admin 73.60%
General 70.90%
1. Availability of weekend tee times – Majlis course We understand that the majority of members would prefer to play the Majlis at weekends. By hosting shotgun starts, it allows us to maximise the number of 18 hole rounds a day. Two full shotguns for example at 8am and 1pm can accommodate 208 golfers. Based on this number being the maximum, not every member can be guaranteed a weekend game on the Majlis and will have to book on the Faldo. We recognise that we still allow a member to play with guests at weekends; the reason for this is that we feel it is a membership benefit to be able to invite three friends to your Club. However, the percentage of member-guest play on weekends (as below) is less than 10%.
Thanks to his 15th major win, Woods is now ranked No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
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Overall Venue Avg. - 74.30%
This was a fifth win at Augusta for Woods, but the most recent was 14 years ago. It is his longest gap between Masters wins ever and it has been almost 11 years since Woods won his last major tournament (2008 U.S. Open).
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Slow play has been discussed more and more within the Club over the past few seasons. I would like to confirm that the marshals have the full support of Club Management and they have full authority on the course. However, on many occasions they are not always given the respect they deserve. Ultimately, by the rules of golf, it is the responsibility of the golfer to play without any undue delay, to rake bunkers, repair pitch marks. However, if a course marshal speaks to you regarding any of the above, please grant them the level of respect they deserve, knowing that the decisions they make are being backed and supported by Club Management.
3. Challenges of booking weekend tee times online at 6am?
As mentioned in point 1, there is a large volume of members logging on at 6am on a Tuesday and Wednesday to book for the weekend ahead in 10 days. Our feeling is that members within the same 4-ball are logging in to give themselves the best opportunity to get their desired tee time. If, for example, three of the members are successful, they will need to cancel two bookings. Please bear this in mind and if unsuccessful, please call the reservation team and ask to be put on the waiting list and you will be called as soon as a vacancy becomes available.
4. Why don’t you show all the tee times and players on the online booking system. This is possible but impractical. Online booking was originally introduced to counteract the queuing system whereby members lined up in person to book popular weekend times. The main frustration surrounding online booking are for Fridays and Saturdays, 10 days in advance. Over 40 tee times can be booked in less than five minutes; showing all the times and the names booked would impact the speed and efficiency of the system. By the time the screen shows all the times and your fellow members’ names it will have already changed as it is in constant transition. Once you consider the screen, it will be out-dated by the time you are ready to book. This is also the reason why we are showing and blocking one tee time as opposed to showing six tee times as we did in the past.
5. Visitors have more rights; members should have priority at weekends!
While you are travelling this summer, please take some photos of you and your families for the ‘Where were our Members this Summer’ feature. It’s always a fun and interesting feature in Club Life I think, so wherever
Jacqui
2. Slow play and poor etiquette - marshals have no power and need to be given more authority?
Member play on the Majlis course on weekends (Friday/Saturday) for the past two seasons from 1st October to 30th April is 86% with another 9% being member - guest rounds. This is largely due to our Club’s policy, adopted in December 2013, that Friday and Saturday tee times were allocated to members and their guests in peak season periods, ensuring as many tee times are available as possible for members at the weekends, which is reflected in the Majlis statistic above. If you are unfortunate to secure a tee time then always ask Francis’s team at Reservations to put you on the waiting list. Also entering member tournaments (e.g. Monthly Medals) will guarantee you a tee time and you will then avoid the 10-day booking.
Members have a 10-day booking window. Nonmembers (e.g. through Tour Operators) are able to book a specific allocation of tee times in advance; other visitors including Emirates Golf Federation members may book seven days in advance. Also note, as above, no advanced visitor allocation has been allowed on the weekends since December 2013 (prior to this, six tee times were reserved for visitors on a weekend)
6. Still many non-members are seen at the weekend; there is a perception that certain individuals have preferred booking rights.
The only non-members, particularly on the Majlis course, will be members’ guests. Certain members do have preferred booking rights as below: • Current captains and Vice-Captains may book 14 days in advance • Past Captains may book 14 days in advance on six occasions during the season • Any member competing in a matchplay competition may book 11 days in advance
7. Tee times are held back/blocked from members on weekends.
The only time this happens is for Member/Open tournaments. There are occasions, if the entries are lower than expected, that times are released back to members post the 10-day booking window. When this occurs, members on the waiting list are contacted first. Many cancellations give the impression that times are held back but this is not the case.
8. Late cancellations resulting in gaps on course. The cancellation policy is actively enforced; constant offenders are now also monitored
9. It is impossible to book at short notice.
This is correct, particularly for weekends, as your fellow members will have booked up to 10 days in advance.
10. Online booking should open later than 6am. In the past, we have had a number of members request not to move later than 6am due to conflict with school, work and other commitments.
11. Majlis course is closed for corporate events. A number of corporate events are staged on weekdays, generally a 1pm shotgun start. No corporate events are hosted on weekends. Thursday is a popular afternoon but we generally host only two corporate events per month on the Majlis on a Thursday. We also acknowledge that the Majlis course walking period is extensive from 1st November to 6th February. It is essential to adopt this practice to present the course in peak condition, not only for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic but, more importantly, for member play throughout the winter months. Note, any future changes and improvements to the Majlis course will consider including a cart path throughout the course to nullify this drawback. Please also note the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic did not happen in December. It was moved to the Faldo course from 1-3 May. This resulted in nine more days play in December for the membership on the flagship Majlis course. In addition, the over-seeding reduced from a five-day closure early November to a two-day closure in December (3rd and 4th). The fairways and greens were not over-seeded resulting in less disruption. Therefore, the changes to the previous season were 14 days better playing conditions in November and 12 days less closure (in peak season) due to professional events. These initiatives were adopted to improve the member experience.
12. There are not enough members’ lockers and inadequate space for members’ guests to change in the visitors’ area.
The male locker room does need to be increased in size. With time we plan to increase the capacity by knocking through to the bag storage area which will increase lockers by 100. We are also looking at options to add a steam room to the ladies’ locker room.
13. Fewer shotgun starts.
Particularly during peak season when daylight hours are short, shotgun starts maximise the capacity of the Majlis course. This is essential due to the main complaint of poor availability of the Majlis at weekends. Whenever we host an afternoon member or guest tournament we have a morning shotgun preceding it. A two-tee start prior to an afternoon weekday shotgun is another option. This will give members the option of teeing off between 6:40am-8:20am as opposed to 8am.
14. Sometimes difficult to book because of many tournaments
The tournament calendar is busy and full of events; this has been reduced over the years to maintain the most popular events and free up weekends for members who are not interested in participating in tournaments. NOTE, all tournaments on the Majlis course over weekends are members’ events or the occasional Open Championship.
15. No weekday tournaments
Weekday tournaments have failed in the past due to poor entry levels but very shortly you will see Dubai Golf Weekday Medals advertised. We hope that by opening the Weekday Medal up to all members across Dubai Golf then entries will increase. Also, it will provide the opportunity for members to play all five courses under Dubai Golf management PLEASE ALSO NOTE: we recently changed the Weekday Membership privileges by offering reciprocal access at Dubai Creek and the Fire Course from Sunday – Wednesday between May to September.
16. One driving range is now a challenge as it is very busy; we also need an upgraded short game practice area. The Academy Team, Matthew Perry and I met with Pete Cowen recently and we agreed on the changes required for the practice facilities. Over the summer months you will notice a number of changes including: 1. Majlis short game area – re-designed, enlarged,
more chipping space provided 2. Majlis far end – driving range modifications to increase width of hitting lines plus modifications to the chipping green 3. Faldo short game area (near par 3 course) – changes to improve short game practice options 4. Majlis driving range – bunkers reduced in size to aid ball collection and aesthetics of therange.
17. On-course food and beverage
2 ger
Last month was another extremely busy month at the Club with some major events having taken place, namely the Hankook Greensomes over two days, Easter Scrambles, Talker Cup, Curtisy Cup, Annual Captains’ dinner. Master’s weekend at Augusta and just last week, Paul Byrne’s Captain’s Day. Although I was not there for Paul’s day, I have heard that it was a superb, fun-filled day and evening - what else would you expect? Thank you Paul for putting on such a tremendous day which I know took a lot of time and effort to organise.
Club Mana Report
Editorial
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During the season we decided to opt for wraps as opposed to sandwiches as we felt that wraps maintain their freshness and they are easier to eat whilst continuing your round. We received a number of positive comments on these. Unfortunately, the planned GPS food ordering couldn’t be launched due to signal and reliability issues. The coffee still seems to be a bone of contention on-course and we will look to resolve this.
18. F&B pricing and service
• We price all our menu items competitively with other restaurants/bars/golf clubs in the region before the members’ discount is applied. • Attentiveness of the F&B team has been mentioned on numerous occasions; we will work with the team to improve this area so you are not wasting time trying to get the attention of a waiter. The service to outdoor areas has also been highlighted and we will strive to improve this. • General service in Spike is monitored through our mystery golfer collaboration with ’59 Club’ which can help us focus on areas of weakness.
Fit Lab
1. Gym needs updating, particularly the changing rooms. This is correct - the Fit Lab changing rooms are small and this issue will be addressed in the future development of the clubhouse. Note, the new swimming pool bathroom and family cubicle has taken some pressure off the Fit Lab changing rooms. 2. I would like to see a dedicated stretching area in a safe place in the gym. This has been requested previously but space is limited. 3 Tennis booking process Ways to make this more user friendly will be considered
Members’ Consultative Committee Action points since September 2018:
• Online booking now searches backwards as well as forwards for closest available time • Automatic registration for games on the handicap system • Plastic reduction commenced (cups, straws, bottles, bags) • New pool furniture • Stricter cancellation/no-show policy for golf rounds • LED lighting on Faldo course, Par 3 and driving range • Option to book JGE on-line • Local rule for balls hitting lamppost changed
Areas identified for improvement
Parking for Emirates Golf Club members – available spaces will be increased over the summer. Cap-Ex investment to adopt a member-only parking area is on hold but planned for future developments. Wi-fi: in the coming days you will see a new process whereby members log on once per device and you will be automatically remembered and logged on to the wi-fi. Dubai Golf APP developments – to include new features such as redeeming electronic reward vouchers Caddies – to be classed as Caddie or Bag Carrier depending on ability Reduce plastic water bottle consumption – we hope to be in a position shortly to announce a sponsor to allow us to give all members and visitors a refillable flask, allowing us to remove plastic water bottles at the cart staging area I welcome further feedback on the above points and any additional topics not covered to improve your member experience. Please drop me an email on bcoleman@dubaigolf.com or we can catch up in person at the Club. Kind regards Barney Coleman