Golf has kept the January blues at bay!

January has been an exciting month in the Middle East with the Desert Swing in full swing across the United Arab Emirates. With four back to back DP World Tour events, we have been treated to a true festival of golf. It has certainly helped to keep the January blues at bay!

The Hero Cup was the first event on the calendar, kicking off the 2023 season at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. This tournament was introduced to give more players experience of a matchplay team tournament style. Tommy Fleetwood captained the Great Britain and Ireland team, with Francesco Molinari leading the troops for Continental Europe. The 2023 Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald worked alongside the two team captains to form the two ten-man teams. On Sunday, Continental Europe beat GB&I to win the inaugural tournament. It was an exciting few days in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi National Golf Club is also the home of Chicks With Sticks in the capital. It was great to see so many ladies come out and enjoy the golfing festivities.

The Hero Cup players didn’t have far to travel to their next tournament. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links was next on the calendar for the DP World Tour. With great initiatives like Family Day and Ladies Day, the tournament had that real festival feel. It was great to see an emphasis on encouraging junior golfers to try out the game with the ‘Future Falcons’ initiative, hopefully some youngsters gained inspiration from the day. The course was in immaculate condition, the fairways said to be rolling like your average putting green! With a nail-biting Sunday of golf at Yas Links, it was victory for Frenchman Victor Perez, claiming the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title. Perez shot a six under par in the final round to claim his third DP World Tour win. What a showcase of golf! I was invited to play at the sponsors day at Yas the day after the tournament. The day was simply magic. It was a great experience to play the course just after such a big event. Yas Links is a fantastic course, one of the best I have ever played and now my favourite course in the UAE!

As I’m writing this, the first round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic has been suspended due to the bucket load of rain that hit the UAE on Wednesday and Thursday morning! The tournament has always been a personal favourite of mine, largely due to the fact that my golfing hero and fellow countryman Rory McIlroy usually starts his season there. Watching Rory play is electric, especially under the Dubai skyline. Here’s hoping the rain clears up over the next few days so we can go and catch the World No.1 in action right on our doorstep!

The LPGA tour kicked off the 2023 season with the LPGA Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona in Florida. All the stars of the female golfing world were in attendance, Nelly Korda and Charley Hull being two of my personal favourites. With perfect weather conditions in Orlando the golf on show from the ladies was just superb. In the end it was Brooke Henderson who claimed her 13th LPGA win. The Canadian finished off the tournament with an incredibly impressive 16 under par. Ladies professional golf is continuing to go from strength to strength.

Alas, The Ras Al Khaimah Championship will be the last professional golf event in the Emirates for a while. I’m going to be bringing some girl power to the event as I tee it up with the pros in the Pro-Am. Fingers crossed I get paired with one of my Irish golfing heroes, so stay tuned for next month’s column for more updates!