Worldwide Golf - Nick Dougherty

CELEB RAT ING OUR 10 TH ANNIVE R SARY

Issue 109, November 2009

MIDDLE EAST’S No .1 GOLF MAG AZINE

EXCLUSIVE

NICK DOUGHERTY gives a player's view of The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship, plus The European Tour's view of the Dubai Finale

egypt golf special Egyptian Open preview, Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort & Maritim Jolie Ville Golf & Resort

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NEWS & VIEWS

Official Publication of The Emirates Golf Federation & The Arab Golf Federation

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Worldwide Golf, the highest Total Qualified Circulation of any audited Golf title in the Middle East.

Worldwide Golf: BPA Worldwide Average Monthly Qualified Circulation Jan – Jun 2009 = 14,325 Middle East Golfer: BPA Worldwide Average Monthly Qualified Circulation Jan – Jun 2009 = 3,892

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Worldwide Golf’s Executive Editor

PLAYER

GARY

PLAYER INTRODUCTION

10th Anniversary!

C ONGRATULATIONS to Mike and Alex and all at Worldwide Golf on their 10th birthday. The first edition of Worldwide Golf came out in November 1999. Since then the magazine has grown into the biggest golf monthly in the Middle East.

We celebrated the 100th issue of the magazine in some style in April with a wonderful tournament and golf day at Emirates Golf Club which was thoroughly enjoyed by all who played and attended the event.

Much has happened in the last decade in the world of golf and particularly in the Middle East. Back then there were a just handful of grass courses and a few longestablished sand courses.

Now the scene has changed completely. Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the UAE and the Gulf States are fast becoming golf tourism destinations.

By the end of next year there will be more than 20 grass courses in the region and I’m proud to say that I believe that Saadiyat Beach ranks among the very best of them.

In fact, I’m confident in saying that Saadiyat Beach could soon be considered one of the best golf courses in world golf. It’s certainly one of the most spectacular locations imaginable and among the best sites I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with.

Saadiyat Beach Classic Many of the leading players have had a lot of nice things to say about the course and when we host our inaugural Saadiyat Beach Classic on January 27-28 I’m sure it will impress everyone who gets to see or play the course.

I am delighted to be hosting the charity event we have conceptualised with TDIC. I am particularly proud of the event because it is being played on a spectacular golf course, one of the finest we have designed worldwide, in a country like Abu Dhabi, which is really making the world sit up and take notice.

The tournament will be played by teams of four, including one major celebrity or top international golfer.

To raise money for charity, companies or organisations will have the chance to buy places in a team. It’s a unique opportunity for golf enthusiasts.

Worldwide Golf Issue 1

The event will be preceded by a welcome barbeque on the white sands of Saadiyat Beach and will conclude with a Gala Dinner on the final evening of the two-day tournament This is an exciting time for golf in the Middle East with the Dubai World Championship taking centre stage later this month. I’m sure it will be a great event with 60 of the best players on The European Tour playing for prize money of $7.5 million. In these days of global recession that’s a large fund and The European Tour and Nakheel must be congratulated on putting on a tournament of such stature.

The Race to Dubai, which replaced the Tour’s Order of Merit for 2009, has injected much more interest throughout the season and it’s interesting to see the number of leading players who are battling to gain qualification for the Championship by competing in the last few events leading up to the tournament.

With the bonus of $7.5 million spread among the top 15 in the final Race to Dubai table it’s going to be a big payday for a number of players.

The Dubai World Championship whets the appetite for the Middle East Swing, which begins with the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club on January 21, followed by the Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club on January 28 and closes with the Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club, starting on February 4. We’re in for an exciting few months.

Right now I’m down on the farm with the horses at the perfect time of year when the mares are producing their babies. It’s fascinating to see them being born and imagining what kind of racehorse they will grow up to be.

I’m also working on the final touches to my private nine hole eco-golf course we have created here at home which will be a huge benefit to golf courses everywhere in preserving and reducing water consumption and cutting maintenance costs.

This week I’m heading off to China for our Gary Player Invitational presented by Coca-Cola at Shanghai Links on November 2 and 3 and then it’s back to South Africa for our Gary Player Invitational at Fancourt at George on November 26-29. www.wwgolf.biz

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Over 100 destinations worldwide

Contents

Keith Waters

Tour’s V iew on Dubai Finale Mike Gallemore talks to Keith Waters, Director of International Policy at The European Tour, about The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship.

WWG: It seems a long time since the original announcement of The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship but do you think the journey has been a success?

KW: It’s nearly two years ago since we first stood on the top of the Burj Al Arab to make the announcement but looking back we think it has all been extremely successful.

Nakheel and Leisurecorp have delivered great support to the Tour. The impetus The Race to Dubai has given to our 2009 schedule should not be underestimated. It’s been hugely successful and we and the players are all very excited about the Dubai World Championship.

If it hadn’t been for the global recession it may well have been even more of a success. Nakheel and Leisurecorp have put a lot into their support of the event and the Tour. They have sponsored the players’ physio truck and they’ve done an excellent job in marketing The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship. It should not be taken for granted what Nakheel have achieved and the Tour is very appreciative of what they have done.

WWG: How do you see the Order of Merit and the Championship working out in the future?

KW: Everything is on track for the Championship to return to Jumeirah Golf Estates next year and we’re all looking forward to building on the success of this year’s event.

WWG: Although $5 million has been taken off the overall prize money at $15 million the Dubai World Championship is still the richest four days in golf – do you think it has it fulfilled the Tour’s expectations?

KW: The players have been very understanding and appreciative of the situation regarding the reduction in the prize money and whichever way you look at it it’s still an incredibly attractive tournament.

There is still a huge bonus for the top 15 players in the final standings of The Race to Dubai who share $7.5 million in prize money with $1.5 million going to the player who tops the table at the conclusion of the Dubai World Championship.

It’s a great tournament and all the leading players who are likely to qualify have confirmed

– barring illness or injury – that they will play.

They are all very excited by it. We’ve certainly been impacted by the recession but in the grand scheme of the Tour’s 50 tournaments worldwide we are all very pleased and grateful that we’ve come through it all relatively unscathed WWG: The PGA Tour has changed the format of the FedExCup each year in the three years it has been going – but do you think you’ve got the format right for The European Tour’s end of season finale?

KW: We’re very happy with having one big tournament as an end of season climax and because the prize money is so high it will have a big impact on the final placings for the season.

The FedExCup is a more complicated system with a reducing field played over a five-week span. We’re very happy with the format that we have got and we think we’ve got the balance right.

WWG: It was hoped that with The European Tour having so many international events that some of the leading players on the PGA Tour would qualify but few have played the required 11 tournaments to get in.

KW: Everyone would have been delighted if more of the World`s leading players had joined the Tour but there are still a number of leading players like Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim, Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy who did join and are now playing the closing tournaments and could qualify for the Championship, and part of the Race to Dubai bonus pool.

Some players like Mike Weir have not had a good enough season to qualify for the Championship. Considering it is the first year it has to be rated as a huge success.

WWG: A few big name players look as though they will squeeze in by playing the Volvo World Match Play Championship but would the Tour consider dropping the qualifying number of tournaments played from, say, 11 to 10.

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KW: This was also discussed at the players’ meeting and the view was that we don’t want to reduce the number of qualifying

Canon Pro Golf Series

“I really enjoy the Canon days because Canon and IMG have managed to create different formats which give us far more variety from the usual golf day.” – Ian Woosnam The Canon Pro Golf Series will take place at Arabian Ranches Golf Club on Monday November 23 .

To enter a team contact: francois@arabianranchesgolf.ae

CANON PRO GOLF SERIES STARS TO TURN OUT AT ARABIAN RANCHES

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RABIAN Ranches Golf Club will have the honour of hosting the first Canon Pro Golf Series Golf Day to be held in the Dubai when three of the game’s biggest names, Ian Woosnam, Thomas Levet and Nick Dougherty come to town on November 23rd.

The Canon Pro Golf Series began in the early 1990s offering a unique opportunity for the company’s clients and customers to enjoy a “golfing experience they’ll never forget”. The annual series spans 15 one-day events across Europe, Africa and the Middle East with leading European Tour players joining participants for great fun day of golf and banter. Each event is different, which keeps things fresh for everyone involved.

The Dubai event will see the pros play a short exhibition match, giving tuition to the crowd on how to play each shot along the way, and no doubt there will be no shortage of humorous exchanges flying back and forth. There will also be an 18-hole Pro-Am, where the Tour players will rotate around the different groups, as well as a clinic, a welcome breakfast and a prizegiving dinner. Participants will also get plenty of opportunities to have their photographs taken with the stars.

These events are extremely well put together and have more in keeping with a Mini-Tour event than a golf day in terms of the way they are organised – guests attending a Canon Pro Golf

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Regulars GARY PLAYER INTRODUCTION WWG CHARITY PRESENTATON; WWG MIDWEEK OPEN

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KEITH WATERS presents The European Tour’s view on the Grand Finale in Dubai.

CLUBHOUSE QUICKIES

DRIVING RANGE: MERCEDES GLK GREG NORMAN COLUMN ROSS FISHER COLUMN OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING GARY PLAYER COLUMN THE RACE TO DUBAI

CLAUDE HARMON III SWING ANALYSIS

WAYNE’S DIARY WOMEN’S GOLF DUBAI EGYPTIAN GOLF FEDERATION

GROOM ROOM IN THE BAG: CLUB PRO

ISSUE No. 109, NOVEMBER, 2009 Published by: Worldwide Sporting Publications Ltd, 54 Alderley Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, England, SK9 1NY mikeg@sportingpublications.com alexg@sportingpublications.com Tel: +44 01625 535081 Fax: +44 01625 537487

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Luxurious Materials, Superior Processes At ECCO, we are passionate shoemakers who know that only the highest quality materials can be used for the world’s most luxurious golf shoes. Hand-selected crocodile skins for the Premium 109 collection are prepared exclusively at company-owned facilities using unique production technologies and the professional know-how upon which all ECCO products are based.

The Perfect Swing Platform Premium 109 collection golf shoes are inspired by the ultimate instrument of technology – the human foot.

Corresponding to this natural shape, the unique ECCO “Freedom Fit” allows toes to spread and move freely.

This enhances circulation, increases airflow and ensures superior comfort. It also delivers exceptional on-course performance by creating a swing platform that offers outstanding flexibility and stability while feeling like an extension of your body.

A Conversation with Dieter Kasprzak, ECCO CEO and Premium 109 Collection Designer Why did ECCO decide to make golf shoes?

Dieter Kasprzak (DK): I felt an immediate connection to the sport when I first started playing in 1994. In order to perform your best, you truly have to be in the moment and erase everything else from your mind. I clearly remember my first round of golf and how uncomfortable my golf shoes were. That was the same day the idea for an ECCO golf line was born. Our sole focus since then has been to create shoes that support a player so he can concentrate 100% on his game and not have to worry about his feet.

Why is the production limited to 109 pairs worldwide?

DK: The Premium 109 Collection is not for everyone. The idea is to make a very limited edition each year. So, for example, this year we produce 109 pairs, which refers to the year 2009. Next year we will launch an edition of 110 pairs, and so forth.

What’s so unique about the Premium 109 Collection?

DK: Beyond the limited edition, premium materials and advanced technology, it’s the tremendous care that goes into making each shoe. For instance, it has taken approximately one

year to make each pair of shoes. I personally visited the farm in Thailand where the crocodile skins are produced to ensure the quality of the skin. I have also spent many hours adjusting the design to reach perfection. This has been a very pleasurable process because my dream was to make the world’s best and most exclusive golf shoe and I think this is what has been done.

What message would you like to share with the man who has bought this shoe?

DK: Do enjoy them – that is the very purpose of these shoes!

What led to the creation of the Premium 109 Collection?

DK: The main goal was to create the world’s best golf shoe, which connects to my desire as a designer to produce a perfect product. The technology behind these unique shoes is based on the knowledge ECCO has gained from working closely with scores of major champions and top Tour pros. I then chose the most exclusive materials in order to make this the perfect combination of function and style.

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26 THE Canon Pro Golf Series comes to Dubai at Arabian Ranches with Thomas Levet, Ian Woosnam and Nick Dougherty.

30 SPECTACULAR GOLF COURSES: The award-winning Jolie Ville Golf & Resort at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

CELEBRAT ING OUR 10 TH ANNIVERSARY

MI DDL E E A S T’ S No . 1 GO L F M A G A Z I N E

THE INAUGURAL AUDI INVITATIONAL GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP hosted by Ali & Sons at Abu Dhabi GC.

34 THE AL NABOODAH INVITATIONAL: The fourth running of the popular event raises its profile.

TUTORIAL

LOCKER ROOM

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Each of the 109 pairs to be produced is accompanied by a distinctive collector’s accessory package. This includes crocodile leather luggage made from the exact same hides used to produce the shoes, a platinum plate with the player’s name and shoe edition number, cedar shoe trees and a gold-coloured silk shoe bag.

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WORLD ROUND-UPS

ARABIAN GOLF

Only available in 10 countries worldwide, including the UAE. For more information contact Nimal Perera; nipe@ecco.com

21 ALDAR YAS LINKS: Aldar strengthens its golf team and launches its new branding.

DIVOTS: NEWS ITEMS

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ECCO’s most exclusive offering, the Premium 109 collection is an unrivalled experience designed for those who seek the very best. This unique, numbered edition of rich, crocodile skin golf shoes is individually produced and handmadeto-order by highly skilled artisans.

EXCLUSIVE

10 NICK DOUGHERTY gives the players’ view on The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship.

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ERNIE ELS COLUMN

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Issue 109, November 2009

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Features

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Series day leave feeling as though they have been treated like professionals.

Former Ryder Cup Captain, Masters winner and European Tour legend Ian Woosnam has been involved in the Canon Pro Golf Series for a number of years and has proved to be an extremely popular, welcoming and entertaining figure. Together with Dougherty and Levet he will help make the Dubai event another memorable experience for all those in attendance.

“I really enjoy the Canon days because Canon and IMG have managed to create different formats which give us far more variety from the usual golf day,” says Woosnam. “The Pros love it and so do the amateurs and it gives everyone involved a unique day out.

“The Pro Series is truly a once in a lifetime golfing experience. Over the years I’ve played with hundreds of Canon guests across dozens of European venues and have got to know the Canon people really well. Everything is very relaxed, we have a great time together with everyone well looked after and, of course, we’ve all got a few stories to recall.

“I’m flying out to Dubai specifically to be at the Canon day at Arabian Ranches knowing that we will all have a great time. There’s no doubt that the Canon Pro Series is unique in the golf world and our thanks go to Canon from all the participating professionals for supporting this great series.”

EXCLUSIVE

NICK DOUGHERTY

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gives a player's view of The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship, plus The European Tour's view of the Dubai Finale

ECCO PREMIUM 109: Worldwide Golf’s exclusive on ECCO’s unique limited number edition of handmade golf shoes.

egypt golf special Egyptian Open preview, Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort & Maritim Jolie Ville Golf & Resort

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64 WORLDWIDE GOLF TRAVEL: We visit

Editorial Panel: Gary Player, Mike Gallemore, Alex Gallemore, Richard Bevan, Todd Staszko

Published in Dubai by: Prografix, PO Box 24677, Dubai, UAE (Tel) +9714 340 3785 Advertising & Marketing: David Burke davidb@wspdubai.com (009715) 05519363 Worldwide Golf specifies that post-press changes may occur to any information given in this publication and takes no responsibility for goods or services advertised.

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Official Publication of The Emirates Golf Federation & The Arab Golf Federation

FRONT COVER: Nick Dougherty.

the outstanding Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort in Egypt’s capital city, Cairo.

Editor-in-Chief: Mike Gallemore Executive Editor: Gary Player Editor: Alex Gallemore Publisher: Mike Gallemore Senior Editor: Richard Bevan Editorial Assistants: Todd Staszko, James Reeves, Tabitha Florence Design Manager: Mark Frain Technical Manager: Mark Collinge

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Printed by: Raidy, Dubai

June 2009 SSN 1- 46805671 Approval UAE National Media Council: Ref.816 30/5/2007 Trade Licence No. 1/104375/15280

BPA Worldwide Audited Average Monthly Qualified Cerculation 14,325 (Jan - Jun 2009)

Worldwide Golf Charity Presentation IT WAS presentation time at Emirates Golf Club last month when Worldwide Golf presented the cheques to the two charities who benefitted from the Worldwide Golf 100th Anniversary Invitational hosted

by Gary Player presented by ECCO under the Patronage of H.H. Sheikh Saeed bin Mohammed bin Hasher Al Maktoum.

A memorable day was enjoyed by all who attended the event at the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club earlier this year. The day began with a brunch hosted by the South African Business Council where Gary gave a rousing speech, followed by an enthralling and entertaining clinic on the driving range where some of the local youngsters showed their skills.

The Invitational began with Gary hitting a ceremonial drive off the 1st tee and then the Black Knight was on the 7th tee where he greeted and hit over the lake with each of the 27 fourballs in the tournament.

Local golfers and players from all over the world then attended the Awards Dinner where Gary made an emotional speech, thanking everyone on behalf of Worldwide Golf.

The charity presentation at Emirates Golf Club last month was made by Worldwide Golf ’s David Burke to Adel Zarouni, on behalf of Dubai Autism, and Rod Bogg accepted the donation to The Player Foundation. The two charities shared equally AED91,816 from the proceeds of the event.

The Player Foundation was founded in 1983 and in 2008 it marked its 25th Anniversary by announcing that over $30 million had been raised to help children on six continents, in over a dozen different countries, improving the lives of thousands of children.

The Dubai Autism Centre aims at improving the future of all who struggle with Autism. Currently the Centre provides an individualised programme for 48 children that includes academics, various therapies and outdoor activities to encourage social interaction.

The family support programme facilitates sharing experiences and interacting with other families. A major part of DAC services include Assessment and Diagnosis as well as reaching out to the various communities to spread awareness and engage public interest in this growing and serious social issue.

WORLDWIDE

THE MIDDLE EAST’S No.1 GOLF MAGAZINE - WRITTEN BY GOLFERS FOR GOLFERS

Golf

PRESENTATION TIME AT EMIRATES GOLF CLUB: Rod Bogg, Managing Director of Dubai Golf accepts the donation on behalf of The Player Foundation from Worldwide Golf’s David Burke who also presents the donation to Adel Zarouni for the Dubai Autism Centre.

Venue: Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club

Est:1999

Supported by:

Our 9th Worldwide Golf another great success WORLDWIDE GOLF MIDWEEK OPEN Presented by Towers Rotana Dubai THE ninth Worldwide Golf Midweek Open, which took place at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club turned out to be another overwhelming success in the great tradition of our Midweek Open events. All the staff at Sharjah G&SC looked after us extremely well and we thank them for their welcome and their hospitality. The overall winner was Salmin Sheriff with 41 Stableford points. Also with 41 points was the Division A winner (0-16), Oliver Set, with runnerup Burhan Mohammed on 38 points. Zoyeb Mohammed took Division B (17-28) with 38 points and Fatih Bozkurt was second just one point behind. The Ladies winner was Marlyn Radford on 29 points. AbhizerMohammed won the Nearest the Pin prize on hole 12 and Burhan Mohammed was in the prizes again, winning the Longest Drive on the 13th.

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A ‘GOLDEN TICKET’ FOR THE AL NABOODAH INVITATIONAL ALTHOUGH the Al Naboodah Invitational is by invitation only, two spots have been reserved as Golden Tickets for the Worldwide Golf “Golden Ticket” Qualifying Event to be played at a venue and on a date to be announced soon. There will be one “Golden Ticket” qualifying spot for adults (max. handicap 15 men - 24 ladies) and one for juniors (max. handicap 28). We will also be looking for volunteer caddies on the day for both the Professionals and amateurs. For further information visit the website: www.alnaboodahinvitational.com

For a man who’s won 18 Majors over an extraordinary career, it’s remarkable that one of Gary Player’s greatest achievements will take place in 2009.

Saadiyat Beach Golf Course, designed by Gary Player.

Due to be unveiled this year, the Course is a masterpiece in design from the most successful international golfer of all time. Come view this memorable expression of Gary’s passion for golf, and discover exactly why it could go down as his biggest triumph yet. www.sbgolfclub.ae 0$& "/'30/5 -0$ "-& t #& "65*'6- 8)*5& 4"/%4 t -6963*064 (3&&/4

WWGCOLUMNIST

ERNIE ELS is the most successful South African golfer of his generation. Els, nicknamed ‘The Big Easy’ due to his easylooking swing, has won three Majors and seven World Match Play Championships during a career that spans close on two decades. Els has two U.S. Opens to his name and won The Open Championship at Muirfield in 2002.

The difference a few putts make

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t seems like it has been a very eventful month since I last wrote my column for Worldwide Golf.

I’ve turned 40 years of age, which is no small thing, I suppose! I celebrated with a family vacation in the Bahamas and a great party on the Saturday night of my birthday. I had all the people around me I wanted – family and friends – some of whom I hadn’t seen for many years. It was a great night.

Reaching 40 is a landmark moment in anyone’s life, but luckily with golf you’ve got plenty ‘left in the tank’ at this age.

You only have to look at guys like Vijay, Kenny Perry and, going back further, obviously the likes of Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead to see what’s possible. I like to think I’ve got a lot more wins to come, put it that way.

Anyway, since I last wrote I’ve played in three big tournaments. Going into the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta the top-30 players’ FedExCup points were reset, a change in the format for this year, which meant technically that anyone in the field could win this thing. But lying in 22nd spot on the Points List as I was, logic had the upper hand over mathematics.

I knew that winning the FedExCup was out of my reach.

This was my 14th appearance in the Tour Championship since I played it for the first time way back in 1994. I’d had plenty of top 10s in this tournament – six in total – but no wins. The closest I got to that was in 2001 when I shot a final round 68 to make a four-man playoff, and Mike Weir nailed that with a birdie-three on the first extra hole.

It wasn’t to be this year, either. I played pretty well, but I didn’t hit enough fairways and, on a golf course like East Lake that can give you a world of trouble. The good thing was, my putting continued to improve, as it has done for the past few months. It’s a slow process, but confidence doesn’t just return 6

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overnight. I watched some old tapes of myself in the 1990s and that helped, especially since I went for a longer shaft in my putter. I also watched what Tiger does a little bit and I feel like I’m starting to strike my putts with some authority now – basically, getting the ball running at the hole.

The change in conditions from Atlanta to Scotland could not have been more dramatic, but the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is still a tournament I really don’t want to miss. It has been so dear to my Dad and me. We’ve played in it many times and we’ve made the cut through to the final day in all but one year. It’s a great time for me, to be at the Home of Golf with my Dad. We don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like and here we can really relax and enjoy it. Also Johan Rupert, a great friend of mine, sponsors and runs the tournament.

Travel-wise it wasn’t ideal being in Scotland, with The Presidents Cup coming up the following week and with me being in Atlanta the week before.

But I’ve got my own plane now, a G5, so we can fly straight in and out without any stops. It means I can get some decent sleep and plenty of rest. It’s just the time change that I’ve got to adjust to but that’s all. The great thing was, I knew I’d have a few days to recover, so that was okay, even at my age!

This year’s Dunhill Links was another great week. Me and my Dad made it into the top-20 teams and played together on the last day at St Andrews.

For me, personally, there was a lot of good in my game. I didn’t make enough putts to get myself up to the top of the leaderboard, which was a little surprising because as I said I’ve been putting better of late.

But I had a couple of nice rounds – a 66 at Kingsbarns and a 68 on the Old Course on Sunday which got me to 10-under-par for the tournament, not bad considering I shot level par the first

36 holes. With that tight travel schedule I was talking about, we could have done without Saturday’s play being abandoned due to high winds, but I still made it to San Francisco for Tuesday’s media interviews and The Presidents Cup Team Dinner that evening.

Going into the week the International Team was trailing 5½ -1½ in the series.

To my mind the teams always look pretty evenly matched on paper, and they were again this year, but maybe the experience the Americans have from playing in the Ryder Cup has been an important factor. They play more of these types of matches and that has got to help.

Whatever, we’d never won this thing on U.S. soil, so everyone on the International Team was really fired up to see if we could put that right this year.

Obviously, that didn’t work out, but it was still a great week. The camaraderie we had in the team was very special, especially when you consider we were flying nine different flags. It didn’t feel like that. The team spirit was so good it was like we were all under just the one flag.

I have to give credit to the Americans.

They are one hell of a strong team. We all gave it 100 per cent, but chatting to Greg Norman afterwards and to the rest of the guys I think we felt that over the four days the Americans putted better than we did – that was the difference.

A lot of the matches were close and it just comes down to one key moment, one putt, here or there. That’s how it is with match play golf. Sometimes you’re giving it out; other times you’re taking it.

I said at the start of the week that if we lost again…well, you know what, they’d just have to move it south.

Whenever we go south, we’re good! It was a bit tongue in cheek, of course. But at least we are moving south next time, because The 2011 Presidents Cup is being played in Australia. I’ve got to like our chances down there!

IN THE KNOW WITH ERNIE ELS

Ernie Els’ record in the Tour Championship 1994 – T17 1995 – T16 1996 – T6 1997 – T26 1999 – T26 2000 – T3 2001 – T2 2002 – T13 2003 – 17 2004 – T10 2006 – T10 2007 – T26 2008 – T6 2009 – 9

“THE CAMARADERIE WE HAD IN THE TEAM WAS VERY SPECIAL, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER WE WERE FLYING NINE DIFFERENT FLAGS. IT DIDN’T FEEL LIKE THAT. ” – ERNIE ELS

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clubhouse quickies

PLAYER QUOTES JOKES WORD OF THE MONTH CARTOONS

TWO ANTS Two best balls Glen came to work Monday and his colleagues asked him how his weekend was. He said he played a little golf. So his co-worker asked him how well he did.

“I hit two of my best balls,” he said.

“Tell me about it,” said his co-worker.

“I stepped on a rake.”

Is he a good dentist?

Two ants were in a sand trap watching a duffer flailing away.

“Quick,” said the one ant to the other. “Get on the ball before he kills us.”

LOOK OUT! “Nothing goes down slower than a golf handicap.”

– Bobby Nichols

A couple of old guys were golfing when one said he was going to Dr. Roberts for a new set of dentures in the morning.

His friend remarked that he had gone to the same dentist a few years before. “Is that so?” the first said.

“Did he do a good job?”

“Well, I was on the course yesterday when the fellow on the ninth hole hooked a shot,” he said. “The ball must have been going 200 mph when it hit me in the stomach.

“That,” he added, “was the first time in two years my teeth didn’t hurt.”

Wrong Club For most of the round the golfer had argued with his caddie about club selection, but the caddie’s view always prevailed.

Finally, on the 17th hole, a 185-yard par 3 into the wind, the caddie handed the golfer a 4-wood and the golfer reacted.

“I think it’s a 3-iron,” said the golfer. “No, Sir it’s a 4-wood,” said the caddie.

“Nope, it’s definitely a 3-iron.”

So the golfer set up, took the 3-iron back slowly, and struck the ball perfectly. It tore through the wind, hit softly on the front of the green, and rolled up two feet short of the pin.

“See,” said the caddie. “I told you it wasn’t enough club!”

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WORD

“Most people’d be drunk for two days on what I have before dinner.”

– John Daly

OF THE MONTH...

DOG TRACK: A derogatory term for a golf course that isn’t very well maintained.

DID YOU KNOW?

A gentleman by the name of Nobby Owens once travelled by Concorde to play 18 holes of golf in London, New York and Los Angeles—all in the same day.

Padraig looked everywhere but Tiger’s hiding place was just too good.

“Golf is a game in which you claim the privileges of age and retain the playthings of childhood.” – Samuel Johnson.

“The more you miss, the worse it gets. The worse it gets the more likely you are to miss again.” – Dave Pelz on the eternal ‘Catch 22’ putting problem.

Big problem with golf The main problem with golf is that the slow people are always in front of you and the fast people always end up behind you.

“There are three roads to ruin: women, gambling, and golf. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with golf.”

– Andrew Perry

“Heads, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.”

Well done Tiger! www.wwgolf.biz

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Players’ V iew on Dubai Finale Mike Gallemore gets a European Tour player’s view of The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship from Nick Dougherty, who is in the top 30 of the 60 players qualified for the biggest tournament in golf.

WWG: How does it feel to qualify for the Dubai World Championship after the 12 months campaign of The Race to Dubai?

ND: I’ve not had the best season but winning the BMW International Open was great and it moved me right up The Race to Dubai rankings.

The Dubai World Championship is still a bit of an unknown quantity but it’s a massive event and it’s an integral part of our Tour now. I’m currently ranked 27th so I’m pleased I’ve got into the top 60 quite comfortably.

WWG: What was the reaction of the players to the reduction of the prize money from $20 million to $15 million?

ND: There’s nothing negative about The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship – it’s all positive. At $7.5 million the event has the equivalent prize money of a World Golf Championships tournament with the added bonus of a further $7.5 million. You can’t do better than that.

Hopefully, it’s something we’ll have on our Tour for many years to come. In these financial times we all appreciate what it means. It’s had a massive impact on our Tour to have such an end of season climax and it’s captured the imagination of everyone. It’s become our season-ending Tour Championship.

WWG: Do you think the players will have to accept more cuts in prize money next season: ND: We’d be very naïve to think that nothing would change at times like this. But everyone is struggling.

Our Tour has done a great job for us in keeping sponsors and filling the schedule for 2010.

It almost feels a little bit bad in a way to be playing for such incredible prize money when people are losing their jobs. We feel we’re very lucky and I don’t

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think you’ll hear any of the players complaining about reductions in prize money.

The amount of money you need to have earned to keep your card is the highest it’s ever been this year. In such an economic crisis that’s quite remarkable. You’ll need to have earned in the region of £240,000 to keep your card this year. When I joined the Tour about eight years ago it was £110,000 – so it has more than doubled in that short time.

The Tour are certainly doing everything right and we should be very thankful. If we can ride through this we’ll be more than happy and if we can go forward with the relationship with Leisurecorp, with The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship, that will be great news for all of us.

WWG: Is this what the players want – a grand finale to the Tour season?

ND: I think it’s more exciting for the players and the viewing public. The format also brings a lot more people into the equation. Golf is going like so many other sports now.

People want to see high impact, pressure cooker competition and this is what The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship has created.

WWG: How do you think The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship compares to the FedExCup in the States?

ND: To have the one event as the finale is probably better than the FedExCup system. In our event you know exactly where you are and it’s easy to follow but the FedExCup is so complicated. Ours is different but it’s simple to understand the format for the players and the spectators.

WWG: Do you think the qualifying number of tournaments of 11 for members of the Tour is right

Nick Dougherty

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Nick Dougherty

We asked four more of the Race to Dubai’ fancied runners their impressions of The new format and their expectations of the dubai world championship

or do you think it should be lowered to allow in more international players?

ND: All the signs point to the number going up. As players we want the strongest field for all our events. We all want to win tournaments playing against the best. That’s always the goal.

We welcome the international players but we don’t really want to see players coming in who pitch up just for the odd event. We need players who are committed to our Tour.

As it stands now with the four Majors and the four WGC events the international players would only have to play another three or four events to get in. But do we really want that?

If somebody came in through that route and won the Dubai World Championship and topped The Race to Dubai bonus would they really deserve to be regarded as European Tour Members?

I appreciate that it’s difficult for the Tour to get the balance right. I’d like to see as many committed international players come on to our Tour but I’d like to see a solid supporting Tour Member win in Dubai. That would be a great result.

It’s always good when the international players come over to play on our Tour and I think it demonstrates the strength of The European Tour that our guys invariably win.

But really would like to see a full European Tour Member win the Dubai World Championship.

I believe that we should make the number of qualifying tournaments such that players have to commit to the Tour. Although I’d like

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to play more in the United States next year my commitment is still to The European Tour. That’s my home Tour. It’s a tough job for the Tour to get it right and only time will tell whether we do get it right.

WWG: Do you enjoy playing in the Middle East and do you think the players would welcome an extension to the Middle East Swing?

ND: We all love playing in the Middle East.

The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the Qatar Masters and the Dubai Desert Classic are all fantastic tournaments and they’re all played on great golf courses.

It would be good if there were more tournaments in the region. I think that is where the future of the Tour lies and with Asia and the Middle East developing so quickly it’s a part of the world where I believe golf is going to continue to progress.

I hear The European Tour are aiming to play more events in mainland Europe, which will be good for all of us, but I think the Middle East and Asia are the real growth areas.

WWG: Have you had the chance to see Greg Norman’s Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates?

ND: I haven’t seen the Earth course but I’ve spoken to many of the players who have and they’ve all given it great reports. I’ve also heard that the facilities are fantastic. I think it’s going to be a superb event. It’s going to be mindblowing.

Lee Westwood (Race to Dubai Position - No.1): “It’s been a very exciting first venture and even before the conclusion, a successful one. If I needed any further motivation after the end of the Major season then this was it. I’ll be doing everything I possibly can to make history and become the first champion.

Once the word spreads then more and more of the world’s best players will want to be a part of it and I can’t really think of anything that needs changing in the format.

Everything I’ve heard about the Earth course has been positive so I’m really looking forward to the week. We’re incredibly lucky to be playing for such a big prize in the current financial climate.

Winning this would definitely be the biggest title on my CV to date. I’m playing better than at any time in my career so I’m going there with plenty of confidence – but so will a lot of others. Dubai’s name is becoming synonymous with golf and The Race to Dubai has brought even more attention to the region. I’m sure that more and more people will visit.”

Rory McIlroy (Race to Dubai Position –No.3): It’s been a great competition from start to finish.

Every player on Tour wants to be in Dubai for it, that’s how much it has captured the imagination. I’m really delighted to have a chance of winning. There are plenty of big names already involved and I’m sure it will continue to grow.

Maybe the format will receive a tweak here and there in the future, but nothing major needs to be changed. I haven’t looked forward to anything as much as the Dubai World Championship.

I love Dubai. It was the scene of my first success – at the Desert Classic. I would be proud to add another at the Dubai World Championship. The money isn’t as important as the winning and that’s my aim. I was leading The Race before Lee took over after winning the Portugal Masters so I have to believe I can do it. That’s what I’m aiming for.

The Race to Dubai has not only been a great innovation for The European Tour, but also for the UAE. All the courses there are fantastic and it’s sure to attract more and more visitors.

Tour’s V iew on Dubai Finale Mike Gallemore talks to Keith Waters, Director of International Policy at The European Tour, about The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship.

WWG: It seems a long time since the original announcement of The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship but do you think the journey has been a success?

KW: It’s nearly two years ago since we first stood on the top of the Burj Al Arab to make the announcement but looking back we think it has all been extremely successful.

Nakheel and Leisurecorp have delivered great support to the Tour. The impetus The Race to Dubai has given to our 2009 schedule should not be underestimated. It’s been hugely successful and we and the players are all very excited about the Dubai World Championship.

If it hadn’t been for the global recession it may well have been even more of a success. Nakheel and Leisurecorp have put a lot into their support of the event and the Tour. They have sponsored the players’ physio truck and they’ve done an excellent job in marketing The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship. It should not be taken for granted what Nakheel have achieved and the Tour is very appreciative of what they have done.

WWG: How do you see the Order of Merit and the Championship working out in the future?

KW: Everything is on track for the Championship to return to Jumeirah Golf Estates next year and we’re all looking forward to building on the success of this year’s event.

WWG: Although $5 million has been taken off the overall prize money at $15 million the Dubai World Championship is still the richest four days in golf – do you think it has it fulfilled the Tour’s expectations?

KW: The players have been very understanding and appreciative of the situation regarding the reduction in the prize money and whichever way you look at it it’s still an incredibly attractive tournament.

There is still a huge bonus for the top 15 players in the final standings of The Race to Dubai who share $7.5 million in prize money with $1.5 million going to the player who tops the table at the conclusion of the Dubai World Championship.

It’s a great tournament and all the leading players who are likely to qualify have confirmed

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– barring illness or injury – that they will play.

They are all very excited by it. We’ve certainly been impacted by the recession but in the grand scheme of the Tour’s 50 tournaments worldwide we are all very pleased and grateful that we’ve come through it all relatively unscathed WWG: The PGA Tour has changed the format of the FedExCup each year in the three years it has been going – but do you think you’ve got the format right for The European Tour’s end of season finale?

KW: We’re very happy with having one big tournament as an end of season climax and because the prize money is so high it will have a big impact on the final placings for the season.

The FedExCup is a more complicated system with a reducing field played over a five-week span. We’re very happy with the format that we have got and we think we’ve got the balance right.

WWG: It was hoped that with The European Tour having so many international events that some of the leading players on the PGA Tour would qualify but few have played the required 11 tournaments to get in.

KW: Everyone would have been delighted if more of the World`s leading players had joined the Tour but there are still a number of leading players like Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim, Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy who did join and are now playing the closing tournaments and could qualify for the Championship, and part of the Race to Dubai bonus pool.

Some players like Mike Weir have not had a good enough season to qualify for the Championship. Considering it is the first year it has to be rated as a huge success.

WWG: A few big name players look as though they will squeeze in by playing the Volvo World Match Play Championship but would the Tour consider dropping the qualifying number of tournaments played from, say, 11 to 10.

KW: This was also discussed at the players’ meeting and the view was that we don’t want to reduce the number of qualifying

Keith Waters

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Keith Waters

WWG: What does the Tour’s 2010 schedule look like in view of the number of tournament sponsors who are being hit by the recession?

KW: We are very pleased with the strength of next year’s schedule and although we may have lost one or two sponsors we are expecting to announce a full schedule with 50 excellent tournaments.

tournaments. But what we did talk about was trying to find a way of incentivising the players to play more tournaments and especially full field tournaments in the summer months played in the heartland of The European Tour. We are always looking to improve the Tour and return more value to the sponsors.

WWG: Everyone has been very complimentary about Greg Norman’s Earth course but does the fact that the surroundings have not yet been completed detract from the overall atmosphere of the venue.

KW: I don’t think that will be the case. I’m sure the facilities for the players and the spectators will be first class. A great deal has been achieved in a very short time by a lot of people and we’re pleased with the outcome.

Obviously, it will be even better next year when the new clubhouse is completed but I don’t think this will have a bearing on the Championship and I’m confident that everyone will be well looked after.

WWG: People will make the comparison that some of the events on the Middle East Swing may have a stronger field than the Dubai World Championship – the Dubai Desert Classic and the Qatar Masters in particular.

KW: I’ve no doubt that the field for the Dubai World Championship will be the strongest in the Middle East, particularly when you consider it has a limited field of 60 qualified players.

The strength of that field of 60 will include more players ranked within the top 50 in the World Ranking than the other tournaments in the Middle East Swing. It is a world class field and only a few of the leading World ranked players will be missing.

WWG: It could be that prize money on the PGA Tour will be reduced next season which might encourage more players to play on The European Tour.

KW: I’m sure the PGA Tour will produce a good schedule. Many of the members of the PGA Tour are happy with their lifestyle in the United States and are understandably reluctant to play elsewhere. They are also committed to the Tour.

One of the great advantages of The European Tour is that we have so many bright prospects in the development of the game around the world.

The Asian players are making their mark on the world stage and the Asian countries have huge potential. It’s exciting to consider the progress of the professional game in that part of the world.

WWG: Is there a danger of reaching saturation point with too few opportunities for new events in the calendar and how do you think the Olympics will affect the game?

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KW: It’s going to be difficult to introduce more tournaments in Asia and elsewhere because the schedule is full but there are a lot of factors to consider. Golf in Asia will get stronger but whether the balance of tournaments on the Tour changes geographically only time will tell.

The economic circumstances will play a part in that as will the introduction of golf into the Olympics. I think that having golf in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will have a profound affect on many countries who hadn’t previously considered themselves a golfing nation.

There are many countries who will change their focus quite dramatically. Where they never, perhaps, considered promoting golf, the chance to put their country on the Olympic map through golf could cause a total change of attitude.

I think the world’s leading players will play but the bigger picture is that the benefits for the game becoming an Olympic sport are colossal.

WWG: India seems to have slowed in their efforts to become a serious player in the golf world but which countries do you think will begin to accelerate?

KW: It’s a complex issue to work out which countries are most likely to emerge. Obviously, China is making huge headway but golf in India has to compete with cricket, which is incredibly dominant – just look at the success of the IPL Twenty20 series over there.

There aren’t many facilities for golfers in India.

It takes time to change that. The total number of golfers in India is still very small.

One of the most interesting countries right now is Spain. Golf has been popular in Spain for many years, particularly with tourists. But now Spaniards are taking up the game in increasing numbers and new sponsors are beginning to get involved in promoting the game.

In future years there may be more tournaments in Spain than in any other country on the Tour.

The government in Madrid are launching three new 36-hole sites to cope with the huge growing demand from Spanish golfers. A fitting example is that the Federation course in Madrid has 17 teaching professionals and averages 45,000 rounds per year. The growth is simply phenomenal.

WWG: Golf in the Middle East has become an expensive sport to play. Do you think there should be municipal courses available?

KW: You need a mixture of golf courses. You need inexpensive facilities for those starting to take up the game, with driving ranges and public golf courses, as well as the luxury courses.

People starting to play golf need more access at affordable prices or they will be discouraged and take up another sport. ■

Simon Dyson (Race to Dubai Position – No. 8): The Race to Dubai has been on everybody’s mind throughout the season. The Dubai World Championship is a great event in a great location and at the perfect time of year. This is something I’m sure will grow and grow.

I can see it becoming one of the world’s biggest golf events.

I know it’s going to be a great week and it would be magnificent to knock this one off to be the first winner of such a great tournament. Even with the cut in prize money we’re still playing for a colossal amount of money at a time when everything and everybody is feeling the pinch. We should feel very lucky. I know I certainly do.

Winning at St. Andrews (Alfred Dunhill Links Championship) against a world-class field proved a great many things to me. I know I have a chance whenever I tee up and I’ll be hoping to take that conficence to Dubai. Golf and Dubai go hand in hand now. The Race to Dubai is not only a showcase for the Tour, but also the area.

Martin Kaymer (Race to Dubai Position – No. 2): I’m very excited to be in the Dubai World Championship particularly having been injured for 10 weeks. Despite the prize money cut the Dubai World Championship still offers the chance for one player to claim the richest prize in golf but I don´t play golf for the money or the biggest prize sums.

I like a good match and great competition and it makes me very satisfied to play against the very best players in the world. It’s very challenging and lots of fun.

I played Greg Norman’s Earth course in February when I was in Dubai for the Desert Classic. It was not all finished but we played some holes and I found them very good at the time. It has been hard staying away from golf for such a long time. But I have been practising hard with my physio and taking it day by day. I really missed playing golf and of course all of my friends out on the Tour. But I played well in the Castello Masters Costa Azahar last month where I finished tied second. I think I played well.

The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship have been a big boost for The Tour and for Dubai but it is still to be found out how it works out. Dubai and the Middle East have all suffered the bad financial times so we will see the outcome in the future.

But it has increased the interest with so many good players competing and drawing the world’s attention to Dubai as a golf destination.

As for my go-karting, I won’t be giving it up but I’ll think twice about going back on the racetrack!

DIVOTS Daly back to action after quick recovery

THE new, slimmed-down John Daly will play in the Australian Open and Australian PGA golf tournaments in December after recovering more quickly than expected from a rib injury, reversing his decision in September to withdraw from the events.

“My recovery from stem cell surgery has been closely monitored by my doctor and I have been cleared to begin playing competitively again,” said Daly. “As such, I have accepted invitations to play in the 2009 Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship and I regret the confusion the injury process has caused.”

Björn to leave his role on The European Tour THOMAS Björn will step down from his role as The European Tour’s Chairman of the Player’s Committee in July next year. The Dane admitted that playing on The Tour and working on the committee had becoming too demanding. “Thomas feels it has become too onerous for a player and recommended a different structure,” said European Tour Chief Executive, George O’Grady.

Road Hole extended for 2010 Open THE news that the famous 17th ‘Road Hole’ at St Andrews has been lengthened for next year’s Open Championship from 455 to 490 yards has been met with a mixed reaction from past Major Champions.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington has welcomed the change saying: “It’s intimidating, and that’s what 17 is meant to be.”

South African Retief Goosen was of the opposing opinion saying: “I hope they keep the forward tees because if we play into the wind we won’t reach the green in two.”

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NEWS SNIPPETS FROM AROUND THE GOLFING GLOBE

Glover takes the PGA Grand Slam of Golf US Open winner Lucas Glover won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf by five shots from Angel Cabrera in Bermuda last month after a superb final back nine.

Glover carded a 5-under-par 66 for an 11-under total, five clear of Cabrera, six ahead of Stewart Cink and ten in front of Y.E. Yang.

Lone Scot Laird’s boost for Scottish Golf MARTIN Laird became the first Scot to win a PGA Tour title since Sandy Lyle’s Masters victory in 1988 when he won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The 26-year-old moved up to 108th on the Official World Golf Ranking after defeating the American duo of George McNeill and Chad Campbell in a play-off. However, Laird’s win doesn’t earn him points for the European Ryder Cup list because he was not a Member of The European Tour – he has since joined The Tour in an attempt get on the 2010 team.

Irish Open to change venue and date

Golf given tee time at 2016 Olympics

THE Irish Open, held this year in May at Baltray, will be hosted by Killarney Golf and Fishing Club in 2010 from July 29 to August 1 – the Irish August Bank Holiday Weekend. The venue last hosted the event in 1991 and 1992 when Nick Faldo walked away with the title on both occasions – and next year it will see young Irishman Shane Lowry attempt to defend his title.

GOLF will be an Olympic sport at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after it was voted into the programme by the International Olympic Committee with a 63 to 27 split. “It’s win-win for both sides – golf is such a global sport. I couldn’t think of a better sport to be part of the Olympic Games,” said World No.1 Tiger Woods.

European Tour welcomes two new tournaments THE European Tour have added The African Open and the Hassan II Golf Trophy in Morocco to its schedule for the first part of the 2010 season. The African Open will take place from Jan 7-10 in East London in the Eastern Cape while the Moroccan event, which dates back to 1971, will take place at the Royal DarEs-salam Club in Rabat from March 18-21.

Dubai Desert Classic tickets on sale now Organisers have announced that tickets for the 2010 edition of the Dubai Desert Classic (defending Champion Rory McIlroy, pictured right) at Emirates Golf Club from February 4 - 7 are now available online. The tickets for the Challenge Match and the Pro-Am will cost Dhs75 each day while the daily ticket for the main competition days are priced at Dh175.Tickets are available from www.dubaidesertclassic.com or golfindubai.org

Round of the Month Ross McGowan shot a flawless third round 60 at the Madrid Masters which gave him a seven stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes. Sadly for McGowan it won’t go in the record books because of the ‘lift and place’ rule due to the wet fairways.

Golfer loses arm to alligator in South Carolina A 77-year-old man has had his arm bitten off by an alligator during a round of golf near Charleston, South Carolina in the United States. The ‘gator attacked James Wiencek close to a lagoon at the Ocean Creek Golf Course as he leant down to pick up his ball. His arm could not be re-attached by surgeons at hospital but he was reported to be in a stable condition.

Quote of the Month “He sent me right into retirement, that kid.”

– 49 year old Kenny Perry, after losing to 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa in his singles match at The Presidents Cup. Perry has three children older than Ishikawa.

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Aldar Yas Links

Chris White on course

ALDAR STRENGTHENS ITS GOLF TEAM

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N the eve of the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Jamie Goodenough and Nick Oakley have joined the Aldar team, bringing with them vast experience within the golf industry.

Jamie, who becomes Sales and Marketing Manager, has been in the UAE for six years and has a solid marketing and leisure background.

He joins Yas Links from Leisurecorp, where he worked on the Jumeirah Golf Estates project for two years before moving to the Pearl Valley Golf Course in South Africa. At Pearl Valley Jamie headed the marketing and event operations of the property during which time he led the event staging of the South African Open.

Nick, who comes from Leicestershire in the UK has

more than 14 years’ experience of the golf industry.

He came to work in Dubai in September, 2006, as a PGA Professional at Nad Al Sheba Club before moving to Emirates Golf Club in May, 2007 when Nad Al Sheba closed down due to the redevelopment of the racecourse. In February last year he joined Dubai Golf’s consultancy division (IGLS) working on the strategic development of several projects within the GCC. Chris White, General Manager of the Aldar Golf division stated: “We are really pleased to bring Jamie and Nick on board. They are two young and enthusiastic professionals and have a lot of experience in this region. These are exciting times for Aldar Golf and Yas Links and it’s fantastic to have such energy on the team.”

BRASH BRANDS THE REGION’S FIRST LINKS COURSE ON YAS ISLAND

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HE Yas Links golf course due to open shortly on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, will feature a unique and exclusive club spirit that will attract golfers passionate about the sport who value privacy, authenticity, luxury and tradition.

Along with his team, former PGA Professional and Director of Golf, Chris White, has developed a truly magnificent course, coupled with world-class facilities, to create a fascinating and dynamic lifestyle destination.

“It is our ambition to introduce a new

way of playing golf in the region, further proof of Aldar’s ability to deliver to its communities and a new extension to the unique links course experience,” said Chris White.

“Yas Links will become a special destination in the region and the world of golf at large. It will attract both the local golfing community in the UAE as well as golfers on a global scale, all seeking the authentic experience of a links course with its stunning location overlooking the sea,” he added.

Aldar have signed up Brash Brands

in Dubai and founder and CEO John Brash explains:“Being an avid golfer and appreciating the significance of the Yas Island development certainly added another dimension.” Brash has been responsible for creating the Yas Links brand.

The new links course takes its name from the Bani Yas clan, one of the foremost tribes of the UAE and the first to inhabit Abu Dhabi. The Yas Links course will open on 1st January, 2010, when nine holes will be playable, with the additional holes coming into play by mid-February.

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WHICH NEW IRON FITS YOUR GAME� Are you looking for maximum forgiveness or do you like to work the ball? The large, perimeter weighted G15 provides higherlaunching, longer carrying shots and the accuracy to hit more greens. The i15 is a mid-sized head that offers workability with cavity-back forgiveness. It’s engineered as a progressive set to deliver forgiveness in the long irons and more control in the mid- and short-irons.

Find the right fit for your game at an authorized PING Fitting location or visit ping.com. ©PING 2009

DRIVING

WWGWHEELS

TACKLING THE TERRAIN

Styling and Technology >>

RIDE COMFORT PERFORMANCE SPACE BRAKING

MERCEDES-BENZ GLK SETS NEW STANDARDS The chic and cheerful GLK is the first compact SUV from Mercedes-Benz, has become a big success in its segment.

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DRIVING TACKLING THE TERRAIN

Spec your GLK according to your needs The GLK-Class model range is equipped to an exceptionally high standard. There are also two equipment packages to choose from, allowing customers to tailor the GLK to their own requirements.

The standard exterior sports package consists of 19-inch 7-spoke light-alloy wheels, stiffer sports suspension lowered by 20 millimeters and a chrome package with roof rails in aluminium.

Alternatively, customers can select the off-road styling package, featuring 17-inch light-alloy wheels, robust off-road pads and simulated underguards on the front and rear apron, as well as the chrome package as standard. The only difference is that this version has matt black roof rails, in keeping with the off-road look.

The off-road engineering package – with DSR switch, a ‘G’ switch for activating a special off-road programme and a heavy-duty, weight-optimised underguard and underbody protection in Gemtex – is also available as an optional extra.

If the COMAND APS system is specified, the navigation system has a useful extra feature designed specifically for off-road vehicles. If the vehicle enters an area not covered by digitised maps, the driver can activate a tracking system to save the vehicle’s route.

This means that GLK drivers can always find a way back to their starting point.

GLK 300 4MATIC EU5 V6 Cyl. 2996 cc 170/231 6000 kW/hp at rpm 300 2500-5000 Nm at rpm AT7 4MATIC Trans.* Drive** 7.6 0-100 (s) 210 km/h 10.2-10.5 239-246 l/100 km NEDC comb. CO2 g/km GLK 350 4MATIC EU5 V6 Cyl. 3498 cc 200/272 6000 kW/hp at rpm 350 2400-5000 Nm at rpm AT7 4MATIC Trans.* Drive** 6.7 0-100 (s) 230 km/h 10.5-10.8 245-25 l/100 km NEDC comb. CO2 g/km

WWGWHEELS

4x4 Pedigree With its functional yet attractive and striking body lines, standard leather interior and extraordinary capabilities both on and off the road, the distinctive GLK sets new standards in the compact SUV segment.

The GLK not only sets itself apart from the competitive line-up by virtue of its functional yet strikingly attractive body design, but also utilises Agility Control suspension to marry outstanding performance and handling safety for a first-class level of ride comfort.

Working in conjunction with the onboard electronic control systems, the variable 4MATIC four-wheel drive ensures perfect on-road performance together with well-balanced off-road capabilities.

“The GLK rounds off our extremely successful SUV family of the ML-Class, GL-Class, G-Class, and transfers typical Mercedes-Benz attributes such as refinement, dynamism and safety into a compact format,” says

Frank Bernthaler, Director, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Middle East & Levant.

“This means that the bar in this market segment has been raised considerably.”

Superior performance is assured by the range of powerful yet economical and environmentally compatible six-cylinder engines.

The GLK 280 comes with 231 horsepower while the 3.4 litre 272 horsepower GLK 350 model can hit 100 kmh in just 6.7 seconds – similar to a sports car’s performance.

A very high standard of onboard features and attractive equipment packages will distinguish the GLK from the rest of the compact SUV field. Moreover, the very latest systems, such as the trailblazing PRE SAFE safety concept or the Intelligent Light System (ILS), are available for the first time in this market segment.

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CANON PRO GOLF SERIES STARS TO TURN OUT AT ARABIAN RANCHES

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RABIAN Ranches Golf Club will have the honour of hosting the first Canon Pro Golf Series Golf Day to be held in the Dubai when three of the game’s biggest names, Ian Woosnam, Thomas Levet and Nick Dougherty come to town on November 23rd.

The Canon Pro Golf Series began in the early 1990s offering a unique opportunity for the company’s clients and customers to enjoy a “golfing experience they’ll never forget”. The annual series spans 15 one-day events across Europe, Africa and the Middle East with leading European Tour players joining participants for great fun day of golf and banter. Each event is different, which keeps things fresh for everyone involved.

The Dubai event will see the pros play a short exhibition match, giving tuition to the crowd on how to play each shot along the way, and no doubt there will be no shortage of humorous exchanges flying back and forth. There will also be an 18-hole Pro-Am, where the Tour players will rotate around the different groups, as well as a clinic, a welcome breakfast and a prizegiving dinner. Participants will also get plenty of opportunities to have their photographs taken with the stars.

These events are extremely well put together and have more in keeping with a Mini-Tour event than a golf day in terms of the way they are organised – guests attending a Canon Pro Golf

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Series day leave feeling as though they have been treated like professionals.

Former Ryder Cup Captain, Masters winner and European Tour legend Ian Woosnam has been involved in the Canon Pro Golf Series for a number of years and has proved to be an extremely popular, welcoming and entertaining figure. Together with Dougherty and Levet he will help make the Dubai event another memorable experience for all those in attendance.

“I really enjoy the Canon days because Canon and IMG have managed to create different formats which give us far more variety from the usual golf day,” says Woosnam. “The Pros love it and so do the amateurs and it gives everyone involved a unique day out.

“The Pro Series is truly a once in a lifetime golfing experience. Over the years I’ve played with hundreds of Canon guests across dozens of European venues and have got to know the Canon people really well. Everything is very relaxed, we have a great time together with everyone well looked after and, of course, we’ve all got a few stories to recall.

“I’m flying out to Dubai specifically to be at the Canon day at Arabian Ranches knowing that we will all have a great time. There’s no doubt that the Canon Pro Series is unique in the golf world and our thanks go to Canon from all the participating professionals for supporting this great series.”

Canon Pro Golf Series

“I really enjoy the Canon days because Canon and IMG have managed to create different formats which give us far more variety from the usual golf day.” – Ian Woosnam The Canon Pro Golf Series will take place at Arabian Ranches Golf Club on Monday November 23rd.

To enter a team contact: francois@arabianranchesgolf.ae

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WWGCOLUMNIST

Race to Dubai set for fascinating climax

W

ITH the Dubai World Championship only a couple of weeks away I’m really excited to see how the top 60 players on The European Tour come to terms with the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

We began the development of the course back in January, 2007, and it’s been a fascinating time since then creating a course I’ve always wanted to design.

Thankfully, it’s earned the praise of many of the world’s leading players and The European Tour, and particularly David Garland, the Dubai World Championship Tournament Director.

The Race to Dubai, which started at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai last November, has resulted in the top 60 Tour players making the long awaited climax to the 2009 season with a record $15 million in prize money up for grabs.

The final inspection of the Earth course in September, which was viewed as the ideal time to monitor the course’s condition following the heat of the summer months, was carried out in conjunction with Graeme MacNiven of The European Tour’s Agronomy Department, and Hamish McKendrick, Leisurecorp’s Senior Manager of Agronomy.

David Garland was very complimentary about the course, saying: “The players will relish the challenge that the Earth course will provide and it will assist in creating an exciting climax to The Race to Dubai.”

The ‘Longest Mile in Golf’ was a term that used to be used to describe the last four holes at La Costa before they switched the nines around and I believe that the last four on the Earth course will come to be known by the same term. It really does provide an exciting finale to the Championship.

I expect the “final four” to be considered one of the most challenging and exciting miles of golf, in terms of risk and reward. Comprised of a short par 4, long par 4, a great par 3 and a 28

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medium to long par 5, a lot of things can happen on the home stretch. There could be a two or three shot swing which will cater to the best players, providing spectators and the television audience with a gripping finale to the Dubai World Championship.

I wish all the players the best of luck and that the Championship provides a fitting spectacle for The European Tour’s end of season climax. ● From my perspective as Captain, The Presidents Cup was a great week. I know we didn’t win but I’m hopeful that the tournament is a stronger property – that was my pledge when I first took on the Captaincy. We were there to win and I know each and every one of the Team gave 101 percent.

But when you get one or two guys really teaming together like Woods and Stricker, Freddie knew he was going to get at least four points – Woods, in fact, won all five of his matches. If Tiger were to win only three out of those five, then immediately the whole match becomes a lot closer.

But that’s what you expect from the No.1 player in the world. You need him to step up and that’s what he did. The Saturday foursomes when Mike Weir and Tim Clark went 1-up with two to go only for Woods and Stricker to take the last two holes to win 1-up was crucial.

That was a shot in the arm for Tiger and the rest of the team. This is what is exciting about team competitions.

While the Americans are burdened with playing a team competition each year, ultimately it plays to their advantage.

As many of them are in synch with one another from the very first match.

But the camaraderie of the International Team couldn’t have been better. Although we were flying nine different flags we worked together seamlessley.

We rallied round each other and took care of the rookies like Ryo Ishikawa, who played exceptionally well. It’s not easy to come into a team atmosphere

that he’s never experienced before. It was tremendous how everyone gelled.

I’ve spoken to the Commissioner regarding some recommended changes, which I believe will be very beneficial for The Presidents Cup – not just for the International Team, but for The Presidents Cup. The whole idea is for the event to grow in stature, and if we can grow it in stature and get a little bit more of a Ryder Cup-ish history behind us, then The Presidents Cup is going to elevate itself every two years, which is what I want to see happen.

The fans were great. There were a lot of ex-pats from all around the world at Harding Park. Obviously, the Asian nations were represented very well so the Japanese and South Korean players felt like they had a tremendous amount of support. There were also a lot of Australians, Canadians and South Africans wearing their rugby jerseys.

There was great support out there for us, but it’s pretty hard to get a majority of the support and you wouldn’t expect that anyway.

As for Harding Park, it was a good test of golf. If you played well, you scored well. If you didn’t play well, you struggled. With just minor adjustments it could be a magnificent golf course worthy of holding a PGA or a U.S. Open Championship. It had previously stood the test of holding a highly successful 2005 World Golf ChampionshipsAmerican Express Championship where Tiger Woods beat John Daly in a play-off.

Looking back over the four days I think the Americans probably just out-putted us a little bit. From a ballstriking perspective I think my guys stacked up pretty well.

But at the end of the day I was proud of my guys. I know I’m very, very honoured to be involved in such a great event.

We left Harding Park with our heads held high, knowing that we can work on a few things to make sure that we have a good chance of winning The Presidents Cup in 2011.

PRESIDENTS CUP GROWING IN STATURE

I’ve spoken to the Commissioner regarding some recommended changes, which I believe will be very beneficial for The Presidents Cup Commissioner regarding some recommended changes, which I believe will be very beneficial for The Presidents Cup.

Greg Norman chats with International Team rookie Ryo Ishikawa at The Presidents Cup.

“IT’S NOT EASY TO COME INTO A TEAM ATMOSPHERE THAT HE’S NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE. IT WAS TREMENDOUS HOW EVERYONE GELLED TOGETHER.” – GREG NORMAN THURSDAY FOURBALLS:

FRIDAY FOURBALLS:

SATURDAY FORESOMES:

SUNDAY SINGLES:

Kim/Mickelson def Weir/Clark 3 and 2 Scott/Els def Mahan/O’Hair 2 and 1 Singh/Allenby def Glover/Cink 1up Perry/Johnson def Cabrera/Villegas 2up Woods/Stricker def Ogilvy/Ishikawa 6 and 4 Furyk/Leonard halved Goosen/Yang

Mickelson/Leonard def Goosen/Scott 3 and 2 Els/Weir def Furyk/Kim 2up Ishikawa/Yang def Perry/O’Hair 4 and 3 Singh/Clark def Glover/Cink 1up Johnson/Mahan def Allenby/Villegas 2 and 1 Stricker/Woods def Ogilvy/Cabrera 5 and 3

Mickelson/O’Hair def Goosen/Villegas 5 and 3 Leonard/Furyk def Els/Scott 4 and 2 Cink/Glover halved Allenby/Singh Woods/Stricker def Weir/Clark 1up Yang/Ishikawa def Perry/Johnson 3 and 2

Mahan def Villegas 2 and 1 Cink def Scott 4 and 3 Leonard halved Weir Kim def Allenby 5 and 3 Ogilvy def Stricker 2 and 1 O’Hair def Els 6 and 4 Ishikawa def Perry 2 and 1 Clark def Johnson 4 and 3 Woods def Yang 6 and 5 Glover halved Singh Mickelson def Goosen 2 and 1 Cabrera def Furyk 4 and 3

American players are highlighted in bold.

SATURDAY FOUR-BALL: Kim/Furyk def Cabrera/Scott 2up Ogilvy/Allenby def Cink/Glover 2 and 1 Els/Weir def Johnson/Leonard 5 and 3 Woods/Stricker def Ishikawa/Yang 4 and 2 Mickelson/O’Hair halved Singh/Clark

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EGYPTIAN ‘SHARM’ AT ITS FINEST JOLIE VILLE GOLF & RESORT

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HE Jolie Ville Championship Golf Course at Sharm El Sheikh is a course of true international quality. Its status as one of the best layouts in Egypt, and indeed the Middle East, has been recognised for a number of years. The European Senior Tour deemed it worthy of hosting the 2005 Jolie Ville Sharm El Sheikh Open while in 2006 it won the prestigious Platinum MENA Travel Award for ‘Best Golf Club in the Middle East and Africa.’

Situated in a convenient location close to both Sharm El Sheikh International Airport and the vibrant and bustling Naama Bay, with its myriad of shopping, dining and nightlife options, the Jolie Ville course is in a delightful setting, nestled between the Red Sea and the imposing Sinai Mountains.

Designed by renowned golf course architect John Sanford’s Sanford Golf Design company, the par 72, 6,586-yard layout offers a strong but fair test for beginners and seasoned players alike with a choice of four tee boxes. Irrigated using sea water, the first thing that strikes you about the course is how lush and green it is considering the arid conditions prevalent in Egypt. The secret to that particular success story is

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the Paspalum grass used on the tees, fairways and rough, while the tiff-dwarf greens are of PGA Tour standard and play with wonderful consistency.

There are several water hazards dotted around the course, which as well as providing an interesing challenge, also have the added charm that they attract some 35 varieties of exotic birds to the course – nine of which are endangered species.

When the course was built in 1997, 1,250 trees were planted such as Washingtonia Palms, California Palms, Hong Kong Orchids and Flames of the Forest.

There is also a healthy covering of bunkers to add to the test while a prevailing wind blowing in off the sea can change the way the course plays dramatically.

The views on the Jolie Ville Golf Course really are breathtaking. A panoramic vista that includes the striking Sinai Mountains and the shimmering Red Sea makes visitors feel truly privileged to in a setting of such outstanding natural beauty.

A mound behind the green on the beautiful par 3 second hole offers the best views of the course and mountains while the long par 4, 12th, which plays into the wind with a large lake protecting the green to the left side and has an abundance of desert scrub to

Spectacular Golf Courses

negotiate, sees many a healthy scorecard unfold.

There is no handicap requirement to play the course and club rental is available from the fully stocked Golf Shop while complimentary golf carts, lockers, changing rooms and shower facilities help make your visit to the Jolie Ville Golf Course a pleasant one.

As well as the Championship course the Jolie Ville Golf Club has a double-ended grass driving range, practice putting green and three-hole short game area with bunkers. There is also the Jolie Ville International Golf Academy where highly trained instructors use the latest techniques and state of the art equipment to bring out the best in your game, whatever standard you’re at.

The 19th Hole Restaurant & Bar, situated inside the luxurious and spacious clubhouse, with its elegant lounge area, serves a wide variety of food and beverages and provides the perfect end to a wonderful golfing experience.

Flanked by two of the most acclaimed hotels in the region in the Maritim Jolie Ville Golf & Resort and the Maritim Jolie Ville Royal Peninsula Hotel & Resort, the Jolie Ville Golf Course is a triumph of design and true Egyptian charm.

To book a visit to the Jolie Ville Golf Course visit: www.jolieville-golf.com or email: info@sgr-maritim-jolieville.com To see a full list of rates and contact details turn to our Jolie Ville Golf & Resort Club news page in the Arabian Golf section.

“The views on the Jolie Ville Golf Course really are breathtaking. A panoramic vista that includes the striking Sinai Mountains and the shimmering Red Sea makes visitors feel truly privileged to play somewhere of such outstanding natural beauty.”

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DALE ISAAC AND CRAIG SMITH CLINCH THE INAUGURAL

AUDI INVITATIONAL GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

D

ALE Isaac joined forces with Craig Smith and stormed home with 45 points to win last month’s inaugural Audi Invitational Golf Championship hosted by Ali & Sons Co L.L.C Motors Division in partnership with Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

The duo dovetailed perfectly over the challenging National course to edge out Musa Abu Hijleh and Kalfan Al Kaabi by just one shot.

Isaac and Smith scored an impressive nine net birdies over the 18 holes with not a blemish on their scorecard.

The team of Lenny Petrucceli and Carl Palmlund completed the top three with 43 points in a very tightly contested battle at the top.

“We had a very solid round today. My partner, Craig, hit some fantastic shots coming down the stretch and we combined really well as a team,“ said Isaac.

“We had a great day out and met some new business contacts. Congratulations to Audi for putting on such a great event. We will certainly

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be back next year to defend our title.”

The inaugural Audi Invitational Golf Championships attracted a field of more than 100 members of the UAE golfing community to the host venue of The European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

For the first time Ali & Sons offered golfers in Abu Dhabi who were not members of the Golf Club the opportunity to play in an ‘Open Event’ at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

“We at Audi Abu Dhabi wanted to use our Diamond sponsorship of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club to create a prestigious event open to the entire regional golfing community,“ said Tom Pryor Marketing Manager, Audi Abu Dhabi.

“We are absolutely delighted with the demand for this event and given the success we will be sure to make it an annual fixture.”

Following a successful 2009, Audi Abu Dhabi continue to develop and strengthen their position as a key supporter of regional club sport in the Emirates with the Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Abu Dhabi Harlequins Rugby Club sponsorships within their portfolio.

Ali & Sons’ sponsorship provides a valuable enhancement of existing members’ experience with new and exciting Audi-sponsored tournaments and monthly medals throughout the season as well as the member/guest event that takes place in January.

Above: Audi Invitational Golf Championship winners (left to right) Craig Smith , Tom Pryor of Audi Abu Dhabi and Dale Isaac. www.wwgolf.biz

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Left: Abdullah Al Naboodah tees off in the third Al Naboodah Pro-Am at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club last January, where he finished third teaming up with Ireland’s Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell, shooting five under par 66.

Pictures courtesy of Rebecca Hobday

2010 Al Naboodah Invitational set to scale new heights

T

HE Al Naboodah Pro-Am, which began in 2007, has earned the reputation of being the most competitive and enjoyable Pro-Am in the Middle East. In January the fourth event, inspired by Abdullah Al Naboodah, will become the Al Naboodah Invitational which aims to take the event to a new, international level.

Last year’s tournament at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, included 39 leading European Tour Professionals and 40 of the top amateurs in the region. Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, who won the individual event, promptly donated his AED250,000 winning prize money to his preferred charity at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock. The ProAm was won by Australian Tour Professional

WWG Golden Tickets Although the tournament is by invitation only two spots have been reserved as Golden Tickets for the Worldwide Golf “Golden Ticket” Qualifying Event on a date to be announced soon.

There will be one “Golden Ticket” qualifying spot for adults (max. handicap 15 men - 24 ladies) and one for juniors (max. handicap 28).

We will also be looking for volunteer caddies on the day for both the Professionals and amateurs. For further information visit the website: www.alnaboodahinvitational.com 34

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Scott Strange and amateur Paul King on a countback from Professional Robert Rock and amateur Rodolfo Ducos.

Al Naboodah Director of Golf James Bowring comments: “We seem to have created an event which all our VIP players do not want to miss. Now we have our sights set on making this a truly world class event.”

The fourth Al Naboodah Invitational will again be played at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club where the format will be teams of two players, comprising one Tour Professional and one VIP Amateur (Betterball strokeplay).The Professionals will play for the best individual strokeplay prize with a charity fund of AED500,000.

The Tour Professionals who have already confirmed that they will play the Al Naboodah Invitational include Ross Fisher, Graeme McDowell, Jeev Milkha-Singh, David Howell, Steve Webster, Bradley Dredge, Simon Dyson, Peter Lawrie and Thomas Aiken. There are also a number of star players whose confirmation will be released shortly.

As a golf tournament the Al Naboodah Invitational has always been a popular event for spectators who can see their favourite Tour players up close and personal and enjoy some of the excellent golf and the banter of a friendly and welcoming tournament. They are again very welcome to attend the event free of charge and enjoy the action.

The start of 2009 Al Naboodah Pro-Am: Graeme McDowell, Abdullah Al Naboodah, Robert Karlsson and Tejan Fadlu-Deen

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher receives the Individual winner’s cheque for charity of AED250,000 from Abdullah Al Naboodah.

Winners of the Pro-Am with their prizes: Amateur Paul King (left) and Professional Scott Strange with Abdullah Al Naboodah.

Abdullah Al Naboodah and Graeme McDowell weigh up their options en route to finishing third in the 2009 Al Naboodah Invitational.

WWGCOLUMNIST

The 2010 Al Naboodah Invitational will be world class

I

’M really looking forward to the climax to the first Race to Dubai season and the Dubai World Championship.

Despite a couple of disappointing results in my last two tournaments I’m still in a strong position – seventh on the rankings – and with some huge events coming up I’m gearing myself up for one final push.

With so much prize money on offer at the Dubai World Championship anyone in the top 10 or15 in The Race heading into that event could have a chance of topping the rankings and earning some serious bonus money.

It’s a pretty exciting prospect both for the players and the fans and I think the new format has added a real sense of drama to the end of The European Tour season.

I was hoping to use the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the Portugal Masters – two events where I finished second and third last year – to boost my position on The Race to Dubai but I missed the cut in both. I was only a couple of shots away in each tournament but it was still disappointing considering how well I did in those events last year.

There aren’t any major problems with my game, I just seemed to be slightly less accurate than usual from tee to green in those two events and I ended up scrambling my way round, often leaving myself with fairly lengthy putts just to save par. But I’ve had a week off and done some work with Christian my coach and I’m confident that I’ll be back on track at the Volvo World Match Play Championship.

We all have the odd blip here and there but the important thing is how you deal with it and how you react. I’m really looking forward to the Match Play. I did really well in my first WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this year, when I finished fourth, and I enjoy match play so there couldn’t be a better event for me to bounce back in. I’ve never played in the event before so it’s another new experience for me and I can’t wait to get started.

Then it’s off to Shanghai for another huge event in the WGC-HSBC Champions. It’s one more event that I’ve got great memories of after finishing

ROSS Fisher tees off at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club last January in the third Al Naboodah Invitational.

Picture courtesy of Rebecca Hobday.

IN THE KNOW WITH ROSS FISHER

second in my first appearance there in 2007, when Phil Mickelson beat me and Lee Westwood in a play-off. It’s been one of the best tournaments on the Tour in the last few years and the fact that it’s been made a World Golf Championships event shows how highly it’s regarded.

With such big events still to be settled I’ve got a great opportunity of putting myself in an even stronger position before the Dubai World Championship and I’ll be doing everything in my power to make sure I finish the season on a high.

Omega Mission Hills World Cup I’LL be staying in China after the WGCHSBC Champions for the World Cup at Mission Hills, where I’ll be partnering my good mate Ian Poulter for England again.

We had a great time last year and did OK, finishing sixth. We’re aiming to improve on that this year. It was one of my first experiences of team golf but I’ve got some more under my belt now after joining the Great Britain and

Ireland Team for The Vivendi Trophy in September. After a great season I’ll be looking to put the icing on the cake by winning the World Cup for England. It’s a really proud feeling representing your country and I’m confident that we can bring home the trophy.

Al Naboodah Invitational IT’S great news that Worldwide Golf have become the Official Media Partners for my sponsor Al Naboodah’s event, the Al Naboodah Invitational.

It’s a fantastic event that is really well organised and always attracts a great field. Abdullah Al Naboodah himself is great for the game of golf in the Middle East. He’s got a real passion for the game and is totally driven and committed to developing it throughout the region at every level.

He’s got very ambitious plans for the Al Naboodah Invitational and I’m sure in the coming years it will continue to grow in stature into a truly world-class international tournament.

Ross Fisher is currently ranked 26th in the world and 7th in The Race to Dubai. He has two European Tour titles to his name, including the 2008 European Open. Ross announced his arrival on the world stage this season by reaching the semi-finals of the World Golf ChampionshipsAccenture Match Play Championship before producing a string of superb results in the Majors, which saw him emerge as the leading player of all those who made the cut in all four Grand Slam events.

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P

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M

ECCO’s most exclusive offering, the Premium 109 collection is an unrivalled experience designed for those who seek the very best. This unique, numbered edition of rich, crocodile skin golf shoes is individually produced and handmadeto-order by highly skilled artisans.

EXCLUSIVE Only available in 10 countries worldwide, including the UAE. For more information contact Nimal Perera; nipe@ecco.com

Each of the 109 pairs to be produced is accompanied by a distinctive collector’s accessory package. This includes crocodile leather luggage made from the exact same hides used to produce the shoes, a platinum plate with the player’s name and shoe edition number, cedar shoe trees and a gold-coloured silk shoe bag.

A Conversation with Dieter Kasprzak, ECCO CEO and Premium 109 Collection Designer Why did ECCO decide to make golf shoes?

Dieter Kasprzak (DK): I felt an immediate connection to the sport when I first started playing in 1994. In order to perform your best, you truly have to be in the moment and erase everything else from your mind. I clearly remember my first round of golf and how uncomfortable my golf shoes were. That was the same day the idea for an ECCO golf line was born. Our sole focus since then has been to create shoes that support a player so he can concentrate 100% on his game and not have to worry about his feet.

What led to the creation of the Premium 109 Collection?

DK: The main goal was to create the world’s best golf shoe, which connects to my desire as a designer to produce a perfect product. The technology behind these unique shoes is based on the knowledge ECCO has gained from working closely with scores of major champions and top Tour pros. I then chose the most exclusive materials in order to make this the perfect combination of function and style.

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9

Luxurious Materials, Superior Processes At ECCO, we are passionate shoemakers who know that only the highest quality materials can be used for the world’s most luxurious golf shoes. Hand-selected crocodile skins for the Premium 109 collection are prepared exclusively at company-owned facilities using unique production technologies and the professional know-how upon which all ECCO products are based.

The Perfect Swing Platform Premium 109 collection golf shoes are inspired by the ultimate instrument of technology – the human foot.

Corresponding to this natural shape, the unique ECCO “Freedom Fit” allows toes to spread and move freely.

This enhances circulation, increases airflow and ensures superior comfort. It also delivers exceptional on-course performance by creating a swing platform that offers outstanding flexibility and stability while feeling like an extension of your body.

Why is the production limited to 109 pairs worldwide?

DK: The Premium 109 Collection is not for everyone. The idea is to make a very limited edition each year. So, for example, this year we produce 109 pairs, which refers to the year 2009. Next year we will launch an edition of 110 pairs, and so forth.

What’s so unique about the Premium 109 Collection?

DK: Beyond the limited edition, premium materials and advanced technology, it’s the tremendous care that goes into making each shoe. For instance, it has taken approximately one

year to make each pair of shoes. I personally visited the farm in Thailand where the crocodile skins are produced to ensure the quality of the skin. I have also spent many hours adjusting the design to reach perfection. This has been a very pleasurable process because my dream was to make the world’s best and most exclusive golf shoe and I think this is what has been done.

What message would you like to share with the man who has bought this shoe?

DK: Do enjoy them – that is the very purpose of these shoes!

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Official World Golf Ranking AS OF OCTOBER 26, 2009

A R O U N D T H E W O R L D O N T H E U. S . P G A T O U R & E U R O P E A N T O U R Pts. Avg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Tiger Woods Phil Mickelson Steve Stricker Paul Casey Lee Westwood Padraig Harrington Henrik Stenson Kenny Perry Jim Furyk Sergio Garcia Martin Kaymer Geoff Ogilvy Stewart Cink Sean O’Hair Lucas Glover Rory McIlroy Vijay Singh Camilo Villegas Retief Goosen Zach Johnson Ian Poulter Ernie Els Anthony Kim Hunter Mahan Robert Karlsson Ross Fisher Luke Donald Angel Cabrera Yang Yong-Eun Mike Weir Robert Allenby David Toms Nick Watney Soren Kjeldsen Yuta Ikeda Ryo Ishikawa Tim Clark Brian Gay Ben Curtis Oliver Wilson Justin Leonard Soren Hansen Miguel A Jimenez Dustin Johnson Francesco Molinari Chad Campbell Alvaro Quiros Simon Dyson Scott Verplank Gonzalo Fdez-Castano

USA USA USA Eng Eng Irl Swe USA USA Esp Deu Aus USA USA USA Nir Fji Col Saf USA Eng Saf USA USA Swe Eng Eng Arg Kor Can Aus USA USA Dnk Jpn Jpn Saf USA USA Eng USA Dnk Esp USA Ita USA Esp Eng USA Esp

15.80 7.93 7.55 6.17 5.97 5.78 5.67 5.54 5.38 5.32 5.08 4.96 4.76 4.73 4.22 4.11 4.09 4.07 4.06 4.02 3.86 3.79 3.66 3.53 3.52 3.42 3.39 3.38 3.15 3.07 3.06 2.97 2.97 2.96 2.91 2.87 2.77 2.74 2.74 2.73 2.69 2.64 2.61 2.52 2.45 2.42 2.40 2.38 2.31 2.31

Tot. Pts 631.92 348.77 332.11 265.26 292.56 300.81 266.60 282.64 263.64 271.51 248.80 232.95 223.90 231.87 223.71 226.26 192.38 195.28 235.48 200.94 189.37 204.91 179.53 183.48 140.74 174.48 145.82 179.01 182.48 156.34 177.37 136.82 157.48 156.83 116.43 146.49 160.58 161.94 120.58 139.40 137.08 140.05 143.49 138.74 134.73 130.83 129.64 140.35 115.70 122.55

Events

Pts. Gained

40 44 44 43 49 52 47 51 49 51 49 47 47 49 53 55 47 48 58 50 49 54 49 52 40 51 43 53 58 51 58 46 53 53 40 51 58 59 44 51 51 53 55 55 55 54 54 59 50 53

564.00 297.38 326.84 274.46 210.84 178.05 205.32 241.21 217.0 103.99 204.18 199.10 181.71 232.18 229.40 206.27 66.22 107.61 214.49 201.52 151.98 143.66 100.87 160.89 33.92 131.10 132.41 176.79 191.36 111.04 113.94 142.26 176.19 116.61 109.77 102.65 115.61 151.96 63.99 93.79 92.69 110.84 90.24 139.31 103.78 104.55 115.11 125.33 99.15 100.71

Pts. Avg 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Shingo Katayama Rory Sabbatini Michael Sim Jeev Milkha Singh Graeme McDowell Anders Hansen Peter Hanson Matt Kuchar Kevin Na Thongchai Jaidee Heath Slocum Justin Rose Hiroyuki Fujita Davis Love-III Alexander Noren Mathew Goggin Chris Wood Jason Dufner Stephen Ames Kevin Sutherland Jerry Kelly Stephen Marino K.J. Choi Ryan Moore John Rollins Adam Scott Brendan Jones John Senden James Kingston Charl Schwartzel Anthony Wall Paul Goydos Pat Perez Edoardo Molinari Mark Wilson Ben Crane Bubba Watson Fred Couples Brandt Snedeker Prayad Marksaeng Boo Weekley Louis Oosthuizen Nick Dougherty Kenichi Kuboya J.B. Holmes Thomas Levet Trevor Immelman John Mallinger Andres Romero Richard Sterne

Jpn Saf Aus Ind Nir Dnk Swe USA USA Tha USA Eng Jpn USA Swe Aus Eng USA Can USA USA USA Kor USA USA Aus Aus Aus Saf Saf Eng USA USA Ita USA USA USA USA USA Tha USA Saf Eng Jpn USA Fra Saf USA Arg Saf

2.29 2.28 2.27 2.26 2.26 2.24 2.24 2.23 2.21 2.17 2.11 2.10 2.10 2.07 2.06 2.04 2.02 2.01 1.99 1.98 1.97 1.96 1.93 1.90 1.87 1.86 1.84 1.81 1.81 1.80 1.79 1.75 1.72 1.70 1.69 1.69 1.69 1.69 1.68 1.66 1.66 1.65 1.64 1.64 1.61 1.60 1.59 1.59 1.59 1.58

Tot. Pts 123.90 125.22 90.64 149.17 119.57 107.67 121.13 115.75 123.87 125.65 124.28 107.08 98.48 101.34 100.99 114.45 80.74 96.30 93.72 104.72 114.02 123.62 98.35 102.86 100.90 85.77 81.03 115.75 93.94 102.48 100.44 89.43 84.49 81.83 96.55 87.96 91.28 67.42 95.93 104.60 81.14 87.62 83.67 75.37 83.55 74.97 74.88 89.07 84.05 74.48

Events Pts. Gained 54 55 40 66 53 48 54 52 56 58 59 51 47 49 49 56 40 48 47 53 58 63 51 54 54 46 44 64 52 57 56 51 49 48 57 52 54 40 57 63 49 53 51 46 52 47 47 56 53 47

71.58 111.29 93.16 68.19 65.78 104.95 80.92 100.07 131.38 99.71 103.72 88.65 75.02 80.42 75.42 65.00 64.25 100.44 62.22 65.07 102.04 102.35 62.84 95.49 99.18 52.78 48.47 101.82 60.88 69.17 77.42 67.39 72.97 83.29 83.01 77.54 79.25 62.58 67.92 54.23 52.95 91.96 70.54 53.99 67.88 66.04 18.31 80.15 46.96 22.70

Over 100 destinations worldwide

WWGCOLUMNIST

GARY PLAYER IS A TRUE LEGEND OF THE GAME. THE SOUTH AFRICAN IS ONE OF ONLY FIVE PLAYERS TO HAVE WON A CAREER GRAND SLAM OF ALL FOUR MAJORS. HE HAS WON A TOTAL OF NINE MAJORS AND NINE SENIOR MAJORS, AMONG 167 TOUR EVENTS WORLDWIDE. HERE HE TALKS ABOUT THE NECESSITY TO CUT PRIZE MONEY DUE TO THIS GLOBAL RECESSION.

Golf at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro

T

HE announcement last month by the IOC that golf will become an Olympic sport at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is the biggest shot in the arm golf has received in a long time.

At this time of global economic recession that has hit the golf industry hard, along with many other sectors, it’s a real silver lining. It’s going to help everyone in golf from course designers to club manufacturers to players, Tours, promoters – everyone involved in the game at all levels.

Most of all it’s going to be a huge boost for the emerging golf nations who can use the 2016 Olympics as an incentive and a goal to target.

The Olympics is the biggest global sporting event which always captures the imagination of television viewers everywhere. It will give every country a chance to put themselves on the world golf map. It will be fascinating to follow the build-up to golf’s involvement in the Olympics.

The International Golf Federation (IGF) did an excellent job in making the case for golf’s inclusion to the IOC and it will be interesting to see how what the format will be. I understand that the IGF recommendation to the IOC is for a 72hole individual stroke play event for both men and women, mirroring the format used in golf’s Major championships. In the case of a tie for either first, second or third place, a three-hole play-off is proposed to determine the medal winner(s).

The IGF are suggesting a limited field of 60 players for each of the men’s and women’s competitions, utilising the Official World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility. The top 15 world-ranked players would be eligible, regardless of the number of players from any given country. Beyond the top 15, players would be eligible based on world ranking, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not 40

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already have two or more players among the top 15.

This stipulation is meant to diversify the field, ensuring that as many different countries as possible are represented.

Using this format many highly ranked players will be passed over and some relatively low-ranked golfers will get into the field but the IGF want to ensure as large a number of countries as possible are represented in any Olympic golf tournament.

This is the proposal of the IGF and, obviously, there’s a lot of talking to be done before the final format is agreed but if it embraces as many nations as possible – even if it requires prequalifying tournaments – it has to be a good thing.

We are already actively involved with several projects to design and build the new Olympic course in Rio de Janeiro.

I’m delighted that the World Match Play Championship is back under the title sponsorship of Volvo, having missed a season in 2008 and I wish it every success for the future. It’s golf’s longest-running match play tournament and I’m privileged to have won it five times, along with Seve Ballesteros. Ernie Els holds the record with seven wins.

They’ve got a world class field of 16 players at Finca Cortesin in Spain and I hope it launches another successful chapter of this great event.

The coming together of the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai and the World Golf Championships is a marriage made in Heaven. The HSBC Champions has grown in stature each year since its launch at Sheshan International Golf Club in 2005. Judged on its own merits it has become known as ‘Asia’s Major’ and reached the point where it is a world class event.

The World Golf Championships had not moved out of the United States since 2006, which is not what the WGC series was all about. In previous years it had taken in countries like Mexico,

Spain, Japan, England, Portugal, Ireland, Barbados and Argentina and widened the interest of the game.

Next to the Majors they are the biggest tournaments in golf where the best play the best. It’s the only occasion where golf fans in countries other than the United States and Great Britain can see all the best players in the world compete against each other.

Now the World Golf Championships have been restored to four events it would be good to see more WGC tournaments take place outside the States.

I’d like to congratulate Michelle Wie on her efforts on the LPGA Tour this season.

She was an inspiration to the United States Team in the Solheim Cup and she is gradually moving up the Tour’s Money List. Now that she is playing all her golf on the LPGA Tour she is gaining in confidence and I’m sure it won’t be long before she wins her first tournament.

She’s already been runner-up twice and third twice in seven top-10 finishes this year in her rookie season and has earned nearly $700,000 in prize money.

She’s ranked sixth in Rounds Under Par on the Tour, sixth in Greens In Regulation Putting Average (1.76) and sixth in Driving Average.

That’s quite an achievement. It makes me wonder what she might have already achieved had she taken the conventional route a few years earlier.

Michelle joined Padraig Harrington in the IGF’s successful presentation to the IOC so we should also congratulate her for her contribution to golf getting into the Olympics.

SAADIYAT BEACH GOLF CLUB UPDATE

I’M pleased that TDIC has registered for the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Programme (ACSP), which helps golf courses worldwide protect their environment and preserve the natural heritage of the golf game.

The ACSP is a cooperative effort between the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Audubon International, a US-based society that conserves and restores natural ecosystems and promotes ecologically sound land management. Its positive impact extends beyond the boundaries of the golf course and helps benefit the community.

Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is the second UAE capitalbased course to apply for the programme after Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which is also owned by TDIC and is home to The European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

IOC President Jacques Rogge announces golf’s inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games.

“MICHELLE JOINED PADRAIG HARRINGTON IN THE IGF’S SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION TO THE IOC SO WE SHOULD ALSO CONGRATULATE HER FOR HER CONTRIBUTION TO GOLF GETTING INTO THE OLYMPICS.” – GARY PLAYER www.wwgolf.biz

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Race to Dubai

As at October 26

THE EUROPEAN TOUR R ACE TO DUBAI 2009 Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Name

Country

Lee WESTWOOD Martin KAYMER Rory MCILROY Paul CASEY Geoff OGILVY Oliver WILSON Ross FISHER Simon DYSON Angel CABRERA Søren KJELDSEN Sergio GARCIA Francesco MOLINARI Gonzalo FDEZ-CASTAÑO Peter HANSON Søren HANSEN Padraig HARRINGTON Henrik STENSON Thongchai JAIDEE Alvaro QUIROS Miguel Angel JIMÉNEZ Anders HANSEN Ernie ELS Robert ROCK Charl SCHWARTZEL Ross McGOWAN Johan EDFORS Nick DOUGHERTY Alexander NOREN Ian POULTER Robert ALLENBY Retief GOOSEN Louis OOSTHUIZEN Thomas LEVET Rafael CABRERA-BELLO Raphaël JACQUELIN Anthony WALL Camilo VILLEGAS Graeme MCDOWELL Jeev Milkha SINGH Richard STERNE Chris WOOD David DRYSDALE Steve WEBSTER Peter HEDBLOM Luke DONALD Graeme STORM Danny WILLETT Gareth MAYBIN Peter LAWRIE Justin ROSE

ENG GER NIR ENG AUS ENG ENG ENG ARG DEN ESP ITA ESP SWE DEN IRL SWE THA ESP ESP DEN RSA ENG RSA ENG SWE ENG SWE ENG AUS RSA RSA FRA ESP FRA ENG COL NIR IND RSA ENG SCO ENG SWE ENG ENG ENG NIR IRL ENG

Tournaments Played 22 17 21 12 9 21 19 29 10 22 14 25 23 26 24 13 18 23 23 25 22 14 25 22 28 26 24 22 11 11 15 27 23 29 28 25 10 20 18 16 24 26 24 26 11 27 26 28 26 12

Prize Money €2,241,940 €2,155,765 €2,032,695 €1,965,150 €1,606,805 €1,533,534 €1,524,347 €1,395,317 €1,385,499 €1,240,053 €1,214,081 €1,166,508 €1,148,835 €1,136,451 €1,079,680 €1,056,462 €1,040,991 €1,008,378 €993,796 €930,196 €897,642 €876,368 €867,966 €818,992 €810,462 €806,537 €792,454 €792,025 €788,431 €780,445 €772,684 €767,653 €763,394 €704,211 €696,343 €674,114 €669,653 €668,972 €664,004 €658,759 €652,147 €623,740 €615,994 €612,748 €584,256 €583,604 €581,510 €578,527 €571,829 €567,263

Rank 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Name Thomas AIKEN James KINGSTON Damien MCGRANE Bradley DREDGE Jamie DONALDSON Stephen DODD Fabrizio ZANOTTI Niclas FASTH Darren CLARKE Scott STRANGE Ignacio GARRIDO Jeppe HULDAHL Tim CLARK Oskar HENNINGSSON Michael JONZON Christian CÉVAËR Adam SCOTT Marcus FRASER David HORSEY Ricardo GONZALEZ Ben CURTIS Richard GREEN Rodney PAMPLING Robert-Jan DERKSEN Rafa ECHENIQUE Marcel SIEM Gary ORR Paul LAWRIE Felipe AGUILAR Prayad MARKSAENG Daniel VANCSIK Paul BROADHURST Martin ERLANDSSON David LYNN Anthony KANG Christian NILSSON Thomas BJÖRN Michael HOEY Colin MONTGOMERIE Pablo LARRAZÁBAL José Manuel LARA Maarten LAFEBER Marc WARREN Anthony KIM Richie RAMSAY Grégory BOURDY Robert KARLSSON Brett RUMFORD Mikko ILONEN Stephen AMES

Country

Tournaments Played

Prize Money

RSA RSA IRL WAL WAL WAL PAR SWE NIR AUS ESP DEN RSA SWE SWE FRA AUS AUS ENG ARG USA AUS AUS NED ARG GER SCO SCO CHI THA ARG ENG SWE ENG USA SWE DEN NIR SCO ESP ESP NED SCO USA SCO FRA SWE AUS FIN CAN

18 21 30 27 27 23 24 28 22 24 28 26 10 21 30 24 10 25 28 24 10 18 10 24 29 30 20 24 28 13 26 28 27 27 19 17 20 24 24 31 30 29 26 10 30 27 11 27 26 6

€548,566 €546,931 €546,182 €539,987 €535,076 €529,929 €511,756 €502,215 €498,759 €497,476 €493,777 €475,382 €471,279 €467,612 €451,984 €450,651 €449,747 €435,373 €424,666 €415,604 €405,251 €399,902 €397,080 €396,992 €396,399 €393,530 €380,201 €379,258 €375,573 €374,179 €372,328 €365,353 €352,073 €351,165 €351,078 €343,763 €343,220 €341,327 €340,371 €339,045 €334,321 €334,271 €331,691 €331,174 €331,171 €330,390 €329,390 €329,134 €324,617 €322,940

E X P L A N AT I O N O F T H E E U R O P E A N T O U R R A C E T O D U B A I 2 0 0 9 The Race to Dubai is a $7.5 million season-long competition for the world’s leading golfers, which culminates in the world’s richest golf tournament, the Dubai World Championship at The Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, UAE, November 19-22. Players will be ranked according to their earnings from all events on The European Tour International Schedule, including the Major Championships and the World Golf Championships, ensuring the cream of world golf will qualify. No.s 1-60 players in The Race to Dubai at the conclusion of the previous tournament compete in the season’s climax, the $7.5 million Dubai World Championship. Following the Championship, the season’s 15 top-ranked players by earnings share a Bonus Pool of $7.5 million. The No.1 player will receive $1,500,000, the runner-up $1,125,000 and the third-placed player $750,000, with prizes down to the 15th player, who will earn $187,500. The winner of The Race to Dubai will receive a seven-year European Tour Card exemption. From 2010 The Race to Dubai will commence in January and the Dubai World Championship will complete the season in November.

THE RACE TO DUBAI BONUS POOL BREAKDOWN 1 US$ 1,500,000 2 US$ 1,125,000 3 US$ 750,000 4 US$ 600,000 5 US$ 525,000

6 US$ 450,000 7 US$ 412,500 8 US$ 375,000 9 US$ 337,500 10 US$ 300,000

11 US$ 262,500 12 US$ 243,750 13 US$ 225,000 14 US$ 206,250 15 US$ 187,500

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WORLDROUND-UPS

Tournament: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

Date: 01 – 04 Oct 2009

Venue: Old Course, St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, Fife, Scotland

MAGNIFICENT DYSON WINS BIG AT ST ANDREWS SIMON Dyson wrapped up the biggest win of his career with a superb three-shot victory over Rory McIlroy and Oliver Wilson at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Dyson carded a 68 around Carnoustie on the opening day and followed it with rounds of 6-under 66 at St Andrews and a 68 at Kingsbarns before sealing the victory with another memorable 66 at St Andrews for a 20-under-par total.

“This is like our fifth Major – it’s a massive tournament at the Home of Golf and I’ve shot 66 to win it,” beamed Dyson.

“I’m absolutely buzzing. Darren Clarke has just said to me, ‘take your time and enjoy it – it does not get any better than winning at St Andrews.’

“My parents always come up (to the tournament), but couldn’t make it this year. They’re never coming back!”

The 1999 Walker Cup player admits he is a lot more dedicated to his golf after his second victory on The European Tour this season. “I might have done better but I don’t regret one thing that I’ve done,” said

Dyson, who also won the KLM Open in August. “You’re travelling the world and you’ve got to enjoy yourself.

“I’ve still got a lot of time left in my career hopefully – touch wood. I’ve settled down a lot, I’m the happiest away from the course that I’ve ever been, and what more do you want?”

Wilson carded a best-of-theday 7-under 65 at St Andrews to jump into a share of second place alongside McIlroy who shot a 69. McIlroy moved into the lead on The Race to Dubai with his second-place prize money of €281,640.

“After nine holes I thought I had a really good chance but Simon played great so hats off to him,” said McIlroy. “I wanted better but second is okay. I still haven’t shot in the 70s at St Andrews, which is nice.”

Wilson also had praise for his victor, saying: “I played with Simon last week (at The Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros tournament) and this week for three rounds, and he has not really missed a shot. He’s a great lad, upbeat all the time, and has the perfect attitude for golf.”

INTHEBAGINTHEBAGINTHEBAGINTHEBAGINTHEBAG Driver: 3-wood: 5-wood: Irons (4-PW): Wedges: Putter: Ball:

Nike SQ Sumo2 5900 Nike SQ Sumo2 (15°) Nike SQ2 (19°) Nike VR Split Cavity Nike SV Black Satin (52° and 60°) Rife Barbados Nike One Tour D

WINNER: SIMON DYSON

Simon Dyson cruised to the biggest victory of his career with six birdies on the opening seven holes at St Andrews – venue for next year’s Open Championship.

The Englishman’s only blip came at the Road Hole (17th) where he made bogey.

WINNER’S CHEQUE

€540,440

WINNING SCORE: 20-UNDER-PAR 268 (68,66,68,66) RUNNER-UP: RORY MCILROY, OLIVER WILSON – 271

Tournament: Turning Stone Resort Championship

Date: 01 – 04 Oct 2009

Venue: Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort, Verona, New York

KUCHAR WINS AFTER MAMMOTH SIX-HOLE PLAY-OFF

WINNER: MATT KUCHAR

MATT Kuchar won his second PGA TOUR title at the Turning Stone Resort Championship after a six-hole play-off with Vaughn Taylor that had to be completed on the Monday.

Kuchar began the final round in a share of first place and carded a 3-under-par 69 to get to 17-under-par but Taylor made a big leap to match him on that total with a 6-under-par 66.

Darkness set in as the pair completed two play-off holes on the Sunday evening meaning they came out the following morning to continue sudden death, and it was Kuchar who prevailed, getting up-and-down for par on the par-4 14th after Taylor had driven into the water.

WINNER’S CHEQUE

$1,080,000

“I was nervous on that putt from 18 inches,” said Kuchar of his winning moment. “It felt great to hear it hit the back of the hole. It’s hard to describe the feeling (of winning). They’re so difficult to win. If you don’t win, there is not a whole lot of rewards. The game beats you up.”

Kuchar was left to celebrate his first win since the 2002 Honda Classic while Taylor had to settle for second place – his best result of the season. He wasn’t too despondent despite the result. “I was trying to keep my card through this Fall Series, and I think I locked it up,” said Taylor. “So, you know, one goal accomplished.”

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WORLDROUND-UPS Tournament: Madrid Masters

Date: 08 – 11 Oct 2009

Venue: Centro Nacional de Golf, Madrid, Spain

McGOWAN HANGS ON FOR MAIDEN TITLE ROSS McGowan won his first European Tour title at the Madrid Masters by three shots from Finland’s Mikko Ilonen after taking a seven shot lead into the final day.

McGowan carded a superb third round 60 to take a handsome lead into the final round before seeing out the victory with a 71 for a 25-underpar total. Ilonen closed with a 66 to take second place on 22-under, one shot ahead of David Drysdale.

“I came here this week in form and it’s lovely to come away with the trophy,” said McGowan who became the 15th first time victor on The European Tour this season. “Once I saw where some of the pins were it was a lot trickier and my game-plan was to hit as many greens as I could.

It means a lot to win – that’s another goal out of the way and hopefully from here I can progress and move on to bigger things.”

WINNER: ROSS McGOWAN

WINNER’S CHEQUE

€250,000

McGowan’s 60 won’t be recorded as a European Tour record due to the ‘lift, clean and place’ ruling in place because of the wet fairways in Madrid all week, but the 27-year-old will never forget it. “I can’t believe it really,” he said after completing his round. “I just played my own game and didn’t think about the score until I hit the second shot to the 18th. Then I thought, ‘Hang on – that was for 59’.” He nailed his approach to the par-5 18th and sunk the eagle putt for a 12under-par 60 which included two bogeys.

Second placed Ilonen found himself 12 strokes off the pace after an opening 74 but shot up the leaderboard with rounds of 63, 63 and 66 for his best result of the season.

Scotland’s David Drysdale closed with a 67 for third place while Gareth Maybin, Gary Murphy and Alexander Noren took fourth place on 18-under-par.

Tournament: Portugal Masters

Date: 15 – 18 Oct 2009

Venue: Oceanico Victoria Golf Course

WESTWOOD BREAKS TWOYEAR DROUGHT WITH PORTUGUESE WIN LEE Westwood won his first title since the 2007 British Masters with a superb two-stroke victory over Italian Francesco Molinari at the Portugal Masters.

The Englishman fired a 6-under-par 66 to shoot up the leaderboard and into the top spot ahead of Molinari, who started the day in second place, while overnight leader Retief Goosen slipped to sixth place.

“It was nice to finish it off, you never know when the next win is going to come and you start to question yourself,” said Westwood, who took the lead in The Race to Dubai with his €500,000 winner’s cheque. “You always slightly doubt yourself in the back of your mind and to be No. 1 again feels great. It’s been nearly 10 years since I won it (the Order of Merit).”

Westwood opened with rounds of 66 and 67 before two weekend rounds of 66 saw him take the title at 23-under-par. The win also took him up to fifth on the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I’m delighted about the World Ranking. I always have a good

look at that and it’s a reflection of my consistency,” he said. “But winning is definitely a habit and I got out of the habit. Hopefully now I have won again I can win more.”

Molinari had to settle for his second runner-up finish of the season while Ireland’s Padraig Harrington finished in outright third place.

“I struggled a bit with the putter today,” said Molinari. “Right now I’m disappointed but probably tomorrow I will feel better.”

Harrington had fired himself into contention with opening rounds of 69 and 62 but a third round 71 saw him drop down to 14th place, six shots off the lead entering the final round. The three-time Major winner carded a superb final round 67 but it wasn’t enough to challenge for the top spot.

“In hindsight I think I got dehydrated,” said Harrington. “I struggled to concentrate. I drank a phenomenal amount, just not enough. My trainer was watching on TV and you can see it in your face – your eyes really.”

INTHEBAGINTHEBAGINTHEBAGINTHEBAGINTHEBAG Driver: Fairway woods (3,5): Irons (3-PW): Wedges: Putter: Ball:

Ping G10 (10.5º) Ping Rapture V2 Ping i10 Ping Tour W (54º and 58º) Ping Redwood Anser Titleist Pro V1x

WINNER: LEE WESTWOOD

In the gap between his victories, Lee Westwood posted 24 top-10 finishes on The European Tour including five runnerup spots. He finished second in his defence of the British Masters, the 2008 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the 2008 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the 2008 HSBC Champions and this year’s Open de France Alstom.

WINNER’S CHEQUE

€500,000

WINNING SCORE: 23-UNDER-PAR 265 (66,67,66,66) RUNNER-UP: FRANCESCO MOLINARI – 267

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Brought to you by

Claude Harmon III

SWING Pro swing analyst >>

CLAUDE HARMON III, DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION, BUTCH HARMON SCHOOL,

PRO look

DUBAI SPORTS CITY

ANTHONY KIM THE 24-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN IN ONLY HIS SECOND YEAR ON THE PGA TOUR WON THE 2008 WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE AT&T NATIONAL AND PLAYED AN INTEGRAL PART IN AMERICA’S 16½ - 11½ RYDER CUP VICTORY AT VALHALLA, CONTRIBUTING 2½ POINTS. LAST MONTH HE SCORED THREE POINTS IN THE USA’S VICTORY OVER GREG NORMAN’S INTERNATIONAL TEAM.

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49

SWING

ANTH

CLAUDE HARMON III, DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION, BUTCH HARMON SCHOOL, DUBAI SPORTS CITY 1. Anthony shows great posture mechanics here with a strong-looking lower body and very neutral through the lower back. This implies that he’s engaged and ready to go – a great model to copy.

The main idiosyncrasy which he has is his tendency to grip down on his clubs – you can see that he has gripped a good two/three inches down on his driver. This will loose some distance due to shortening the arc but I feel that Anthony does this to get the feel of firmness which will compliment his strong rotary movement.

6. We can see that Anthony has maintained a good, powerful angle in his right wrist. His hips have cleared and you can also see how the shaft angle is close to matching picture 2, which also suggests that he is very much on plane. Having a good idea of your delivery position is always going to help with the feel of your swing and can be a big help with the power and consistency of your ball-striking.

5. As Anthony transitions from backswing to downswing, it is clear that the athletic stretch which occurred in his backswing has been lengthened still further, with his lower body unwinding and uncoiling whilst his upper body remains stable. This demonstrates a strong core and explosive stretch/shorten muscles which will result in a strong movement through the ball.

50

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2. From the beautifully balanced starting position, Anthony’s first move is perfect. The club stays very supported through his takeaway which is a classic sign that his body and the club are blending together. You can learn the importance of good posture to get the golf club moving online.

ONY KIM 3. Once again, the golf club appears supported as it reaches parallel to the ground.

There is some evidence of early wrist hinge which has got the toe of the club in the air. This is a good position to follow and shows that everything is nicely in sync.

7. A very strong release of the body and club here.

There is no holding back, with a great move-through of the right shoulder. You can see that the club still appears supported and square implying that his hands have remained quiet throughout this dynamic downswing.

4. The main thing to notice about this position which is visible amongst many of the world’s young explosive players is the amount of stretch generated between the lower and upper body.

This is something which we are keen to develop in younger players. Anthony’s left arm gets well across his chest which shows his low centre of gravity and rotary style movement. This position will also allow Anthony to swing the club more on one plane, keeping his movement simple and consistent.

8. Perfect at finish.

Anthony hits into his left side with authority with his knees coming together and the club fully released. Knowing where your finish is and being able to hit strongly into it gives your swing a confidence and allows you to perform better under pressure.

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TUTORIAL Build your bunker confidence

Arabian Oasis Par 3, 130 yards

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ary Player is recognised and respected as a champion golfer and course designer all over the world. One of his latest and first designs in the UAE is the new Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi. Gary Player is one of only five players to have won all four Majors, the others being Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods and Gene Sarazen. Since then Gary Player Design has executed more than 300 course designs in 35 countries on five continents.

Gary Player is rated by most of his fellow professionals as the best bunker player in the history of the game.

Countless times, in the final rounds of a championship, he has splashed out of sand from a difficult lie to end up with a tap-in putt. He believes that his ability to play the bunkers has been the most significant aspect of his game in every one of his Championship victories. Bunker shots are Gary Player’s favourite shots, with almost 70 unique bunker designs to be found on Saadiyat Beach Golf Club that’s why Gary is doing this Tutorial on how to play bunker shots.

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Brought to you by

Tip from Gary Player at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club: Good bunker players will prosper Bunkers are a prominent feature on this stunning course. If you are playing aggressive golf then you will be doing well to avoid getting in some bunkers. Therefore, being good at getting out of them is going to be key to scoring well. Make sure you practice your bunker shots. Bunkers are definitely a key feature of Saadiyat. Good bunker play is a must if you are to score well. But don’t be intimidated as we always leave options around bunkers for the more conservative players.

With this Tutorial I will outline the secrets of successful bunker play to improve your game. The word bunker brings to any golfer’s mind a bogey or double bogey to add to their card, while it’s pretty easy to play once you know and understand the basic routine to execute the shot.

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TUTORIAL

Before entering the bunker to execute the shot visualise what you want the outcome to be. Take your most comfortable stance while settling your feet firmly so that nothing can shift under you during the execution of the shot. This will enable you to get a feel for the depth and the consistency of the sand. Remember it is against the rules of golf to ground your club inside a bunker.

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With your setup in the bunker, the ball will be placed well forward in your stance with your left foot open to create an open stance. The reason for the open stance is to eliminate lower half body movement so that the upper body and arms can move freely when executing the bunker shot. The club face must be laid back as open as possible for quick loft. Your aim will be well left of the flag, (target) due to the open club face and slice action the club creates on the ball at impact.

PRO LOOK Brought to you by

The swing is straightforward from an upright position, with plenty of wrist action at impact.

Be sure that the golf club head goes down first about 2 inches behind the ball with a full follow through the ball. If you can get your left palm facing down at the finish then you have kept the club face well opened and followed through with good form. Remember to use golf course etiquette and to rake the bunker after you have played your shot.

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EVERY IMPROVEMENT COUNTS. BECAUSE EVERY SHOT COUNTS.

The Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x

Your golf ball is the only piece of equipment you use for every shot. And now we’ve made the game’s most technologically advanced, best performing golf balls even better. The Pro V1® delivers more distance and more spin for better control and the Pro V1x™ delivers longer distance. Both more durable than ever.

We’re always improving our game, so you can improve yours. To learn more, go to titleist.co.uk

Pro Sports International, PO Box 26723, Dubai, UAE Sign up to In The Swing, our free e-newsletter, at intheswing.info

WAYNE JOHNSON – INSIDE THE ROPES WAYNE JOHNSON is our correspondent for The Race to Dubai. Heavily involved in the planning and promotion of The Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship, Wayne is able to give a unique insight into the progress of the competitions and a behind-the-scenes (and ‘inside the ropes!’) look into The Race to Dubai – as well as giving us his views on the latest happenings in golf.

Final hurdle in The Race to the line

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ITH the finishing line in sight and The Race to Dubai only a couple of weeks away from reaching its dramatic conclusion, the cream of The European Tour face some of the toughest challenges of the season as they seek to earn enough money to break into the top 60 on the ranking to qualify for the Dubai World Championship.

The end of October saw the field split with most players heading east to challenge for the $5m Barclays Singapore Open while a select 16 players were at Finca Cortesin in Spain to fight it out for the Volvo World Match Play Championship.

Solid performances in Spain saw more leading players confirm their starting berths in Dubai along with latecomers from Singapore. The following week others lined up at the $7 million World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions tournament in

Shanghai. Meanwhile, there will still be some nervous candidates sweating it out at next week’s last chance saloon at the UBS Hong Kong Open.

Eight of the current top ten in The Race to Dubai standing are among those seeking to reign in Spain including leader Lee Westwood, Masters Champion Angel Cabrera, Paul Casey, and Rory McIlroy. Two other notables, Colombia’s Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim of the United States, who both stated at the start of the season their intention to compete in Dubai, are aiming to play their way into the Dubai World Championship.

The Volvo World Match Play Championship and the UBS Hong Kong Open carried significant prize funds for those who put in strong displays to squeeze into the Championship.

The winner of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai collects a cool $833,300 and tenth place is worth $100,225 which should be more than enough for most European Tour players on the drawsheet to confirm their attendance in Dubai.

The ever-consistent Westwood, following a two-shot victory at the Portuguese Masters, has been installed as the favourite to land The Race to Dubai title. If successful, it would be the second time he has lifted the Harry Vardon Trophy after he ended Colin Montgomerie’s legendary seven year run at the top of the Tour’s Order of Merit in 2000.

Consistency has also been the main reason for the pre-eminence of Englishmen in the top ten of The Race to Dubai standings. Paul Casey, whose season was going from strength to strength before a rib injury sidelined him for most of August and September, Oliver Wilson, Ross Fisher and Simon Dyson have all enjoyed very steady seasons with regular top ten finishes.

With a first prize of $1,250,000 on offer, the Dubai World Championship can itself provide an extremely healthy boost to a player’s chances of making the European Team for the 38th Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales next year.

In Dubai, preparations for the inaugural Dubai World Championship are progressing well with Greg Norman’s Earth Course in pristine condition and more than 60,000 registrations received for free tickets from all over the world.

Following a recent visit to Jumeirah Golf Estates, David Garland, The European Tour’s Director of Tour Operations was full of praise for the work that has been carried out to ensure the Earth course presents the ultimate challenge to the world’s leading golfers.

The only thing now left to settle is exactly who will make up that final 60 players who tee-off in Dubai on November 19th and who will make history by lifting the magnificent trophies that have been handcrafted to herald this new era for the sport.

Once we’ve recovered from the excitement of the inaugural year, it’s almost immediately onto 2010 and the second instalment of The Race to Dubai. Then we can go through all of this again!

“The ever-consistent Westwood, following a two-shot victory at the Portuguese Masters, has been installed as the favourite to land The Race to Dubai title.”

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Junior player, Kavita Sehmi, wins the highly successful Inaugural Women’s Golf Dubai Tournament THE first Women’s Golf Dubai Tournament, sponsored by ICHG Al Badia, Southern Sun Hotels, Expand a Sign, took place last month at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club and a good time was had by all who attended.

The morning shotgun start consisted of 24 ladies who played in the 18 Hole Stableford Tournament. The course was in excellent condition and for some players it was their first opportunity to experience playing at SGSC and, even though it was a challenging course, some good scores were recorded.

Junior player, Kavita Sehmi, took the honours by scoring 39 Stableford points playing off a handicap of 26. Sehmi started her golf through the Junior Develop Programme at Arabian Ranches.

She has worked hard at her game for the past few years to gain her official handicap.

It’s encouraging to see our junior girls doing so well, and at Women’s Golf Dubai we want to make sure these juniors are given full advantage to play in tournaments to gain vital experience and knowledge.

Sehmi is currently a member of Arabian Ranches Golf Club and we look forward to seeing more of her on the winner’s podium in the future. In second place was Tjarda Van Epen with a score of 35 points. Tjarda also started her golf through the Ladies Coaching Programme at Arabian Ranches and she has put in

many hours of practice to get where she is at today – and we congratulate her on her efforts. In third place was Monina Gudaca from Doha scoring 34 points. Gudaca is an improving player with an excellent swing and we look forward to seeing her game go from strength to strength.

Along with the 18 hole golf event, a group of 10 ladies took part in the Women’s Golf Dubai Golf Clinic. The one hour Clinic, conducted by PGA Professionals, David and Tom from Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club, was the perfect introduction to golf for our newcomers.

Positive feedback The feedback from the day was very positive and WGD will continue to introduce the Golf Clinics at our tournaments. More intense coaching programmes will follow and details will be posted on the WGD website www.womensgolfdubai.com The day’s events ended with a lunch and presentation and the ladies had the opportunity to meet each other and network and share their experiences.

Women’s Golf Dubai would like to thank their sponsors, Southern Sun Hotels - Al Manzil and Qamardeen, Spa Intercontinental - ICH Group Al Badia Festival City and Expand a Sign for their valuable contribution to the success of the first WGD Tournament and for supporting our efforts to grow and develop golf for Women in the UAE. ECCO are offering the winner of the next Women’s Golf Dubai Tournament the chance to tee it up at the Dubai Ladies Masters Pro-Am next month, so get your entries in. Details are as follows: Date and start times: Monday, 30th November 2009, 10.00 – 11:10 Tee Times; Venue: Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa; Finish: Play is expected to finish around 15:30; Format: 18 Holes Individual Stableford; Cost: AED235, includes lunch, green fee, shared golf cart, and range balls prior to competition; Lunch and Presentation: Around 15:30 after the conclusion of the tournament.

Details of the Golf Clinic on 30 November 2009.

Date: Monday, 30th November 2009, 13:00 – 14:30; Venue: Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa; Cost: AED150, includes lunch and 90min lesson with a Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa PGA Professional and Women’s Golf Dubai’s Sandy Meyer.

Lunch and Presentation: Around 15:30.

TO ENTER PLEASE VISIT: www.womensgolfdubai.com

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Women's Golf Dubai

Dubai Ladies Masters to end on Saturday, December 12 IN a slight break from tradition, the 2009 Dubai Ladies Masters champion will be crowned on a Saturday instead of a Sunday when the Ladies European Tour event gets underway at the Emirates Golf Club next month.

Announcing new dates of the tournament, ‘golf in DUBAI’ – the promoters of the event – said the tournament starts on Wednesday, December 9 and the final round will be played on Saturday, December 12.

In line with tradition, the tournament will be preceded by a pro-am on Tuesday, December 8 and a challenge match, featuring marquee players, on Monday, December 7.

“Since we have a Friday-Saturday weekend in the UAE, it makes sense to have a Saturday finish which would encourage more spectators to come to the venue, adding to the carnival-like atmosphere there,” said Mohamed Juma Buamaim, Vice-Chairman and CEO of ‘golf in DUBAi. ”We are grateful to the Ladies European Tour for giving their agreement to the

Last year’s Dubai Ladies Masters winner Anja Monke of Germany lifts the trophy at the Emirates Golf Club.

weekend finish which, I think, will greatly enhance the profile of the event in all areas, also adding more value to the hospitality packages.”

The presence of world-class players like Annika Sorenstam, who has since retired from the game, Laura Davies, Karrie Webb, Natalia Gulbis, Gwladys Nocera, Sophie Gustafason and Catriona Matthews over the last three years, has firmly established the Dubai Ladies Masters as a most soughtafter event on the Ladies European Tour.

This year again there will be no entry fee and the intention is to encourage and motivate more ladies to take to the sport.

Volunteers Required

ORGANISERS of the Dubai Ladies Masters, ‘golf in DUBAI’, are calling for golfing enthusiasts to come forward and be part of the action as more than 150 volunteers will be required to act as marshals, scorers, TV production assistants, scoreboard carriers – and carry out other related positions as needed.

“The role of the volunteers will be crucial in continuing to showcase Dubai as the ‘city of golf’, as we strive to make the Dubai Ladies Masters the most successful tournament on the Ladies European Tour,” stated Mohamed Juma Buamaim ViceChairman and CEO of ‘golf in DUBAi.

Sandy Meyer’s

PROFESSIONAL TIP on water hazard rules.

After our event last month, it gave me a good opportunity to do an article their ball into the hitting after use to ruling Many players new to the game get confused on what water hazard.

There are two different types: Lateral Water Hazard and Water Hazard.

Lateral Water Hazard A Lateral Water Hazard is a hazard that is deemed to be in a position that it cannot allow a player to drop the ball behind the hazard. These are marked with RED STAKES. The players must, under penalty of one stroke: A) Play their next shot from a position as near as possible from it’s original position, in other words play another shot from where you hit the ball from.

B) Drop a ball behind the water hazard keeping the pin and the ‘point of entry’ in a direct line in front of you, extending back as far as you like.

C) At the “point of entry”, take a two club length drop no nearer the hole.

Water Hazard

A Water Hazard is clearly marked with YELLOW STAKES. The player must use the exact rulings as above under (a) and (b) without using rule (c) – also under a penalty of one stroke.

A) Play the next shot from a position as near as possible from it’s original position, in other words play another shot from where you hit the ball from.

B) Drop a ball behind the water hazard keeping the pin and the ‘point of entry’ in a direct line in front of you, extending back as far as you like. www.wwgolf.biz

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EGYPTIAN GOLF FEDERATION NEWS

RYDER CUP CAPTAIN MONTY SET FOR 2009 EGYPTIAN OPEN EIGHT TIME EUROPEAN NO. 1 TO STAR AT MIRAGE CITY GOLF COURSE

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UROPE’S Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie will make his first playing appearance in Egypt this month when he stars in the 2009 Egyptian Open, the oldest professional golf tournament in the Middle East.

Taking place at Cairo’s Mirage City Golf Course from November 5-8, the $200,000 event, which will comprise a majority of European Challenge Tour players, will give Montgomerie his first taste of golf in Egypt, a country with more than 20 grass courses and boasting a rich golfing heritage.

“Everyone in the Egyptian Golf Federation is thrilled with the news that Colin Montgomerie will be joining us to give his support to the Egyptian Open,” said Egyptian Golf Federation Golf Manager Gerard Bent. “As well as being the captain of the European Ryder Cup side, Colin is an eight-time Order of Merit winner and one of the biggest names in world golf so our appreciation goes out to the Egyptian Tourism Authority who have worked with Colin to make his visit possible.”

The new-look Egyptian Open will offer Montgomerie an insight into a country that is enjoying a golfing renaissance. In December 2005, Egypt won The Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year Award, voted for by the Golf Travel Writers Association. Since then, the sport has continued to grow with new courses and resorts catering to an increasing demand from golfers from around the globe.

Anne Le Conait appointed National Golf Coach to Egypt ANNE Le Conait has been appointed the National Golf Coach for Egypt. Le Conait, of France, has a remarkable CV, having trained individuals to 15 International titles, including four British Girls titles, one British Ladies Championship and two European Men’s Championships. In addition she coached Frenchman and three-time European Tour winner Gregory Havret.

As the National Coach of France for both the Men’s and Ladies Team, her record is equally impressive.

From 1993 to 2005 she trained the Men’s National team, guiding them to the runners-up spot in the 2002 World Team Championships. She also took the Ladies National side to World Championship glory in 2000 and to European Championship victory in 1999.

On the announcement Le Conait said: “ I share the vision of the new EGF Board to bring Egyptian Amateur players to International level within five years. I strongly believe with the new commitment and passion of the Egyptian Golf Federation that Egypt can compete in the top flight of the most important events like the World Amateur Team Championships and the Olympics.

EGF to launch National Junior Development Programme THE Egyptian Golf Federation is soon to announce a National Junior Development Programme to create, sustain and develop young National players. PGA Professional, Richard Phillips, Golf Development Officer for the Egyptian Golf Federation, will create the programme, which will not only provide support for all clubs to offer it but also give training for the Egyptian Teaching Professionals that will deliver the programme to 8-11 year olds initially. Such juniors will be encouraged by a variety of sources, including some of Egypt’s popular sporting and social clubs.

“We need to significantly increase the number of junior players we have,” said Phillips. “Shortly we will be announcing the structure of the programme and how we intend to introduce a significant number of young players into the sport. Following a series of free classes for kids we will establish a substantial junior programme at a variety of clubs to give as many youngsters as possible the opportunity to try and enjoy the sport at their nearest facility.”

The Egyptian Open – an event first contested back in the 1920s – is the latest sporting step in promoting the country’s golfing attractions to a worldwide audience. The tournament is set to receive full European Challenge Tour status from 2010.

“Although I’ve been to play in European Tour events and oversee some of my golf course design projects in the Middle East, this will be my first playing visit to Egypt so I’m very much looking forward to seeing how golf is developing both in Cairo and throughout the country, especially as I have my first Egyptian course design project underway at Citystars at Sharm el Sheikh,” said Montgomerie, who will tee off in the tournament’s Pro-Am on November 4 before the event itself gets underway the following day.

Bent added: “As well as the European Challenge Tour players, we will also have Egyptian-based professionals, as well as local and regional amateurs and invites participating through the Egyptian Golf Federation invite category.”

Colin Montgomerie’s appearance will no doubt be one of the highlights of the one-hour Egyptian Open TV package aired worldwide through distribution by The European Challenge Tour.

Pictured left: Monty of the Desert – European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie will star in the 2009 Egyptian Open in Cairo this month.

EGF TO UNVEIL GRASS ROOTS PROGRAMME IT’S not only the juniors who will be given a helping hand into the game as the Egyptian Golf Federation will also be introducing a programme to encourage all types of player to the sport. A series of ‘try golf for free’ promotions will be offered at different clubs to expose as many new people as possible to the game. The programme, established by the recently appointed Golf Development officer, will reach out to schools, social groups, the business community and beyond to encourage players to visit their nearest participating clubs to try golf. Following the ‘try golf’ session, players will be encouraged to take up a series of golf lessons, appropriately designed for different types of players.

EGF Chairman, Ayman Hussein said: “One of the key objectives of the Egyptian Golf Federation is to significantly increase the number of golfers in Egypt. Shortly we will announce a programme to introduce a number of newcomers to the game, which in turn will support all clubs and the industry as a whole.

We are committed to growing the game in our country and a strong grass roots programme is the first step.”

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The Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort and Swiss Inn Plaza are located on the Dreamland Golf Course in the prestigious residential area of 6th of October district and offer a unique combination of golf, culture and wellness, ideal for you to relax and enjoy the surroundings of TWO HOTELS and TWO SWIMMING POOLS. The 27-holes Dreamland Golf course, views of which can be enjoyed from most of our rooms, is open all year round and provides a challenging combination of water hazards and natural features.

www.swissinn.net El Wahat Road, Dreamland, 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt Telephone: +202 385 53 311 Email: sipyramids@swissinn.net

Great Pyramids of Giza are just 15 minutes drive from the hotel.

SWISS INN PYRAMIDS GOLF RESORT

SOUTH AFRICA WIN 2009 AFRICAN AMATEUR GOLF TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

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FTER four days of impressive scoring over the Championship course at Dreamland Golf Resort, it was South Africa who emerged triumphant in the 2009 African Amateur Golf Team Championships.

The team of J G Claasson, Jubin Jung, Jake Redman, Trevor Mahoney and Captain Enver Hassan beat Kenya by 13 strokes, and Namibia by a further 11 strokes.

A superb last round 68 by J G Claasson helped South Africa to an impressive win and secured individual victory for the big hitting 18-year-old.

Claasson edged his victory with a birdie three at the difficult par 4 18th hole, to defeat Kenya’s Boniface Simwa by one stroke.

A total of 13 teams competed for the 2009 African Amateur Golf Team Championship which was considered by all – players, Captains and officials of the African Golf Confederation – to be the most successful and well hosted in the event’s short history.

Left: 2009 African Amateur Team Golf Championships, winning team South Africa.

EGF HOLDS FIRST NATIONAL TRIALS

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OLLOWING the recent appointment of Anne Le Coniat as National Coach the Egyptian Golf Federation held the first National Trials at Dreamland Golf Resort on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th of October.

Thirty of Egypt’s best golfers attended the trials with the aim of being selected to attend National Squad coaching sessions in the months to come.

Sixteen candidates for the Men’s squad attended on the Friday while 14 youngsters attended on the Saturday with hopes of making the National Junior

squad. Le Coniat, former National Coach of France, assessed each player’s technique on the range while other members of the EGF team monitored the results of various short game skills tests. An on course assessment took place in the afternoon to complete a thorough examination of the candidates.

The results of the trials have been announced on the EGF website www.egyptiangolffederation.org and a full calendar of coaching sessions and events will be published in the near future.

DREAMLAND GOLF COURSE RATES

Weekdays Weekends & Holidays

SILVER MEMBERS GREEN FEES

GUEST GREEN FEES

18 Holes 60 L.E. 80 L.E.

18 Holes 200 L.E. 300 L.E.

9 Holes 40 L.E. 50 L.E.

9 Holes 150 L.E. 200 L.E.

Other Services: Power Carts (18 Holes) Power Carts (9 Holes) Pull Cart (18 Holes) Pull Cart (9 Holes) Rental Clubs (18 Holes) Rental Clubs (9 Holes)

100 L.E. 75 L.E. 15 L.E. 10 L.E. 80 L.E. 50 L.E.

Practice Balls

Large Buckets (50 Balls) 10 L.E.

To book a stay at the Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort please visit: www.swissinn.net

120 L.E. 80 L.E. 25 L.E. 15 L.E. 80 L.E. 50 L.E. Small Buckets (25 Ball) 5 L.E.

Large Buckets (50 Balls) 20 L.E.

Alternatively you can call: + 202 385 53 311 Email: sipyramids@swissinn.net Small Buckets (25 Ball) 10 L.E

Juniors (18 and under) receive a 50 % reduction on green fees. Members’ guests receive a 25% reduction on green fees.

Resort Address: El Wahat Road, Dreamland, 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt

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A JEWEL IN EGYPT’S CROWN SWISS INN PYRAMIDS GOLF RESORT SITUATED in an upmarket residential area of Egypt’s bustling capital city Cairo, in the shadow of the majestic Great Pyramids of Giza, is the stunning Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort.

Located on the immaculate 27-hole Dreamland Golf Course, which recently hosted the African Amateur Team Golf Championship, the Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort offers everything the golf tourist could want – and more besides.

The golf development itself is among the best in Egypt. Designed by renowned course architect Karl Litten, it consists of an 18-hole Championship Course and the 9-hole Pharaohs Course. There is also a 9-hole Academy Course, which forms part of a comprehensive Golf Academy with highly trained international instructors; and a floodlit driving range with six target greens, two putting greens and a practice bunker.

The par 72 Championship Course is an exceptional track. Measuring 7,205 yards off the back tees, golfers are treated to spectacular views of the pyramids throughout their round and it’s hard to imagine a more striking backdrop.

Tricky, winding, narrow fairways are flanked by grassy mounds, plentiful trees and water hazards, while a healthy smattering of bunkers add to what is a stern challenge for even the most seasoned players. The large, immaculate greens are a joy to play, rounding off what is a truly top class golfing experience at the Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort.

Top left: Daniel Owen (Winner) Above: Kevin Carpenter performing his trick shot show after the tournament.

Right: Robert Watts (3rd place)

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There is a fully stocked pro shop, and equipment and carts can be rented during your visit, while snack bars and refreshment carts will keep you sustained out on the course. A luxurious clubhouse awaits at the end of your round and you can relax and enjoy some world class cuisine in the Swiss Inn Restaurant and Lounge.

Part of the magnificent 2,000 acre Dreamland City, the 5-star Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort boasts 234 elegantly designed spacious rooms and suites each with a private balcony or terrace with stunning views of the golf course and Pyramids.

All rooms have wireless internet access, satellite television and individually controlled air conditioning.

There are three restaurants serving Egyptian and international cuisine. You can also relax with a drink at the lobby bar and there is a spacious outdoor pool for your enjoyment while Sothys Spa is the perfect place to ease your aches and pains after a tough day on the golf course.

A fully equipped meeting/banquet room can accommodate up to 80 people, making the Swiss Inn a great to place hold events and conferences.

The resort is conveniently located to explore everything Cairo has to offer and the magnificent Pyramids of Giza can be reached by car in just 15 minutes. Providing a perfect blend of golf, culture, wellbeing and relaxation, the Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort is the ideal place to enjoy an Egyptian golf holiday that will live long in the memory.

TRAVEL

GOLF CLUB INFO Designer: Karl Litten Opened: 1998 Length: Championship Course 7,205 yards, par 72 SWISS INN PYRAMIDS GOLF RESORT t elegantly designed spacious rooms and suites t 1SJWBUF CBMDPOZ PS UFSSBDF t 4UVOOJOH WJFXT PG UIF HPMG DPVSTF BOE the Pyramids t 5ISFF XPSME DMBTT SFTUBVSBOUT t 4PUIZT 4QB TUBUF PG UIF BSU TBODUVBSZ offering a full range of treatments and facilities t 4QBDJPVT TXJNNJOH QPPM t 'VMMZ FRVJQQFE NFFUJOH CBORVFU room t $POWFOJFOUMZ MPDBUFE GPS $BJSP BOE the Great Pyramids of Giza To book a stay at the Swiss Inn Pyramids Golf Resort please visit: www.swissinn.net Alternatively you can call: + 202 385 53 311 Email: sipyramids@swissinn.net Resort Address: El Wahat Road, Dreamland, 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt

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WINTER RATES 2009 ABU DHABI GOLF & EQUESTRIAN CLUB From 1st November 2009 to 31st May 2010 Peak 18H Dhs. 280 9H Dhs. 180 Rate includes cart hire and range balls

Off-Peak Dhs. 260 Dhs. 160

ABU DHABI GOLF CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 30th April 2010 27H Peak Rack Rate Dhs. 695 Twilight Rate Dhs. 350 Junior Rate Dhs. 295 Rate include A/c golf cart & practice balls AL BADIA GOLF CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 680 18H Weekday Dhs. 525 Rate includes shared cart & range access before play AL GHAZAL GOLF CLUB From 1st October 2009 to April 20th 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 150 18H Weekday Dhs. 95 9H Weekend Dhs. 90 9H Weekday Dhs. 75 AL HAMRA GOLF CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 30th May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Peak Dhs. 405 18H Off-Peak Dhs. 345 9H Peak Dhs. 245 9H Off-Peak Dhs. 210 Rate includes cart & 1 basket of range balls.

ARABIAN RANCHES GOLF CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 470 18H Weekday Dhs. 395 9H Weekend Dhs. 280 9H Weekday Dhs. 255 Optional cart available at Dhs. 55 DUBAI CREEK GOLF & YACHT CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekday Dhs. 495 From 1st October 2009 to 15th November 2009 18H Weekend Dhs. 625 From 16th November 2009 to 31st March 2010 18H Weekend Dhs. 715 From 1st April 2010 to 31st May 2010 18H Weekend Dhs. 625 Rates include cart and range balls before play.

EMIRATES GOLF CLUB - MAJLIS COURSE From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Dhs. 745 9H Dhs. 445 Rates include golf cart hire & practice range balls.

Off-Peak Dhs. 525 Dhs. 325 Dhs. 295

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 850 Dhs. 695

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 165 Dhs. 120 Dhs. 115 Dhs. 85

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 450 Dhs. 385 Dhs. 230 Dhs. 230

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 660 Dhs. 555 Dhs. 385 Dhs. 345

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 595 Dhs. 695 Dhs. 795 Dhs. 695

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 825 Dhs. 495

EMIRATES GOLF CLUB - FALDO COURSE From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 625 18H Weekday Dhs. 495 9H Weekend Dhs. 375 9H Weekday Dhs. 300 Rates include golf cart hire & practice range balls.

JEBEL ALI GOLF RESORT & SPA From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 320 18H Weekday Dhs. 290 9H Weekend Dhs. 185 9H Weekday Dhs. 160 PALM SPORTS RESORT From 1st October 2009 to 31st December 2009 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 300 18H Weekday Dhs. 250 9H Weekend Dhs. 190 9H Weekday Dhs. 160 Rates include range balls and shared cart SHARJAH GOLF & SHOOTING CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 245 18H Weekday Dhs. 200 9H Weekend Dhs. 150 9H Weekday Dhs. 120 Rates exclude cart or trolley and range balls THE ELS CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 565 18H Weekday Dhs. 425 Rate includes cart and range access before play THE MONTGOMERIE DUBAI From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 595 18H Weekday Dhs. 450 Rates inclusive of cart and range use prior to play TOWER LINKS GOLF CLUB From 1st October 2009 to 31st May 2010 EGF RATE 18H Weekend Dhs. 390 18H Weekday Dhs. 330 9H Weekend Dhs. 210 9H Weekday Dhs. 180 Rates inclusive of cart and range balls

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 695 Dhs. 595 Dhs. 420 Dhs. 360

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 350 Dhs. 320 Dhs. 200 Dhs. 175

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 330 Dhs. 270 Dhs. 200 Dhs. 180

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 275 Dhs. 220 Dhs. 165 Dhs. 135

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 795 Dhs. 595

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 795 Dhs. 795

NON EGF RATE Dhs. 440 Dhs. 390 Dhs. 235 Dhs. 210

WWG LOCAL FOCUS

ARABIAN Clubs in November 2009 Worldwide Golf

ROTMEIJER LEADS AFTER OPENING ROUND OF THE TNT AMATEUR ORDER OF MERIT

Abu Dhabi Golf Club Al Badia Golf Club Al Ghazal Golf Club Arabian Ranches Golf Club Dirab Golf Club Doha Golf Club Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club Emirates Golf Club Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa Katameya Heights Golf & Tennis Resort Maritim Jolie Ville Golf & Resort, Egypt Palm Sports Resort Al Ain Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club The Els Club Dubai The Royal Golf Club, Bahrain The Montgomerie Dubai Tower Links Golf Club

MARCO Rotmeijer (20 - EGF) shot 41 Stableford points to lead after the first of the eight Qualifying Rounds for the TNT Amateur Order of Merit Golf Series.

Rotmeijer’s round began on hole 8 in the shotgun start and he got off to a near perfect start recording no less than two points over his first nine holes. Rotmeijer’s first and only blemish on the card came at his 10th hole, the par 5, 16th where he scored a gross seven giving him one Stableford point. He was rarely in trouble after that and closed out his round with and an inward half of 20 for a 41 points total to win by one point from Steve Bennett.

“We have had a great start to the TNT Amateur Order of Merit Golf Series, with 100 participants competing in the opening event and 150 signed up – it is certainly living up to its reputation as the top amateur golf series in the UAE,” said Francois Wolfaardt of Arabian Ranches Golf Club.

To qualify for the TNT Amateur Order of Merit Golf Series a player must compete in at least four of the qualifying rounds, with the average of their best four performances forming a player’s points total – of the four qualifying rounds a player must compete in

two Stableford and two Strokeplay events. An added bonus to the eight individual qualifying round winners is that they automatically qualify and are exempt for the Grand Final as long as they compete in at least four events.

Rotmeijer leads the TNT Amateur Order of Merit Golf Series with 80 points.

The second TNT Amateur Order of Merit tournament will be held on Saturday 21st November at Arabian Ranches Golf Club.

The leading 20 players and ties at the end of the Series qualify for the TNT Amateur Order of Merit Golf Series Grand Final in May 2010.

Bryan Moulds, Country General Manager, TNT, with Marco Rotmeijer, winner of the opening event.

EGF November Tournament Calendar DATE

EVENT

VENUE

Wed 4th Fri 6th – Sat 7th Fri 6th Fri 6th Fri 13th – Sat 14th Fri 13th – Sat 14th Wed 25th Fri 27th – Sat 28th Fri 27th – Sat 28th

Par 3 League Al Ain Open (Men and Ladies) Harradine Cup Par 3 Adult & Child Charity Golf Tournament PSR Ladies Open SWGC Men’s Open Par 3 League NBAD Al Ghazal Ladies Open SGSC Men’s Open

Emirates GC Al Ain GC Al Hamra GC Dubai Creek G&YC Palm Sports Resort Sharjah Wanderers GC Emirates GC Al Ghazal GC Sharjah Golf & Shooting

Entry forms can be downloaded from http://www.emiratesgolffederation.com/calendar/tournament-entry-form.asp

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UAE PGA

ARABIAN GOLF

Sheridan takes Order of Merit lead with Open victory RICHARD Sheridan produced a dramatic finale to shoot an evenpar 72 to win the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah PGA Open and take an early lead in this season’s coveted Order of Merit by securing the first points as a winner.

The Open was the first tournament in the 2009/2010 PGA’s calendar and, with another 21 events scheduled to be played across the UAE’s challenging courses, the race for the Order of Merit title is underway.

Al Badia Golf Club’s Sheridan hit 15 greens in regulation and although his inconsistent putting cost him a few dropped shots, his round was saved by a dramatic eagle on the final hole.

“The playing conditions were

great,” said Sheridan. “I spent time with Claude Harmon yesterday and, as a result, played some very solid golf. I am very happy to have won the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah Open.

“It was a great way to secure the first points towards successfully defending my Order of Merit title. It’s just the start to the season I really wanted.

“I’d also like to thank Acuma, Al Naboodah, Auriga and TNT for their dedication to the game and to our PGA. Their patronage is integral to our group’s success.”

Al Hamra Golf Club’s Alasdair Danson-Webster carded a 74 to claim second place while Ross McArthur, also from Al Hamra, and Tower Links Golf Club’s Simon Payne shared third place.

2009 Ras Al Khaimah PGA Open Winner Richard Sheridan with the trophy.

Professional Division: From left: Jeff O’Brien UAE PGA Chairman, Danny Jakubowski, Richard Sheridan, Malcolm Young, Neil Flannigan (Patron - Acuma Wealth Management) and Purna Sharma.

Sheridan closes season with final Patrons Alliance victory Emirates Golf Club’s 7,348 yard Faldo Course provided a fitting venue to host the final event in the popular 2008/2009 UAE PGA’s Patrons Alliance series and it was Al Badia Golf Club’s Richard Sheridan who took the Gross prize in the Professional Division with a superb 71.

Runner-up, two shots back, was Malcolm Young from Arabian Ranches while third place was shared by Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club’s Purna Sharma and The Montgomerie’s Danny Jakubowski with both carding 77.

An intense battle for glory played out in the Amateurs division between Ivan Lawson and

Ramsey Yassin, both scoring 76. A countback ensued which saw Yassin’s score of 38 on the back-nine secure the title of Gross winner, leaving Lawson to graciously accept the runnerup spot. Another podium regular, Francisco Giles played a consistently strong game, and was rewarded with the Best Net prize for his 72.

“The PGA is exceptionally proud of its relationship with Patrons Al Naboodah, Acuma, Auriga and TNT, as well as its other supporters and extends special thanks to David Stevenson and Alan Johnson of ProSports International for providing today’s prizes,” said UAE PGA

Tournament Director Stephen Hubner. “We were very pleased with today’s turn-out where 46 Professionals and Amateurs said farewell to this season’s popular Patrons Alliance series.

On claiming the season’s final chapter victory, Sheridan said: “I always seem to play well around this course. Today I had six birdies in the first 12 holes so I felt I played reasonably well, although it was a little up and down at times.

“I’ve been concentrating on improving my physical fitness as well and have been working very hard, so today’s win is also a reward that this effort is paying off.” www.wwgolf.biz

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R OYA L G O L F C L U B B A H R A I N

Champion Daniel Owen leads the way to the Grand Final in China along with Suzanna Hobday, Ahmed and Hassan Al Musharrekh and Dina Abou El Ela ENGLAND’S Daniel Owen cruised to victory in the inaugural Faldo Series Middle East Championship with two stunning rounds of 69 on his home course at The Royal Golf Club in Bahrain.

20-year-old Owen, a Bahrain resident for most of his life, now has the opportunity to spend time with six-time Major winner Nick Faldo at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in China, as will his compatriot Suzanna Hobday who was the overall girls’ winner on 165.

Also heading to Mission Hills Golf Club, Shenzhen, for the Grand Final are the winners of three categories for Middle East nationals only, including the Al Musharrekh brothers, from Dubai, Ahmed (boys’ under 21) and Hassan (boys’ under 16), plus Egypt’s Dina Abou El Ela (girls’ under-21).

Won by 14 shots Owen, who led by three overnight and eventually won by 14 shots after his challengers faded away, commented: “I had a birdie early on and then an eagle on nine which really helped calm my nerves.

“I felt very comfortable after that and I’m ecstatic to be going to China. I’m very aware that players like Nick Dougherty and Rory McIlroy have won the Faldo Series and I’d love to follow in their footsteps.”

Supported by UBS, Mission Hills and The R&A and with regional media support

Top right: Winner Daniel Owen .

Below: Kevin Carpenter, performing his trick shot show after the tournament.

Right: Abdul Rahman Sihag, who came second.

Far Right: Robert Watts, who finished in third place.

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www.wwgolf.biz

from Worldwide Golf and Gulf Weekly, the Faldo Series Middle East Championship hosted more than 55 leading young golfers, boys and girls aged between 12 and 21, from 15 different nations throughout the Arab world.

With local support from Gulf Air, the tournament also featured a nine-hole development tournament for 20 of Bahrain’s higher-handicap juniors plus a ‘Faldo Mini Series’ event on the Par 3 course for 20 younger children from the local community.

Finishing with an entertaining trick-shot show by Kevin Carpenter, such activities form part of Faldo’s bid to simultaneously create access to the sport at a grassroots level and help inspire a future generation of golfers in Bahrain and the Middle East.

The Middle East Championship was the seventh of 15 Faldo Series Asia tournaments in 12 different countries during 2009/2010, including four in mainland China, plus one in each of the following countries: Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam.

With more than1,000 competitors taking part in the Faldo Series Asia this season, and many more being introduced to the game, the climax will come at the fourth Grand Final in March 2010, an R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking event.

WINNER: DANIEL OWEN

ARABIAN GOLF

THE HAPPY WINNERS WITH THEIR PRIZES: Dina Abou El Ela, Suzzana Hobday, Daniel Owen, and Ahmed and Hassan Al Musharrekh.















81 

73 

154 

1 



78 

88 

166 

 2



83 

84 

167 

3 



78 

82 

160 

1 



80 

81 

161 

 2



81 

91 

172 

3 

90 

89 

179 

1 



69 

69 

138 

 1



76 

76 

152 

2 



72 

81 

153 

 3

77 

88 

165 

 1

101 

91 

192 

 2

98 

99 

197 

3 





  

   

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71

ARABIAN RANCHES GOLF CLUB

STEVE BENNETT AND COLIN GRAHAM CROWNED GROSS CHAMPIONS THE team of Steve Bennett and Colin Graham were crowned Gross Champions in the Greensomes Strokeplay event held last month as they posted a 3-under-par 69 to win by four strokes.

There were 102 competitors in the event with a format that saw both players tee off, the best positioned ball selected and alternative shots then played until the ball was holed out.

Each team received 3/8 of their combined handicaps over the challenging links course and men played from the blue tees at 6,700 yards and ladies from the red tees at 5,500 yards.

Bennett and Graham started their round on the par-5 13th and set the tone for the day by opening with a birdie. They went on to record six gross birdies with their only blemish coming on the 14th where they made a double bogey. The pair, who carded an outward half of 34 and an inward half of 35, were never in any danger as their closest challengers, John Mills and Adele McKelvey, finished four shots off the pace.

The team of Ian Kelly and Gordon Inkson took the spoils in the Men’s Net Division with an impressive net 68, beating Scott Kerins and Michael Engelhardt by one shot.

With Kelly playing off 12 and Inkson off 5 it meant their allowance for the day was six shots so they had to perform well,

holding their nerve to post a gross 74.

In the Ladies and Couples Division the Father/Daughter combination of Tony and Ksenia Grayling took the title with a net 69.

LOCATION: Emirates Road (311) in the heart of Arabian Ranches.

CONTACT: Tel : +971 4 366 3000 Fax : +971 4 366 3355 INFO: Arabian Ranches Golf Club opened its doors in February, 2004 and was built as a true 18 holes, par 72 desert-style grass course, a signature course designed by Ian Baker-Finch in association with Nicklaus Design.

COURSE: Championship Course 7691-yard par 72.

Gross Champions Steve Bennett and Colin Graham with the Arabian Ranches Club Captains.

AZOULAY CRUISES TO MONTHLY MEDAL TITLE Club Captain John Hainey with Tony Azoulay, Adele McKelvey and Fortuna Dougherty.

TONY Azoulay (3) returned a gross 1-over-par 73 to win the October Rivoli Monthly Medal supported by Marble Renewal of the UAE with an impressive display.

Azoulay, one of the club’s most consistent players, had one of his best performances to date as he posted nines of 35 and 38.

He was impressive from tee to green, posting three gross birdies in his round on holes 1, 3 and 18.

‘I’m thrilled with my performance today, this is a special victory in the Rivoli Monthly Medal and definitely one of my greatest achievements if you look at the quality of the field,” he said.

“I’m especially delighted to have qualified for the Men’s Singles Matchplay Championship in this – the first qualifying event.”

Club Champion John Mills (0) took the runner-up spot for the second consecutive month with a gross 74 while the net round of

ARABIAN GOLF

the day belonged to Division ‘B’ Champion Andrew Perkins (26) who shot a gross 90 for a net 64.

In the Ladies Division Club Captain Fortuna Dougherty (20) blew away the competition with a flawless performance. Dougherty managed the course well and, with nothing worse than a double bogey on her card, she posted a net 70 to take the title. Adele McKelvey (4) won the ladies gross prize with an 80 for her fourth consecutive Medal victory.

“This was a very exciting event with all the men battling for a place in the Singles Matchplay Championship,” said Francois Wolfaardt – Golf Manager at Arabian Ranches. “With only 10 players qualifying each month, the next two Rivoli Monthly Medals will be even more thrilling and I want to thank Rivoli for their generous support in one of the club’s most prestigious events.”

FULL FIELD TURN OUT FOR PARASOL GARDEN FURNITURE TEAM EVENT THE four player team of Greg Wright (9), Alan Kelly (18), Owen Mills (5) and Graham Wood (6) returned a score of 87 Stableford points to win the Parasol Garden Furniture Dependant-on-Par Team event.

A full field of 112 players competed in this popular event and played in an unusual format. The format for the event was the best two Stableford scores recorded at the par 4s; the best individual Stableford score on the par 3s and the best three scores on the par 5s.

Full handicap allowance was granted to each player to be used at the appropriate stroke index holes.

The winning team combined well and managed eight gross birdies between them which set them on their way to claiming the title.

In this format you have to take advantage of the par 5s, where three of the four players must contribute towards the team total and Mills and co. did just that with 30 of their 87 points coming on the four par 5s.

The winning team didn’t have it all their own way as they were almost overtaken by the team of Ray Wiens (28), Joe Colvill (24), Paul Barbonne (18) and David Russell (5) who also scored 87 points but narrowly lost out on a countback over the back nine holes.

Mark Sault from Parasol Garden Furniture with Club Captains Fortuna Dougherty and John Hainey pictured alongside the winning team. www.wwgolf.biz

73

E M I R AT E S G O L F C L U B LOCATION Emirates Hills, Interchange 5 Sheikh Zayed Road, opposite the Hard Rock Café

Aldridge blazes Black Tees to win Cup Johnny Aldridge receives his prize from Club Captain Mike Tracey, who Johnny was paired with in winning the Engineer’s Cup by three points.

CONTACT (04) 380 2222 egc@dubaigolf.com Book online tee times at www.dubaigolf.com INFO Majlis Course – 1988 Faldo Course – 1996, re-designed in 2006 COURSES Majlis – 18 holes, Par 72, 7,211 yards, Championship course Faldo Course – 18 holes, Par 72, 7,433 yards Designers: Majlis Course – Karl Litten Faldo course – Sir Nick Faldo

JOHNNY Aldridge fired 38 points from the Championship Black Tees of the Majlis course at emirates Golf Club to clinch the Engineer’s Cup by three points.

Starting from the first tee and paired with Club Captain Mike Tracey, he went out in 4-over 39 and came back in level par for his winning tally of 38 points.

The chasing pack was led by Tom Green who

signed for 35 points, including 20 on the back nine which proved the deciding factor in edging out Tarun Khanna into third place as he also posted a 1-overpar tally of 35.

Sun Jin Hwang and Joung Do Park both scored 34 points to take the top two places in Division ‘A’ (handicap 0-12) respectively. Rajesh Verma topped Division ‘B’ (handicap 13-24) with 34 points, one shot clear of Oliver Browning.

S.S. Son shines in Seniors Championship S.S. Son recorded a gross 75 over the Majlis course to triumph in the Seniors Championship by two shots from David Watt.

Son played his way to victory with a superb back nine thanks largely to completing the par-4 holes, 16 and 17, in just five shots.

He birdied the 16th before pitching in for an eagle on the 332-yard 17th.

That run made up for dropped shots on holes 12, 13 and 14 and saw him home in 38 strokes.

Watt, his closest challenger, produced a fantastic gross 77 for a net 65 to finish second while Bob Knott and Jon Wright signed for a gross 79 but it was Knott who claimed third place following a card countback.

The over 60s category was won

by David Ashcroft, following his 10over par round of 82, while in the net division Brian Kenny recorded a 69 to take first place from Sam Tarassoli (70) and Dong Chul Shin (71).

S.S. Son pictured with the Seniors trophy and Club Captain Mike Tracey after play.

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E M I R AT E S G O L F C L U B

ARABIAN GOLF

Nancy Wingate, Ivy Bailey, Yong Bok Chun and Sung Sin Park team up to start the new season in fine style NANCY Wingate, Ivy Bailey, Yong Bok Chun and Sung Sin Park recorded a fantastic score of 53.5 to win the Season Opener over the Majlis course.

The day started with Martha Wong, the new Lady Captain, performing the annual drive-in from the first tee of the famous Dubai Desert Classic host course.

The drive only went 134 yards and caught the left hand trap but Nina Larm was more than happy as she won a bottle of champagne for predicting the closest distance of 138 yards.

The format of the scramble was altered slightly in that Captain Wong gave each competitor a ‘stroke saver’ consisting of four metres of string and some scissors. These could be used to save a shot or two on the links, including relief from bunkers or draining a difficult putt.

The quartet of Wingate, Bailey, Chun and Park found the format to their liking and fired a gross 59, 13-under par total and their handicap of 5.5 awarded them a net score of 53.5 – beating the team of Joan Legnar, Jacqui Barry, Lynn Rowley and Janet Curtis by just 0.5 Third place went to Wong’s team of Najla Bartette, Margaret Bain and Maria Carrigy following their 54.7.

WINNING TEAM TAKE THE LADIES SEASON OPENER – from left to right: Ivy Bailey, Yong Bok Chun, Lady Captain Martha Wong, Sung Sin Park and Nancy Wingate line up at the prize presentation ceremony.

The Dickinsons and Kings rule the Mixed Season Opener Pictured left to right: Lynne Dickinson, Lady Captain Martha Wong, Brian King, Carmel King, David Dickinson and Men’s Captain Mike Tracey, celebrate their performances.

DAVID Dickinson, Lynne Dickinson, Carmel King and Brian King produced a fantastic performance in the Mixed Season Opener over the Majlis course to take top place by six shots.

The format, a Mixed Shamble, was obviously to their liking as they posted a score of 122 and 20-under par. The shamble format required the team of four to drive off, and then having picked the best tee shot, play their own ball out from that position.

With the handicap allowance set at a ¾ allowance and a mixture of tee and pin positions set by Club Captains Mike Tracey and

Martha Wong, it was a superb effort.

The star performer was Brian King who contributed to the best two from four scores to count on 13 occasions, including birdies on holes 16 and 18.

David Dickinson picked up the other gross birdies on the card coming on holes 1 and 18 and all four members contributed at least seven times to the card.

The quartet of Vivek Prakash, Somita Prakash, Suresh Shewakramani and David Watt claimed runner-up spot with a tally of 128. Two shots further back in third were Helen Srivastava,

Aditya Srivastava, Tarun Khanna and Vipen Sethi.

Earlier in the day the Captains performed the traditional drive-in to celebrate the start of the season with Mike Tracey launching his tee shot 260 yards, splitting the fairway.

Lynn Rowley collected the champagne on offer for guessing the correct distance, and those members who predicted ‘Out of Bounds’ or ‘ninth fairway’ were firmly put in their place. Previous Captain Rai Legnar and Steinar Bratland guessed correctly on Martha’s drive to claim their champagne. www.wwgolf.biz

75

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ARABIAN GOLF

Pictured before battle commenced: TEAM Asia and TEAM Europe.

Asia clinches victory over Europe in the inaugural ‘Clash of the Titans’ golf event TEAM Asia from the sport society, Filipino Golfers in the Middle East (FIGME), won the Match Play Team Event scoring 6 to 5 against TEAM Europe last Saturday at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

The sticky weather made the match even more challenging as the result went right down to the wire. Team Asia, headed

by Team Captain Ramon Navea and Vice Team Captain J.V. delos Santos, were jubilant when the results was announced.

Garreth Estment, Captain of Team Europe and Administration Manager at The City Hospital, graciously accepted defeat alongside his team members – comprising mainly medical doctors, administrative staff and business associates of The City Hospital.

Estment stated: “The inaugural event has been well organised and this unique concept is in line with The City Hospital’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives.

Our support for FIGME’s forthcoming events will continue.”

On the other side, the Individual ¾ Stableford event

showcased a balanced victory for Asia over Europe. Scott Sullivan emerged as the Overall Champion, gathering 34 points playing off scratch.

Jonas Patiak, a 6-handicapper, bagged first place in the Platinum Division (0 – 12) defeating Nestor Labis on a countback after they both scored 28 points. Stefan Sickel was in third place with 27 points.

Consistency prevailed in the Gold Division (13 – 20) as J.V. delos Santos exhibited his long hitting ability and his short game prowess to emerge as the winner with 33 points, beating Frederick Matabang by three points.

Wenner Rooseboom was in third place with 24 points and also picked up two special awards – both Nearest the Pin prizes on holes 8 and 16.

Dave Allan (ASIA) came home in first place in the Silver division (21 – 36) with 31 points followed by Rudy Laguna, 29 points and Janine Hadley winning with a better countback from Emil Perez, both garnering 27 points.

LOCATION Deira, opposite Deira City Centre.

C0NTACT (04) 295 6000 dcgyc@dubaigolf.com Book online tee times at www.dubaigolf.com INFO First Open 1993, redesigned in 2005.

Course: 18 holes, Par 71, 6,857 yards, Championship course Design Originally: Karl Litten.

Redesign: European Golf Design in association with Thomas Björn.

Jubilant Team Asia Members proudly wearing their winning medals celebrate with the Clash of the Titans Perpetual Cup. www.wwgolf.biz

77

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Nations Cup provides colourful spectacle THE Nation’s Cup, held annually, this year saw over 20 countries represented with players from across the golfing globe arriving draping the flags and wearing shirts and hats of their respective nations.

In the two-person Stableford format the ‘A’ Division winners, Bob and Barb McBean, shot an excellent 44 points to beat Raja Flora and Kevin Thorley of the United Kingdom by one shot.

In ‘B’ Division Sam Argui and Alan Salem from Jordan dominated the field to win by seven shots shooting a spectacular 48 points.

Citizen’s Tournament off to a flyer THE first Citizen’s tournament of the season was played in warm and calm conditions and the players duly took advantage with some superb scoring.

The Men’s ‘A’ Division saw a tie at the top with Robert Lee beating Vice Captain Richard Smith with a countback for the win In the Ladies’‘A’ and ‘B’ Divisions Jackie Allinson and Vice Captain Jane Gray took home the titles with the scores of 38 and 36 respectively while in the Men’s ‘B’ Division David Jardin beat Mukti Rai by three shots with a score of 43 points.

ARABIAN GOLF Location: Just off the 5th Interchange of Sheik Zayed Road towards Emirates Hills.

Follow signs for Emirates Hills and then follow signs for The Montgomerie, Dubai.

Contact: Tel: +9714 390 5600 Fax: +9714 360 8981 Info: Opened October 2002 Course: 18 hole Championship Course: 7,308 yards par 75 from the Black Pearl tee 6,753 yards par 72 from the Sapphire tee 6,172 yards par 69 from the Emerald tee 5,401 yards par 71 from the Ruby tee 9-hole Academy Course Designer: Colin Montgomerie

Gross 63 wins Citizen-Guest Day

l-r- Jackie Allinson, Beccy Yeomen, David Jardin, Jane Gray, Richard Smith, Alex Andrarakis, Mukti Rai

THE opening Rivoli Citizen-Guest Day at The Montgomerie, Dubai saw low scores and new faces reaching the winners’ circle as a superb gross 63 from Ariel Ignacio and Shankar Majrekar saw them take victory.

The best round of the day came from Gross Winners with their 63 (net 59) as they made nine pars and nine birdies.

In Division ‘A’ Wayne Hidge and Ricky Dominguez also had a one-shot victory over Alex Kuk and Salim Naim.

In Division ‘B’ Tyrone and Sheena Rees shot 64.5 for a one-shot triumph over the rest of the field.

ABU DHABI GOLF CLUB

Club Champions rule the Ali & Sons Audi Medal WITH the golf course in excellent condition for the time of year, members of ADGC participated in a morning shotgun for the September Medal.

Stating their intentions for the upcoming season, reining Club Champions Alistair Crombie and Sue Henderson won the low gross in the Men’s and Ladies sections with respective rounds of 74 and 81.

The men’s 0 -14 handicap net prizes were won with some great golf by Abdullah Al Marzooqi (67), Ali Bukair (69) and Ahmed Al Minhali (71). In the 15-28 handicap division, Phillipe Paulissen won with Shane

Dooley Cullinane coming in second.

In first place in the ladies Silver division was Sharon Hall with Judy Kong runner-up. April Holmes won the Bronze division as Sheren Smith-Evans took second place.

After golf, members were treated to a sneak preview of the exciting new Family Brunch concept that was launched on in early October. Abu Dhabi Golf Club thanked Ali & Sons Audi and Crystal Arc for their continued sponsorship and support of their member tournaments.

Kentz Junior Open completes the line-up for the Junior Golf head-to-head THE 2009 Kentz Junior Open was decided with a dramatic sudden death play-off as Joel Neale and Daniel Hendry both finished with an impressive 1-over-par 73.

Neale won on the second extra hole to earn the victory and qualify for the Abu Dhabi Junior Championship

this month. Although missing out on the main prize, Hendry’s net 69 was enough to win the first division net prize.

Sana Tufail played three shots better than handicap and her round of 78 was enough to win the girls low gross title. The low

net for the girls with a round of 71 went to Maeva Desclaudure.

The top 16 boys and five girls qualified for a challenge match against the Abu Dhabi Junior Golf Championship qualifiers which will be held on November 26th. www.wwgolf.biz

79

SHARJAH GOLF & SHOOTING CLUB

MIKE SIDDAWAY WINS CORAL BEACH THE Coral Beach Resort returned for its monthly Midweek Madness competition last month and SGSC member Mike Siddaway (22) took the honours by beating the course 3-up for an excellent win – one shot clear of his nearest rivals.

Siddaway got off to a flying start with a gross birdie at the tough second hole and a net birdie at the 3rd to be 2-up through three holes. After the opening six holes Siddaway was destroying the golf course at 4-up but dropped shots at the 16th and 17th pegged him back.

Standing on the 9th tee he found the fairway with his drive and hit his approach to the middle of the green, a two-putt and regulation par got him back to 3-up and a well earned victory. Finishing a shot behind, Abhijit Baruah (22), was runner-up on a countback ahead of Mohit Sabharwal (26).

Pictured from left to right: Mike Siddaway, George Liu, Ramsey Yassin and Martin Duff.

SIDDAWAY SCOOPS MONTHLY MEDAL FOR WIN No.2

October’s Coral Beach Resort winner Mike Siddaway.

WITH his handicap reduced to 20 after his Coral Beach Midweek Madness victory Mike Siddaway romped to his second win in the space of a week after posting a net 68 to take the spoils at the October Monthly Medal.

Playing from the Championship tees Siddaway recorded two net birdies on the front nine for a 34 and continued his fine form with a further two birdies down the back stretch.

Officially, the new amateur course record holder Ramsey Yassin (3) shot an excellent gross 73 to finish second. Ramsey’s round

included 15 pars, two bogeys and a birdie at the challenging par-3 eight, which helped him on his way to breaking the course record.

Taiwanese golfer George Liu (6) won the best gross of the day with a 78. Liu, who has been struggling of late with his game, decided it was time to have some lessons with Head Teaching Professional David Condon to improve his game.

It paid off – and could have been even better were it not for a missed putt from eight inches on the 11th.

SIDDAWAY MAKES IT THREE IN A ROW WITH BMW

BMW Members & Guests winners: Nabil Sharif, Oliver De Schepper, Mike Siddaway, Roger Elinsdawn.

80

www.wwgolf.biz

MIKE Siddaway, with his handicap down to 19 after two wins in a week teamed up with Nabil Sharif to win the Front Nine competition in spectacular style at the BMW Members & Guest Social last month to collect his third prize in a month.

Playing from the white and yellow tees, teams of two played two different formats over the 18 holes. The first was a betterball medal which was followed by a par/ bogey competition on the back nine holes.

Siddaway and Sharif returned a score of 8-under 28 over the front nine which included two net eagles, to beat their closest rivals by one stroke. Siddaway has now won his last three competitions at SGSC and has seen his handicap reduced by five shots.

The Back Nine competition was won by fast improving golfer Oliver De Schepper (24) and member’s guest Roger Elinsdawn (15) as they defeated the course 4-up.

Elinsdawn was again in the prizes after taking the Longest Drive on hole 4. A popular competitor in Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club competitions, Bill Buchanan (5) won the Nearest the Pin after an excellent strike with a 9-iron to within eight feet.

SHARJAH GOLF & SHOOTING CLUB

ARABIAN GOLF

FIGME and the Filipino Golf Society show tremendous support at the typhoon Ondoy fund-raising golf day Participants line up prior to play.

was hotly contested by Nestor Labis (9), Randy Lanza (9) and J.V. de los Santos (15). However, it was Labis who emerged the winner with 33 points, followed by 32 points by Lanza and 28 points by de los Santos.

Ramon Navea (Chairman of FIGME) thanked everyone for their total commitment and support of the event, including FGS Captain, Joseph Mogallos, Martin Duff, Director of Golf (Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club), and all the participants of the event who had contributed to the cause and pledged to continually assist the displaced families in their own way.

THE Filipino Golfers in the Middle East (FIGME) and the Filipino Golf Society held a fund-raising golf day to support to the victims of typhoon Ondoy, which decimated parts of the Philippines recently. The total amount gathered was almost 12,000 Dhs. – roughly 147,000 PESOS in local currency.

The Golf for a Cause was lauded as a tremendous success as commitments and pledges poured in despite the event being organised at such short notice.

Rudy Abalos emerged as the overall champion with 36 Stableford points. The Platinum “A” Division (0-15)

LOCATION 2km from Tasjeel Auto Village behind Emirates Road. A five minute drive from University City.

CONTACT +971 6 548 7777 info@golfandshootingshj. com INFO A 9 hole fully floodlit course designed by Peter Harradine. Played twice results in a par-72 layout in excess of 7,300 yards.

TOWER LINKS GOLF CLUB

GO ‘YOO’ GOOD THING

ROGER’S POWERPLAY TOO GOOD FOR HONG ROGER van Norden outplayed 32 competitors as he made a welcome return to the podium to claim top billing in the Social Powerplay Stableford.

Van Norden had a comfortable victory as his tally of 27 points beat his nearest rival S.P. Hong by three points. He made good use of both par 5s on the back nine, netting an eagle three on the 13th and birdie on the 18th – scoring a total of 14 points on those two holes alone.

What Hong lacks in size he certainly makes up for with his golf game as once again he was in the prizegiving to collect his runner-up award thanks to his sterling effort.

Third place went to Joe Wivou as he defeated Kathy Richardson on a countback after they both finished with 22 points. .

Mighty Mira Yoo and the other prizewinners at the Individual Stableford competition presentation.

THE ‘mighty’ Mira Yoo triumphed in the recently held Wednesday Individual Stableford, shooting an excellent 20 points and in doing so started her charge towards The Golfer of the Year Trophy.

Yoo put in a solid performance throughout the evening despite the challenging height of the rough and the consistent humidity.

Mira could have separated herself from the chasing pack a little further if not for a disastrous performance on the par-3 12th hole where she failed to record a score. Zenia Wivou stepped up to take second place with her tally of 19 Stableford points and it’s performances like this that have seen her handicap plummet eight strokes in the past few months.

The evergreen Chris Parry started the new season in style by finishing third on the night after a consistent round with his only disappointing hole coming on 17, although he did manage to scratch out a point which earned him his his placing.

‘Spooner’ on the night went to Australian Greg Maddox with his abysmal tally of three Stableford points. Greg was not at the presentation – apparently he fell into the rough on completion of his round and has not been seen since.

LOCATION In Ras Al Khaimah, the golf course meanders through a mangrove reserve with the Hajar Mountains serving as a backdrop.

CONTACT +971 7 2279939 (Reservations Desk) golf@towerlinks.com INFO First Open: May 2004 Course – 18 holes Championship Floodlit Back-Nine Designer: Gerald Williams www.wwgolf.biz

81

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DOHA GOLF CLUB

JAIDAH GROUP’S EXCLUSIVE CORPORATE GOLF TOURNAMENT A HUGE SUCCESS

ARABIAN GOLF LOCATION Close to West Bay Lagoon, 8km north of central Doha.

CONTACT +974 483 2338 info@dohagolfclub.com INFO 18-hole 7,374-yard par-72 Championship course accompanied by a floodlit 9-hole Academy Course with spectacular views of the West Bay Lagoon.

Designed by Peter Harradine.

Doha Rates Midweek: 18H - QR365 9H - QR200

JAIDAH Group, Doha’s iconic multi-service, multi-product importer and the exclusive importer of the Chevrolet brand in Qatar, hosted an exclusive corporate golf tournament that saw 65 VIP businessmen enjoy a hugely successful golf day.

The afternoon was followed by an invitation-only dinner. The tournament marks the third consecutive year Jaidah Group has sponsored the annual event.

The list of VIP players included company officials and managers from some of Qatar’s most prestigious and dynamic businesses such as Qatar Petroleum, RasGas, Dolphin Energy, HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as Doha executives and distinguished guests. Jaidah Group’s most popular models were also on show, as players and guests got to see a sneak preview of the newest Chevrolets, including the Corvette, Lumina

and Tahoe. Jaidah Group departmental heads judged the twoball better ball Stableford full handicap event and offered up coveted prizes. Taking the top prize were Ian Waddell and Gordon Alexander while John Hughes and Mathew Baldry took second place and Paul Robertson and James Hopkinson third Nick Baker was the Grand Prize winner, awarded the honour of driving a Jaidah Group Corvette for one week, after getting the ball Nearest to the Pin on hole 17.

“Jaidah Group is happy to host this event,” said Steve Bainbridge, General Manager, Jaidah Energy Division. “The tournament is a great way to network and get in a game of golf. In addition, we are delighted to introduce our tournament winner to one of our most popular cars, the Corvette, and enjoy driving it for a week.”

Twilight: 18H 9H

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UEKI TAKES FLIGHT ‘A’ AT OCTOBER MUG TAKANORI Ueki took Flight ‘A’ of the October InterContinental Monthly Mug with 41 points for a well earned victory, two points ahead of Dominic Beange.

Flight ‘B’ was just as close as Scott Rose claimed a one point win over Frank Harrigan, while first place in the

ladies division went to Annette Hansen, who scored an impressive 38 points.

Steve Lidisky scooped the prize for Longest Drive on hole 9 and Takakazu Morimoto won Nearest the Pin on the 13th.

DIRAB GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB Location: Nestled in the picturesque Dirab Valley below the Tuwaiq escarpment, just 30 minutes drive from the diplomatic quarters of Riyadh, take the Makkah national road and turn left to Dirab.

The golf course is situated just off the Dirab Road.

Contact: TEL: + 966-1-498-0017/8 dirabgolf@yahoo.com Info: Opened in 1991, Dirab GC is the only grassed Championship golf course in Saudi Arabia with 9 of the 18 holes floodlit for night golf.

Course: 7,420 yards par 72 Championship Course with driving range and practice facilities.

Green Fees: 18-holes (peak): 18-holes (off-peak): 9-holes (peak): 9-holes (off-peak):

SR300 SR200 SR200 SR150

*Peak times – Thu/Fri Off-Peak times – Sun-Wed

BRITISH DUO GRAHAM AND McILROY WIN SAUDI NATIONAL DAY GOLF TOURNAMENT ALTHOUGH it was Saudi National Day, the British Duo of Alastair McIlroy and Finlay Graham won the 2009 competition at Dirab Golf & Country Club with a combined score of net 58.

The duo had a 13 handicap with Graham as the lead player with a 12 handicap and McIlroy on 22 for the one-day 18 hole tournament.

Graham and McIlroy received the first prize of a slot each in the 8th Royal Air Maroc Final Golf Challenge in Agadir, Morocco, in March 2010, courtesy of Royal Air Maroc.

The husband and wife pairing of Ray and Ganet Chaplow took second place via the countback over another husband and wife team of Talal and Aelis Sarieddine after both pairs posted a score of 60.

The Chaplows had a team handicap of 10 with Ray and Ganet each claiming a 13 handicap, while the Sarieddines – the 2007 winners of the competition – played off 20.

Korean golfers D.S. Kang and M.S. Kim took the awards for Nearest the Pin and Longest Drive in the Men’s Division respectively, while Aelis was the ladies Longest Drive winner.

The lucky raffle draw winners were Ibrahim Zailon and Julian Bennett who took home a complete set of Mizuno MP-67 irons and a Callaway practice putting green. Bouchaib

El Jadiani, Manager of Dirab Golf & Country Club, and Dirab Golf & Country Club Committee Member, Fahad Al Mansour, presented the prizes to the winners, Finlay Graham and Alastair McIlroy, and thanked Abdelkader Boujdoun from Royal Air Maroc, for their continued and valued sponsorship.

National Day winners: Finlay Graham and Alastair McIlroy with Dirab Golf & Country Club Committee Member Fahad Al Mansour. www.wwgolf.biz

83

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ARABIAN GOLF CONTACT Tel: +971 4 425 1010 E-mail: golf@elsclubdubai.com

Haswell takes the Al Tayer Motors Members’ Major

INFO: 7,538 yard par 72 Championship Course

DESPITE the soaring temperatures, there was some fantastic golf played in the Al Tayer Motors Members’ Major as David Haswell (pictured below) took the Best Gross honours with a superb round of 75.

Winner of the Best Net was Abdul Kadir Hussain whose 65 saw him win by two shots from Brian Dryburgh with Derek Tully a shot further back in third place.

Despite having to settle for second place in the Net prizes, Dryburgh did win the Longest Drive tournament on the 18th hole.

The course offers players a challenging round accompanied by all the essential facilities that extend beyond the immaculate fairways and greens.

LOCATION: Situated in Dubai Sports City just off Emirates Road.

DESIGNER: Ernie Els

The remaining two majors are: Date: Saturday 14th November Individual Tee-Times: 7:00am – 10:48am Entry Fee: AED100 includes on-course F&B and post-game BBQ Date: Friday 11th December Individual Tee-Times: 7:48am - 11:12am Entry Fee: AED100 includes on-course F&B and post-game BBQ The top 16 qualifiers will take part in the Club Championships / Handicap Cup on Saturday 30th January, 2010. This event will be played over 18 holes with the eventual Club Champions meeting Ernie Els during the Dubai Desert Classic festivities.

Qualification is based on your best two scores from the four Majors.

www.callawaygolf.com

AL BADIA GOLF CLUB

Anish Bhatia takes Monthly Medal ANISH Bhatia made a winning return to competitive play with a superb net 67 to win by two shots from Naveed Kamal in the recently held Monthly Medal.

Despite taking second place overall, Kamal’s score was good enough to secure top honours in Division ‘B’, with Mark Adams finishing second with a net 70.

In the other Divisional net prizes, Anders Lovbrand won Division ‘A’ followed closely by Viresh Mathur, while the Best Gross score of the day was shot by a familiar name – the consistent performer Koji Kobayashi – with a score of 83.

Viresh Mathur took the Nearest to the Pin prize on hole 3, Charles Kinniburgh won Nearest the Pin on hole 12 while the Longest Drive was struck by Anish Bhatia on hole 9 and the Straightest Drive was won by Vivian Verma on hole 17.

OCTOBER MONTHLY MEDAL WINNERS

Overall winner:

1ST PLACE 2ND PLACE

Anish Bhatia

BEST GROSS

Koji Kobayashi

ADDITIONAL ON-COURSE WINNERS: Nearest the Pin (hole 3): Nearest the Pin (hole 12): Longest Drive: Straightest Drive:

Division ‘A’

Division ‘B’

Anders Lovbrand Viresh Mathur

Naveed Kamal Mark Adams

Viresh Mathur Charles Kinniburgh Anish Bhatia Vivian Verma

www.wwgolf.biz

85

JOLIE VILLE GOLF & RESORT

GET INVOLVED IN THE JOLIE VILLE CUP!

ARABIAN GOLF

The first Jolie Ville Cup was won by 12-year-old Helen Mjos from Norway with 49 points.

Friday Golf Tournament â&#x20AC;&#x201C; incredible prizes on offer JOLIE Ville Golf & Resort is inviting golfers to enter their weekly Jolie Ville Cup which takes place every Friday and gives players the chance to win a complimentary one night stay for two in either the Maritim Jolie Ville Golf & Resort or the Maritim Jolie Ville Royal Peninsula Hotel & Resort.

Played in an 18-hole Stableford format with golfers receiving their full handicap allowance, the tournaments are open to both men and women with weekly winners entered into the Grand

Final, which will take place March 26, 2010.

If the winner of the Grand Final has played in at least three previous events they will receive the wonderful prize of a weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stay for two in the Maritim Jolie Ville Golf & Resort plus a weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stay in the Maritim Jolie Ville Royal Peninsula Hotel & Resort and 10 free rounds of golf!

There is a prize giving ceremony after each event at 5.00pm and the winner must be present to receive the prize!

DAILY ACADEMY One full hour of golf instruction especially tailored for beginners. It gives a comprehensive introduction to the game. The programmes include all the basic shot techniques as well as the most familiar rules and etiquette of the game.

FRIDAY TOURNAMENT As detailed above, you can join in the weekly Stableford tournament, in addition to receiving great prizes you will also receive the opportunity to play in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Grand Finalâ&#x20AC;?.

FREE GOLF LESSONS For those who want to have a go, but havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yet built up the courage to book a lesson! Why not come along and join the instructors for a fun one hour introduction to the game. All equipment is supplied and sessions are on a Monday between 10.00am and 11.00am, please call the golf shop to make your reservation!

Green Fee â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Prices in EURO INCLUSIVE OF GOLF CAR

Jolie Ville Golf & Resort Royal Peninsula

Jolie Ville Resort & Casino

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Guests 9 Holes 18 Holes 3 x 18 Holes 5 x 18 Holes

50.00 75.00 205.00 340.00

60.00 85.00 255.00 425.00

70.00 115.00 345.00 575.00

Practice Facilities 1 Basket x 50 balls Rental Clubs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 9 Holes Rental Clubs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 18 Holes Caddie â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 9 Holes Caddie â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 18 Holes

6.00 22.00 36.00 22.00 36.00

6.00 22.00 36.00 22.00 36.00

8.00 25.00 43.00 25.00 43.00

Golf Coaching 45 Minutes Individual 4 x 45 Minutes Individual Extra Person Surcharge 18 Hole Playing Lesson 9 Hole Playing Lesson Daily Academy

36.00 136.00 75% 145.00 95.00 15.00

36.00 136.00 75% 145.00 95.00 15.00

50.00 179.00 75% 236.00 132.00 22.00

Terms & Conditions t "MM (SFFO 'FFT JODMVEF (PMG $BS t "MM SBUFT BSF OFU OPO DPNNJTTJPOBCMF JO &630

including all governmental taxes t +PMJF 7JMMF (PMG 3FTPSU .BOBHFNFOU SFTFSWFT UIF SJHIU of keeping the above mentioned rates subject to change without prior notice t +VOJPS T VQ UP ZFBST PME SFDFJWF EJTDPVOU on the above mentioned green fees (Passport may be required for verification) t 1SJDFT BSF WBMJE GSPN UP Golf Shop & Reservations Telephone:

Fax:

Email: golfreservation@sgr-maritim-jolieville.com In house guests dial: 8

www.wwgolf.biz

87

JEBEL ALI GOLF RESORT & SPA

MARINO’S ACE DAY

ARABIAN GOLF LOCATION The resort course is situated within the idyllic grounds of Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa, approx. 40 minutes away from Dubai City centre – exit 13 on the Sheikh Zayed Highway.

Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa witnessed its very own ‘Italian Job’ last month when one of the Club’s longest serving golfers enjoyed a moment that most golfers can only dream of.

Marino Chiarentin, a 13 handicapper from Italy, achieved a hole-in-one on the second hole on the Resort Course.

Marino negotiated the downhill 167-yard hole with his 5-hybrid for his second ever hole in one.

CONTACT Tel: + 9714 883 6000 Fax: + 9714 883 7084 www.jebelali-international.com INFO first opened in 1997 COURSE Championship standard par 36, 9-hole course Designed by Peter Harradine.

ROBINSON WINS INAUGURAL DAVIS LANGDON GOLF DAY GUY Robinson dusted off his clubs and produced a sizzling performance to win the first ever Davis Langdon Golf Day at Jebel Ali’s resort course. He scored 36 Stableford points to beat Mark Schumann by a single point, despite not having played golf for 18 months.

Hilary Todhunter played very solidly on the back nine to finish third on a countback from three others with 33 points. The winning team – with a staggering 90 points – comprised Chloe Dillon, Andrew Murphy, Andrew Rotteveel and Romek Kaminski.

The Nearest to the Pin award was won by Tim Bird on the tough 8th hole with Carl Pettitt winning the Longest Drive on the par four 13th hole.

PALM SPORTS RESORT AL AIN

MEDAL SUCCESS FOR McCARTY ANNE McCarty was in fine form in the October Monthly Medal at the Palm Sports Resort as she recorded nine’s of 22 and 21 for her total of 43 points to win Division ‘C’ by an impressive 10 points. Second place was decided by a card countback between Andy Thorpe Willett and Phil Dawe after both players recorded 33 points and it was Thorpe’s total on the back nine that saw him pip Dawe to the runner-up spot.

Division ‘B’ was slightly closer but a fine round of gross 80 for a net 67 gave Martin Bonner the top spot. After his first 11 holes, Bonner had only dropped three shots but a couple of late double-bogeys slowed him down slightly although a birdie at his 15th hole still brought him home in 40. Eoin Cunniffe claimed the runner-up spot with his steady round of gross 89 (net 72) with Billy King finishing third in Division ‘B’ with his net 74.

Division ‘A’ saw some excellent scoring and the 79 gross, 69 net from John Tooby was only good enough for third position. Second place went to Niall Warren with a fine 76 gross but top honors in the Division went to John McFarlane with a superb 74 gross for a net 65. McFarlane almost secured the lowest gross prize of the day but the in form Steve Van Der Merwe also recorded a 74 gross and took the prize after a countback, courtesy of his score of 36 over the back nine.

NIALL JUST TOO GOOD FOR JIM IN THURSDAY SOCIAL NIALL Warren and Jim Muirhead were in fine form as they battled it out for the top spot in Division ‘A’ in the October Coca Cola Thursday Social.

The pair each recorded 21 points in the 9-hole Stableford format with gross scores of 36 and 35 respectively. Muirhead found himself 2-under after five holes with early birdies but dropped shots at the 7th and 9th handed victory to Warren after a countback over the last three holes.

Third place went to Martin Bonner with a steady 39 gross for 20 points while in Division ‘B’ Frederick Toland came out on top with his final total of 17 points, one point ahead of John Schneider with Dave Whitworth a point further behind. www.wwgolf.biz

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EVERYTHING YOU WOULD WANT...AND MORE!

SONY ERICSSON EXPERIA X2 THE Sony Ericsson Experia X2 is designed for people who always need to be connected whether it’s for business or pleasure.

The X2 is a Windows mobile of the highest order with a fantastic email and multimedia system allowing users to synchronise their mail and calendar and open and edit their Microsoft Office Mobile documents quickly and efficiently.

There is also a unique SlideView feature, which provides quick access to frequently used phone activities. Providing quick interaction with contacts, messages, media and more, SlideView gives an overview of missed incoming activity, notifying the user of any missed calls, e-mails and text messages so users don’t overlook an important contact.

Featuring a 8.1 mega pixel camera and a 3.2” high-resolution touch screen which supports amazingly high-quality DVD the X2 offers a multi-media business and entertainment system that fits in your pocket. www.sonyericsson.com 92

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NIKE GOLF CRUSH BALLS NEVER let anyone tell you that length doesn’t matter – in this beautiful and often antagonising game of ours distance is king and Nike Crush balls have been designed with that premise in mind. Aiding golfers to “crush” the ball, the Nike Crush combines a softer compression core, optimised cover design and new DMC Coating to reduce unwanted sidespin and maximise ball velocity for straighter, longer distance. www.nike.com/golf

DAVE PELZ’S DAMAGE CONTROL FROM the author of the renowned Short Game Bible and Putting Bible comes Damage Control – and Dave Pelz’s latest offering is just as thorough as his first two books. Damage Control looks at how to recover when playing a hole that has gone wrong rather than making it worse.

From different set ups in a whole range of horrible lies to different swing shapes and developing a ‘damage control’ course management strategy, this book is one that every golfer should read. www.arumpress.co.uk

ASPINAL OF LONDON SILK SCARF THIS luxury skinny silk scarf from Aspinal of London adds a bit of flair to formal occasions. Handmade from 100% fine silk in blue with a white polka dot design, it will make an elegant addition to any ensemble. www.aspinaloflondon.com

ECCO TRACE CREATED for the active, style-savvy man, the ECCO Trace is a sneaker that boasts supreme comfort and an eye-catching design. The look is trendy retro, with uppers combining oiled suede and distressed leather, and cool linear toe and side details.

These shoes are extremely comfy featuring a breathable, moisture-absorbent textile lining; a removable, leather-covered inlay sole for maximum air circulation; and a direct-injected, one-component PU sole with shock point for lightness, flexibility and shock-absorption. ECCO Trace is a trendy shoe with a distinctly masculine, athletic feel. www.ecco.com

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A F T E R A L O N G D AY O N T H E C O U R S E , I T ’ S A LW AY S G O O D T O TA K E T I M E O U T T O F R E S H E N U P L’OREAL REVITALIFT PRO CONTOURING SYSTEM The ingenious little device from L’Oreal is designed to combat visible signs of aging in a twopronged attack. First you use the specially designed rollers, which create 40 points of pressure with every stroke, to massage the face in problem areas. Then you apply the concentrated anti-wrinkle tautening cream, which has been developed specifically to be used after the massage. The system yields visible results within a week with the skin feeling firmer and more defined at the contours.

TOM FORD GREY VETIVER

ESTEE LAUDER ADVANCED NIGHT REPAIR Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair helps to neutralise up to 90% of environmental irritants before they can damage skin and its DNA. It goes to work as you sleep using a revolutionary Chronolux Technology which is synchronised to your skin’s needs to help support the optimal performance of its natural repair and protective processes.

Based around the key ingredient, vetiver, Tom Ford Grey Vetiver is a classic and unmistakably masculine fragrance. An intriguing mix of cool, dry and rich-woody notes Grey Vetiver evokes a sense of a confident and refined, well-heeled man. Technical jargon: Top notes – vetiver, orange flower, grapefruit, sage. Heart notes – orris, nutmeg, pimiento. Base notes – amber wood, oakmoss.

LANCOME RÉNERGIE MORPHOLIFT R.A.R.E. REPOSITIONING CREAM SPF 15 With age and gravity some points of the face subside but Lancome have tackled the problem with this pioneering Rénergie Morpholift R.A.R.E. Extra Rich Repositioning Cream with lifting, firming and anti-wrinkle actions.

Immediately after use the skin’s surface feels tautened and appears firmer. Plumped with moisture, wrinkles appear visibly reduced and skin contours look more defined.

Its rich and creamy texture has been specially designed for dry skin to help prevent it from feeling tight and uncomfortable.

Groom Room

CALVIN KLEIN TRUTH WOMAN A modern classic from Calvin Klein, Truth is a simple refreshing, oriental perfume perfect for women who like to smell feminine without being overly girly. Technical jargon: Notes of bamboo, patchouli, vetiver, wet woods, white peony, white clover, sapling, vanilla, white amber, silk tree flower, acacia flower, white sandalwood, woods and musk.

ISSEY MIYAKE A SCENT A Scent by Issey Miyake is a green, floral and woody perfume.

A distinctive new fresh green scent which is both striking and feminine.

Very distinctive and sensuous, this is one for ladies who like to portray and air of mystery. Technical jargon: Top notes – lemon, verbena. Heart notes – jasmine, hyacinth. Base notes – cedar, galbanum.

BAG

D R I V E R - F A I R W AY- H Y B R I D - I R O N S - W E D G E S - P U T T E R - B A L L

INTHE David Condon

GOLF PROFESSIONAL, SHARJAH GOLF & SHOOTING CLUB

Q&A

Q. When did you first start playing golf and where?

A. I first started playing golf at 14 years of age and remember scoring 157 for my first 18 holes. I played with school friends during the summer holiday seven days a week for six weeks at my home course Hainault Forest in England. Once I had broken 80 I started to get lessons and continued to improve.

Q. How long have you been in Dubai?

A. I have been in Dubai for two years now and have enjoyed playing in various events and on the different courses. A highlight was watching Tiger Woods win the Dubai Desert Classic with a great finish. I also remember playing the Sharjah Wanderers sand course after just arriving here – that was interesting!

Q. What was your first set of clubs?

A. My first set of clubs was a half set of Wilson Sam Snead with four irons and a two and four wood. I can still remember the excitement at getting my first set and then heading to the course to try them out. The woods were a beautiful tan colour and even to this day I prefer the old wooden headed clubs to today’s big, and easyto-hit metals.

Q. Who is your golfing hero and why?

A. When I first started playing golf Seve Ballesteros was the best player in the world and I remember travelling up on the train to watch him at Wentworth. My only real golf hero is Ben Hogan – to me he had the best swing and even now I don’t see anyone swinging the club as good as he did. Tiger Woods is obviously an incredible golfer but still has a way to go to be able to control the ball as well as Hogan did.

Q. If you were the head of the R&A what rule would you change and why?

A. I would definitely change the rule that states you have to have a one stroke penalty if you have to drop out of a bunker because its full of water, that seems a touch unfair to me.

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