The first time I came to Dubai was as a professional in 2007 to play in the Dubai Desert Classic. Back then I didn’t know Dubai at all. It was literally Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Emirates Golf Course back and forth and then to the airport.
I didn’t get to see any of Dubai then, it was just traffic, a great golf course, and Tiger Woods was playing! So I had a great time!
Then four years later I was travelling back to the UK from Asian Tour Q School in Thailand, and my buddy was living in the marina. So I cheekily asked if I could stay for a couple of weeks, as it was snowing back home in the UK.
Then those two weeks ended up lasting until the summer, and then I got my own place in Dubai and was completely taken aback by the golf courses and how amazing Dubai was.
Loads of professional golfers reside here
Five star hotels, great practice facilities for golf, and it was quiet! There were literally no other pros in the emirate of Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Which is so different to now in 2023, loads of pros reside here and practice here, and then on top of that we have all the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour tournaments here which is fantastic.
Then we roll forward a bit and Mohammad Juma Bu Amim created the MENA Golf Tour, which was music to my ears as I spent so much time in the Middle East. I used to spend so much of my winter here in Dubai, and then going off and playing on tour and to being able to come back here and use it as a base was incredible.
So Mohammad created these 4 MENA Tour golf events in the first year, starting in September. Fantastic golf courses, being well looked after, and funded events which was very rare on a developmental tour really. And then it grew. From 8 events to 10, then to 14 and now even more. And it was all a good time for me. I had been injured, I lost my card and it provided me with an opportunity to sharpen my game to prepare.
I had a lot of good fun on the MENA Tour because mainly I felt comfortable in the Middle East which helped me win 10 times on the tour and gave me life time membership.
Funnily enough I ended up playing back in the Dubai Desert Classic, as the top 3 in the MENA Tour rankings got a spot in the field, so I won that a few times which was great, a nice little reminder of the then European Tour golf.
Then after competing on the MENA Tour for a few years I ended up getting injured again. It actually posed another opportunity for me in coaching. So I was working on my own swing here in Dubai with Josh White, my best bud, who is now one of my coaches and business partners in my academy back in the UK, and the other is Todd Clements.
Todd back then was probably 18 or 19-years-old at the time, an amateur ranked 1500 or something in the world. We were on the range at The Els Club and he said “Zane, will you have a look at my swing? What do you think?” So I gave him a few points and chatted about what I thought. What he does well, and what I thought he doesn’t and he took it and ran with it.
Prime example - Todd Clements
He then worked on that while playing on the MENA Tour as he was getting his World Amateur ranking points and he was getting top 10’s and playing well in these professional events. Then off the back of that he shot up the rankings to number 8 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
He went onto get his Challenge Tour card, then wins on the Challenge Tour in Ireland and graduated to the DP World Tour. While migrating onto that tour and he brought in Liam James who coaches him full time now. We still chat every week as he is a friend and he will always ask my opinion on things whether it’s his golf swing, management, tournament, schedule and so forth.
Then subsequently he’s just gone onto winning on the DP World Tour in the Czech Republic which is a massive thing for him. 25-years-old winning on tour with Matt Wallace breathing down his neck is a huge moment for someone that was a county player back home and that was nowhere near the national squad for England. He decided to go and play some MENA Tour events, play against professionals, and then realise he was good enough. Took the opportunity, took it seriously and now look at him, a DP World Tour winner which is brilliant and especially to know that it was born from coming out of the Middle East.
And it’s funny now how I have come back round to Dubai and the Middle East. It’s literally the biggest place for professional golf away from the Majors. Across the winter back home this is where all the stars are coming, Rory McIlroy, all the guys from the states, Abu Dhabi, Desert Classic, Rolex Series, DP World Tour Championship there is so many things going on!
I’m still loving playing a bit of golf when I’m not being a pundit or commentating or coaching. And out here I can still play competitively against proper male and female professionals on these top golf courses as they are all on their game.
There is such a buzz in golf in the UAE, and from the way I have transitioned from player, to coach, to pundit, to even a podcast because I just love talking about golf and it’s been backed by the DP World Tour. It has all blended in nicely for me to be able to share some opinions on golf around the world, and I am really looking forward to sharing my knowledge with Gulf News, Golf in UAE.
— Zane Scotland is a golf coach and Sky Sports commentator while holding a MENA Tour life-time membership
