Ryder Cup star Ignacio Garrido settles in to new home in Dubai

Ignacio Garrido, the 1997 Ryder Cupper and 2003 PGA Championship winner has been in town this week on business. But not for golf business.

For the golf anoraks reading this, they will remember Ignacio and his father Antonio were the second only father and son to play in The Ryder Cup, following Peter and his father Percy Alliss, a good few years earlier.

The 49-year old is looking to set up business here in Dubai. Spaniard Ignacio retired from the professional game some eight years ago with lower back issues.

Gulf News met up with Ignacio for a catch-up at Emirates Golf Club.

“I am still match fit and competitive with my golf over nine or 18 holes,” he admitted, while speaking about his decision to retire. “I just cannot play consecutive days with my back problems. I consulted my doctor and specialists a decade or so ago and they advised me that I can have a healthy life moving forward with the current state of my back. They also told me that I had the option of having a back operation that could extend my career. I was not comfortable with surgeons working so close to my spinal cord.

"There were risks involved and I decided not to play on or go under the knife. If I was asked now, I may have made a different choice, with modern surgery advancing so quickly all the time. However, I have no regrets on what I have done in my life or the decisions I have ever made.”

Ignacio has established, over the last decade, a fully regulated Asset Management company in Madrid, that he wishes to replicate here in Dubai at DIFC. He proudly states that he has a significant and loyal client base of high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions. The company’s skill set has been developed on proven results involving the eight main global currencies as well as equities.

He is not shy to say that one of the reasons of setting up a business in Dubai is tax reasons. The other reasons are the ease of company set-up, the weather and lifestyle as well as the potential client base in Dubai, the UAE and the region, accessible through the platform of golf.

Ignacio has always had an interest in finance, having gained his knowledge of not having a manager to look after all his financial affairs in his playing days, when his best year was 1997 when he finished sixth in the Order of Merit (now called the Race to Dubai).

Ignacio has always managed all his own finances and, in the early days, his initial clients were his fellow professionals on tour who had trust in Ignacio on and off the golf course.

We met Ignacio the morning after he had played at Topgolf Dubai at Emirates Golf Club. This was Ignacio’s first experience of Topgolf anywhere in the world.

“I had great fun with some friends last night,” he said. “It was not especially my comfort zone but I see it has a huge future in this part of the world, with the entertainment and hospitality aspect leading the project with golf as the backdrop. I could tell immediately that all players with the odd exception had never had a golf lesson or been on a golf course. I will be there again soon.”

Ignacio plans to base himself in Dubai on and off for six months of the year with full UAE employment visas and residency through DIFC and spend the rest of the year travelling. Dubai looks forward to welcoming Ignacio to his new home. Who says golfers can only golf?

If the writer turns up on the first tee with Ignacio as my partner and my new EGF handicap approaching double figures, perhaps we could be a dangerous partnership. Careful who you play with and what you play for!