DP World and Fleetwood work toward a homegrown Tour champion

Tommy Fleetwood and DP World are on a mission: to create a pathway for a homegrown winner at one of the UAE’s DP World Tour events.

The journey began two years ago with the opening of the DP World Golf Performance Centre at Jumeirah Golf Estates, home to the region’s first-ever Tommy Fleetwood Academy.

The academy, built as part of DP World’s commitment to growing grassroots golf in the region, is Fleetwood’s second. His first academy opened in 2018 at Formby Hall, Southport, where the Englishman learned the game under the guidance of his first coach, Norman Marshal.

At the time, Fleetwood said the “ultimate goal is to have somebody from the academy winning on the DP World Tour.”

Now, two years on, Fleetwood has taken a significant step towards that goal by partnering with DP World and the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) to support three International Pathway Series events annually in the UAE.

These events aim to make college golf scholarship opportunities more accessible to AJGA’s international members, who now represent nearly 10% of the association's overall membership, spanning 60 countries.

The first of those three tournaments teed off yesterday at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where DP World's Chief Communications Officer, Daniel Van Otterdijk, reiterated the long-term goal: to produce a homegrown winner on golf’s global stage.

“This tournament just gives more credibility to what we’re trying to do here in the UAE, which is ultimately, and I’ve said this many times before, to have a homegrown winner of one of our home tournaments,” said Van Otterdijk.

“That may be some years in the distance yet, but these types of tournaments will certainly allow us to continue to dream.”

After asking him whether he genuinely believed that was a realistic goal, Van Otterdijk confidently assured me that it was.

“We wouldn’t be investing in this if we didn’t think it could happen,” he added.

“Grassroots golf is all about broadening your base at the bottom end and getting youngsters into it.

“We have a golf container that goes around all the schools here in Dubai. What we see when we’re engaging with these youngsters is how they can get involved in the game, as they see it as a faraway thing that’s not next to the school.

“So, if we give them the access, the ability, and the enthusiasm, as well as being inspired by people like Tommy – these are the secret ingredients for getting youngsters into the game.

“We see success, we see numbers growing, and as the numbers at the base level grow, some of those will rise through the ranks and play in these tournaments before potentially going to college golf in the US and following in Tommy’s footsteps.

“Hopefully, in years to come, we might see somebody on the top step at the DP World Tour Championship or the Dubai Desert Classic.”

Fleetwood was quick to add his thoughts.

“I think there will be (a homegrown winner),” says the seven-time DP World Tour winner.

“Like Danny says, access is a huge part of it. The initiatives with DP World have been amazing, showing people what the game is all about and getting them into it.

“Nothing happens overnight, of course, but I do genuinely believe there will be a homegrown winner on the DP World Tour.”

While the addition of the three International Pathway Series events is a major step in helping the country’s elite young golfers progress to the big stage, it’s DP World’s school initiative that could truly unlock the key to producing a future champion.

At the heart of this initiative is a state-of-the-art shipping container, transformed into a mobile Tommy Fleetwood Academy. This "roaming" academy opens into a swing studio, equipped with a Trackman that allows students to play interactive golf games.

It’s a genius idea, especially since golf isn’t exactly the easiest sport to introduce in a school sports hall or playground.

The setup is reaching markets that may have never had the opportunity to swing a club before. I certainly didn’t have that chance at school in the UK.

And this isn’t just a token effort. DP World and Fleetwood aren’t content with visiting a few schools and calling it a day. Their ambitions reach far beyond that, with a real commitment to making a lasting impact.

“Ultimately, we’re on a journey to get to every single one of the 224 schools we have in Dubai,” says Van Otterdijk.

“Every single child will have the opportunity to engage with the game of golf. The container actually opens up into what I like to call our golf goody shop, where you can see all the various aspects of the game of golf – fitness, technical, and social.

“The idea is to get the kids to see it as a fun alternative to other activities such as football and tennis.

“The container is the hook, if you like, to get children excited and engaged, and then it’s up to us to connect them to the right course or the right place to continue their activity.

“A lot of schools are excited about that because they see it as another great string to their bow. The uptake has been fantastic, and we’re really excited about this journey.”

Fleetwood is equally enthusiastic about reaching out to potential new players in the game he loves.

“It’s unbelievable,” says Fleetwood.

“What a goal for us to get the container to 224 schools in Dubai. I love it, so we’ll keep working towards that.

“I’ve actually been in the container myself a couple of times at school, and it’s great. The pros from our academy that go along with it are so good at introducing the game and making it fun. It’s really cool to see the excitement in the kids’ faces when we take the container to their school.

“Like Danny said, if you just look at where we are today, which is at the elite junior level – it doesn’t really get any bigger than the AJGA for junior golf. We want to get as many juniors as we can into these events, and that starts with the container.

“I’m all for this amazing goal of getting this to every school in Dubai and seeing where we can go.”

While the dream of producing a homegrown winner may still be some way off, both DP World and Fleetwood are fully committed to making it a reality.

As Fleetwood himself acknowledged, “nothing happens overnight,” but with his passion for sharing his knowledge and DP World’s dedication to nurturing future talent, it’s perhaps not that far-fetched to imagine a local champion lifting the DP World Tour Championship trophy in the future.