UAE golf course superintendents receive high praise from European Tour’s Director of Agronomy

Gulf News caught up with the European Tour’s Deputy Director of Tour Agronomy, Graeme MacNiven, on a recent visit to the UAE, ahead of the Tour staging five tournaments in the country across the next four months.

What is the reason and the timing for your latest visit to the UAE? 
We have a significant number of European Tour events in the UAE around both the season-ending DP World Tour Championship and an enhanced 2022 Desert Swing coming up in the next few months, so I came over to meet all the superintendents at the host golf clubs to discuss the planning and golf course preparation for the tournaments. My role is to support the team at each club and give them advice on how to peak the condition of the golf course for the tournament week, but I also need to be mindful that they all have busy memberships and numbers of rounds of golf to deliver before and after each event. It is their show and they can just tap into my experience over the years; I have seen most things happen in my career, which hopefully gives everyone peace of mind that there will be no real surprises for anyone.

How long have you been visiting the UAE? 
I first came to Dubai in December, 1996, for a European Tour Greenkeeping Conference, held at JA The Resort. My first actual European Tour agronomy inspection in the UAE was a visit to Abu Dhabi Golf Club in 2005 in preparation for the first Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2006. I have supported the superintendent at every event since in Abu Dhabi as well as all the other European Tour events held in the UAE - there have been a lot! There is a lot of travel involved in my job, and the UAE often seems to be my second home.

What has been feedback and observations on this visit?
Emirates Golf Club: I am very pleased with the new greens on the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club. It is a huge relief that everything has gone to plan over the summer and exceeded all our expectations. The greens have so many more pin positions now which will help maintain the Majlis Course’s position as one of the top courses on the European Tour and the world of golf. 
Jumeirah Golf Estates: The early date of the Fire course tournament makes the overseeding and subsequent grow-in challenging because of the higher than ideal night-time temperatures to get the course in tournament condition. I am confident all is on track. 
Yas Links: I know this facility as well as any, with my time in the early days at Yas Links. The European Tour has previously supported and sanctioned the Abu Dhabi Invitational hosted by Abdullah Al Naboodah, so we all know what a great conditioned golf course it is. I know the players are going to love the layout. 
Al Hamra Golf Club: The golf course presentation and standards for the Challenge Tour events in 2017 and 2018 and the Challenge Tour Grand Final in 2019 were as close as possible to those on our main tour. We tightened the driving fairway areas for the Grand Final, which is something that we are currently in the process of repeating.

When will you be visiting the UAE for the tournaments? 
I will be there for both our events in November on Fire and Earth at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and I will also use that trip to visit our other host venues in the region, in regard to our events in early 2022. I must give a shout out to the men behind the scenes who all make sure that the golf courses are in excellent shape, not just for the tournaments, but also for the other 51 weeks. Stuart Horwood at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Corey Finn at Yas Links, Matt Perry at Emirates Golf Club, and, Dindy Macatlang at Al Hamra Golf Club should all be applauded. Good luck to them all and their respective agronomy teams for a challenging, successful and enjoyable 2021 – 2022 season.