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Golf in UAE World

Adrian Meronk’s Daily Diary: My focus is just playing this week

Dubai resident falls in love with Bernardus Golf course at the first sight



Adrian Meronk preparing for this week's Dutch Open on the DP World Tour.
Image Credit: Supplied

I am excited to be playing in this week’s DP World Tour event at the Dutch Open in the Netherlands from Thursday-Sunday.

Let me introduce myself first, I am 28 years old and Polish, and have been a Dubai resident since December 2021 and I will be spending around six months a year in Dubai. It has some of the best golf facilities around and some of the best winter weather anywhere in the world. There is no better place to rest and relax from playing on Tour, as well as working hard to prepare for the demands of playing on Tour.

Amazing course

This 2021-2022 DP World Tour season for me, so far, has been the best in my career. I am currently 15th in the DP World Tour Rankings and probably the highlight of the season to date was leading the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic on the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club on Sunday afternoon, eventually finishing tied fourth, and the whole experience that came with it.

The golf course this week at Bernardus Golf is amazing. It is the first time I have played it and I liked it from first sight. The Tour visited last year for the 2021 Dutch Open, won by Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden), the week before The Ryder Cup, with a score of 23 under par.

It’s a very different course from what we usually play on Tour. The holes are very interesting and it’s going to be fun playing this week. It is designed by American golf architect Kyle Phillips, also the designer of Yas Links, Abu Dhabi. It is referred to as a heathland golf course, with some water hazards and is just four years old, which is hard to believe as it looks so natural.

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Huge rewards

I am in the Pro-Am today (Wednesday), so that will help me get a final look at the course, that we will play at 7445 yards, Par 72. I am paired with Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) and Jordan Smith (England) for the first two rounds with the first round at 8.10am off tee 10 in Match 18.

There are huge rewards in doing well this week, to get in The 150th Open at St Andrews in July as well as help to qualify for the US Open next month. But my focus is just playing well this week, and the rest will take care of itself.

Looking forward to a good start in round one.

Speak to you all soon!

— Dubai resident Adrian Meronk is a professional golfer from Poland on the DP World Tour, who uses Dubai as his winter home. He is sponsored by Dubai-based White Eagle, who organise golf events.

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