Top event: The Dubai Golf Trophy

Just when you thought it was safe to stick your clubs at the undesirable end of your garage to gather dust for the summer – think again!

When I first arrived in the UAE back in '97, June would normally mark the beginning of the slowdown of the golf season, a time when schools break up, families take their well earned vacation and business in general would do no more than simmer away. Well that was then and this is now.

Many of you that read my column regularly will know that I have been an active member of the local PGA (UAE Professional Golfers' Association) for quite some years. Our association has grown considerably over the past two to three years and through various initiatives we have made significant strides to contribute towards the growth of the game here in the UAE.

The recent UAE PGA and Al Naboodah Par 3 Junior Series was a tremendous success and highlighted the need for targeted and specific competition play.

The 10th showing of the annual Dubai Golf Trophy which pits the talents of the top 16 UAE PGA professionals against the top 16 UAE amateurs, was another clear indicator that uniquely positioned competition play can only be good for developing the standards and enhancing the spirit of the game.

Over the past six weeks our committee have been working tirelessly with the support and encouragement of the EGF (Emirates Golf Federation) to develop a new and unique tournament due to launch this summer.

The series of events is aimed at bringing together the best players of the UAE including professionals and amateurs, seniors and juniors, male and female, to compete at an elite level at venues across the UAE.

We hope that a strong feature of the series will be the inclusion of many of the UAE National Team players – both from the junior and senior teams.

The tournament series, which will be launched to the golfing public within the next seven to 10 days, will be on an individual strokeplay basis and will have awards for the various categories of players.

The series will be open to single-figure handicapped amateurs who are either a member of a UAE golf club or the EGF Handicap Scheme. We are expecting an extremely positive reaction from the golfing population and we feel that by providing more top-level competition play all year round, we can truly contribute to growing the game and improving the chances of more of our elite players breaking through to the top grade.

The UAE PGA is becoming a strong force within the UAE golf scene and it is determined to make a difference. These initiatives are difficult to achieve without the support of local businesses and it is on this note that I would like to extend the thanks of our association to our patrons that have and continue to support our activities with passion: Al Naboodah Group, Auriga UK, Acuma Wealth Management and TNT – a sincere thank you.