Following the ground-breaking announcement of the European Tour being rebranded as the DP World Tour from next year, Guy Kinnings, the European’s Tour’s Deputy CEO, insisted the Tour’s job of growing the game in the region will only be complete when an Emirati lifts the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Having first visited the UAE in 1989 for the Dubai Desert Classic, which has been elevated to Rolex Series status next year, the UAE has become a key area for the European Tour in the last decade. The DP World Tour Championship has been the season-ending event since 2009, while the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship joined the Dubai finale as a Rolex Series event in recent years.
Further strengthening the UAE’s status as one golf’s biggest global players was the announcement that Ras Al Khaimah will host a European Tour event for the first time next season at Al Hamra Golf Club, while the Fire course has played host to the Dubai Championship for the last two years in the wake of the pandemic.
“The UAE is almost the most striking story we have,” said Kinnings. “I came to the second ever Dubai Desert Classic, and couldn’t believe what I was seeing with this golf course in the middle of the desert. Now you look at the product of golf, both in Dubai, and the UAE, and it’s outstanding. Clearly we’ve got to hope as part of this new partnership with DP World, that it will drive people to come and take this opportunity.
“You see the images that are beamed around the world of the courses in the UAE, and they get better and better every year. The ability to bring grassroots golf up has been fantastic, I was down at the Els Club a few days ago, and there were groups of local kids playing on the course. You can see the ability this country has to suck in the players and grow the game. The courses and resources are second to none, the UAE should be immensely proud of what they’ve achieved, but we at the European Tour are also proud.
“We started with the Dubai Desert Classic all that time ago before adding a number of events in the UAE, and they are top class events. In fact, three of the five Rolex Series tournaments are out here next year, it’s a pretty strong statement of the strength of golf in the region.”
Kinnings was also quick to praise the vision and innovation of DP World after the landmark announcement, which will include a minimum prize fund of $2 million for all tournaments solely sanctioned by the DP World Tour.
“We have not made this decision lightly as we’re changing the whole name of our Tour after 50 years,” said Kinnings. “To have the right partners in the form of DP World, who have the right core values, and the belief of everything we talked about with a global vision, made it the perfect fit.
“Look at the DP World pavilion at EXPO 2020, it looks like it’s for a country but it’s just one company. That’s company are now our partners and we’ll work as one. Golf is a game of history and integrity and self-policing, which are core values, which DP World also share. We want to encourage diversity and golf for the disabled, and allow global players to come in and encourage grassroots golf. We know DP World believe in this because it’s part of their business. I must also say partnering with a brand that has the word ‘World’ in it has been perfect. No one does what DP World do, a lot of our partners, who have been with us for decades, are so excited for this venture, as are the players. It’s a pretty exciting announcement for golf."
With growing the game globally at the centre of the new partnership, Kinnings pointed to Ahmad Skaik’s strong performance at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in showing how far golf has come in the UAE, and insisted the European Tour’s job would not be complete until an Emirati won the DP World Tour Championship.
“An Emirati on Tour has to be the goal for us,” he said. “I don’t want there just to be Emirati players on Tour, I want them winning these tournaments. When an Emirati wins the DP World Tour Championship, that will be the job done. The fact that you’ve had the two Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships over here in the UAE, with the best of the best coming through, and Ahmad making the cut, that has to be the goal for us to attract kids that want to play this game.
“It’s only kids seeing what Ahmad did that is going to help grow the game. It wasn’t that long ago when we were hopeful the game in the Asia-Pacific region would grow, now we have key events there, while the likes of Hideki Matsuyama are winning the Masters. We want to have that same story right here in the UAE.”
