Ziad Al Sharabi recently took up his new position as General Manager at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club just last month. Gulf News caught up with Ziad to ask him about his new role and his vision for the future of the club.
Ziad is an amiable 43 year-old born in the UAE — a Palestinian with Jordanian nationality and an Arabic speaker. He joined the team at SGSC 12 years ago as the Sales and Marketing Manager. He then progressed to Sales and Marketing Director, then to Director of Operations: Health and Recreation and then to his current role as GM.
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As Ziad embarks on his new venture he explained how he sees his role. “Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club is an iconic landmark in Sharjah as well as for the UAE,” Ziad told Gulf News. “It is not just a golf club with nine-holes of floodlit golf. We have so many facilities across the range of activities including archery, shooting, four Escape Rooms, paintball, football, two restaurants, spas, gyms, Cross-Fit and swimming pools for adults and one for children.
“We have recently introduced three padel tennis courts and we will be adding a further three indoor padel tennis courts very shortly.
“I am determined to focus on the family element of SGSC and encourage all members of the family, adults and children of all nationalities, both members and non-members to visit what we like to term as a family destination. There are certain to be many activities that all the family will enjoy, either as beginners, or experienced players. Corporates around all our activities, through parties and corporate functions, will also be a key category we will be targeting.”
Ziad admits that while he plays golf and has had lessons, it is something he is keen to work on and improve and obtain an official handicap. He is looking to try golf more seriously in his new role to meet all the members and guests.
SGSC and Ziad have ambitious plans to continue to add facilities as well as to maintain the standards for both members and guests.
One of the highlights of Ziad’s time at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club was when the club hosted the Legends Tour’s Sharjah Senior Golf Masters presented by Shurooq in 2017 and 2018 won by South Africa’s Chris Williams and Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchat respectively.
“We were excited to welcome the top Senior Pros from the Legends Tour as well as to showcase Sharjah to the golfing world on a globally distributed TV highlights package. It was a great experience for us all, especially all the staff and members and certainly helped put SGSC on the map.”
