Golf industry veteran Nick Tarratt has been appointed as Tournament Director for the Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL) Mini-Series, to be held on June 20 on the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai.
The EAGL Mini-Series is a nine-hole initiative with eight teams of four amateurs. The vision of EAGL CEO and founder Sudesh Aggarwal and his management team is to raise the profile of corporate golf to the next level and to give the participating players the experience of being a Tour pro for the day in a team format. Networking among golfers and senior players in the UAE golf industry and within the business community of the UAE is also one of the key objectives of the EAGL concept.
The EAGL Mini-Series one-day summer event is a taster for the EAGL Series proper which is scheduled to take place throughout the UAE later in the year.
Tarratt, former Director of the European Tour’s Middle East division, will assist in all areas of planning as well as acting as the Rules Official and Senior Auditor of Handicaps for the tournament.
Aggarwal said of Tarratt’s appointment: “We are delighted that Nick can join us with immediate effect for this exciting golf project. Nick has huge and perhaps unique experience of organising golf events around the world, especially in Dubai.”
Tarratt started his career in the early 1980s at The Belfry for the PGA and was heavily involved in various capacities in organising club pro events, global Ladies European Tour (then WPGA) events as well as being a key member of the Organising Committee of the 1985 Ryder Cup at The Belfry, an event at which he also worked as an official referee. Later that decade he went on to organise the hugely popular and successful Scottish Open at Gleneagles, the traditional precursor to The Open Championship. More recently, the long-time Dubai resident set up the UAE Golf Association (now the Emirates Golf Federation) in the mid-1990s and played a key role in organising the Dubai Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championship, the latter for its first 10 years of existence.
“We welcome Nick to the EAGL team and we are all excited by the commitment, passion and experience he will bring to our group. We wish Nick all the best,” said Aggarwal.
Tarratt added: “It’s great to be able to join the EAGL team and get back into mainstream golf. I have taken a sabbatical over the last two years for personal reasons and am returning fully energised, batteries recharged and excited to hit the ground running for this summer project. Suddesh and the EAGL team have ambitious plans to raise the bar for corporate golf in Dubai and the UAE which should be applauded.
“There is huge potential for the EAGL vision longer term and I’m sure it will be well received, by players, sponsors and the golf industry in this pilot project in just a month’s time.”
