DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | There is something about Dubai. Located on the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East, the region is associated with a desert, and the DP World Tour’s winter events here form the “Desert Swing.”
Yet, you have indoor skiing with snow, and all right in the middle of one of the biggest malls; air-conditioned bus shelters to help cool things in summer; the world’s tallest building; the largest airport terminal; the biggest malls; the world’s most unique and largest suspended aquarium and so on. Global cuisine and gold cars can leave a visitor with the feeling that the word opulence needs a higher equivalent.
According to www.globalmediainsight.com, expatriates and foreigners in the UAE outnumber locals by almost 8-to-1. And Dubai is the most favoured place.
Golf is a big sport here. Club memberships are coveted, and an event such as the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, which concludes today, draws packed galleries.
Players from at least 28 nationalities were represented at Emirates Golf Club. Virtually all of them had some gallery. That seldom is the case in any other part of the world.
The weather, the location and the facilities act as magnets.
Tommy Fleetwood, a 32-year-old Englishman and six-time tour winner who moved to Dubai late in 2022, said, “For sure, the move has gone well. I love being out here, and I love being part of the academy (Tommy Fleetwood Academy) here. Just playing a lot in good conditions, the weather, so hopefully I don't go too soft when the rough days in Scotland come about in summer and winter.
“I think Jumeirah Golf Estates has helped me a lot in terms of the challenges. The fact that I drive the ball so well and constantly hitting shots on a course that tour-level golf requires, has helped me a lot in terms of how ready I am when I come from time off. That’s made a big difference.”
Ewen Ferguson, 26, of Scotland, recently shifted base to Dubai. He made his way from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour at the end of 2021. He won twice in 2022: in Qatar and the ISPS Handa in Northern Ireland in August.
“I moved here because I wanted to practise against really good players and I wanted to play really hard courses in the sun, week in, week out. I felt I was lacking that a bit,” Ferguson said.
“I felt that I was sometimes turning up at a big course on the tour and thinking to myself, ‘Wow, this is really tough,’ because back home in Scotland the weather is rubbish in the winter and it’s a different kind of golf. I wanted to play on big, tough courses all the time, hitting shots that I need out on tour.”
Dubai’s location makes it popular. It is a 6- to 8-hour flight to most popular venues on the DP World Tour; three hours to India; seven to Thailand and Singapore; and nine to Japan and Korea, which feature on the DP World schedule this season.
“It’s perfect for me geographically,” Ferguson said. “I’m staying here and going straight to Singapore and Thailand over the coming few weeks, and it just makes things a bit easier. I’m never really far from my new home.”
Time saved like that means quality time with the family.
“In addition, I just love that my kids are outside all the time,” Fleetwood said. “They finish school and they want to play golf, or (son) Frankie wants to go to the park or play football. I love that aspect of the life we have right now.”
The presence of fans and friends brings comfort with it. Rory McIlroy had Dubai as his base for four years, when he was spending considerable time on the DP World Tour, but has now shifted base to the U.S.
“I first played this tournament in 2006,” said McIlroy, the world’s No. 1 player and from Northern Ireland. “So, I've been coming here for a long time: 17 years. I've got a level of comfort here. I like starting my year here. I have a lot of friends. I called this place home for four years. So, yeah, I just have a level of comfort. I like it. I get great support here with the crowds that come out.”
“The Middle East is very important to the DP World Tour.”
Keith Pelley
Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello is one of the long-term Dubai residents. He has been here for eight years.
“Dubai has a lot to offer. It has all the facilities I need for golf practice and good weather” he said. “In summer months, we know it is hot, but in winter months, which is the time most of us spend our time here. In terms of the city, it has so much to offer.
“There is a lot to do. I love water sports, I don’t surf much here, it is not the best, but Maldives is just 3-4 hours away. But for the kids, it is safe and they have places like Legoland, Wonder Park and more. It is also very safe.”
Often players look at how shifting base has benefitted their friends. One of the earliest Indians to make Dubai as a base for some time was Jeev Milkha Singh, when he was frequently playing in Europe. Then Shiv Kapur based his decision to move to Dubai on the weather, lack of pollution, of kids’ activities for his young daughter and the availability of golfing facilities.
More recently, Anirban Lahiri shifted from the United States to Dubai to be closer to home to India. Even more recently, Shubhankar Sharma sees it useful to spend time in Dubai to practice more and convenient to travel to Europe.
The Middle East – and Dubai, in particular – is not just favoured by the players but also by the tour and its main sponsors. The European Tour, now known by its commercial name of DP World Tour, first visited in 1989 for the Dubai Desert Classic.
This year, the event was sponsored by Hero Motocorp, an Indian auto company that has been selling the most two-wheelers in the world for more than two decades. With Indians making up most of the expats here, it was no surprise that Hero came over for two events in three weeks in January: the Hero Cup in Dubai and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Between them, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship was staged. The tour stays here for one more week, in Ras Al Khaimah, an hour’s drive from Dubai. Then, they come back for Challenge Tour events and finally end the year in November with the flagship DP World Tour Championship.
“The Middle East is very important to the DP World Tour,” said CEO Keith Pelley, a Canadian who is based out of Wentworth in the UK, but returns often to the region throughout the year.
“It means a lot to the tour and the players,” said Guy Kinnings, the tour’s deputy CEO. He wears a UAE pin on his chic jacket, and the tour has a proper office in the region.
Adri Arnaus, another Spaniard, probably took a leaf from Cabrera-Bello’s book to shift to the Middle East.
Dane Thomas Bjørn, the former Ryder Cup captain, had Dubai as his base for years. Now he divides his time between his homes in London and Scandinavia. Now another Dane, Thorbjørn Olesen, is spending more time in Dubai.
Italian Guido Migliozzi, hoping to make the European Ryder Cup team, began his season with the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi. Based in Dubai, he practices at Jumeirah and calls the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club his favourite. The weather, the golf facilities and the massive COVID-19 outbreak in Italy were among the reasons why he moved to Dubai in 2020. Fellow Italian Renato Paratore followed suit.
Belgians Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Detry are also in Dubai. The list is long.
Another Dubai resident, Adrian Meronk, the first Pole to win on the DP World Tour and hoping to make the Ryder Cup team, had fans following him at Hero Cup with T-shirts spelling one letter each of his surname: MERONK.
A Polish fan base in the Middle East. Who could have imagined that some years ago. The DP World Tour showed the way.
E-MAIL SWAMY
Top: Thomas Pieters tees off during the third round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club.
Andrew Redington, Getty Images