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Gulf News
  • 10 months ago
Looking back at memorable moments during the 25 year history of the Emirates Golf Club.
Transcript
00:0025 years in Dubai is a huge amount of time and there's been so much change in the city
00:18itself to be part of that change is quite something and when you look at the early days
00:23when Emirates Golf Club was under construction and opened it was a very very different place
00:28than it is now.
00:29It was 86 when his Highness Sheikh Mohammed first had the idea of building the course
00:34and I came here in 87 and we opened it in 88 and Dubai was really a lot smaller than
00:40it is now.
00:45Where we're standing now you'd have been able to see most of the rest of the golf course,
00:49you'd have almost certainly been able to see the sea.
00:52It was the first grass golf course in the Middle East and it was just a small patch
00:57of grass in the middle of nowhere.
00:59Now the region attracts 30,000 overseas golfers every year to the facilities in the region
01:04which is a phenomenal growth rate when you think about it and the Emirates Golf Club
01:10and the Magilis Golf Course were the catalyst, the pioneer for that and you see some wonderful
01:14golf courses in the region and I think without the Magilis Golf Course perhaps some of those
01:18wouldn't have been built.
01:19I think his Highness also saw the benefits of promoting Dubai through international sports
01:25events.
01:26Dubai and the Golf Club created a fantastic facility for business people and for residents.
01:31It was a great attraction for tourists and it put Dubai on the map through the Dubai
01:36Desert Classic.
01:37We have a European Tour event here every year now.
01:40The creation of that event brought the European Tour out of Europe for the first time and
01:45it's really been a catalyst to bring a lot of other major sporting events to the region.
01:50After this became a reality then there was a lot more hotels, a lot more people came
01:56here, other golf courses were developed as well and it became to me the stepping stone
02:04for the whole industry here.
02:06I think Dubai has been very lucky in realising that sport is a great vehicle for promoting
02:12the city throughout the world.
02:14The Desert Classic was one of the first major sporting events hosted here and we're very
02:19lucky to enjoy some phenomenal world class sporting events hosted in the city now.
02:24The day I will remember most was standing on the 18th green as my hero Seve hold the
02:32putt to win the Desert Classic in 92 and that was the moment I thought this can't get any
02:38better than this.
02:40Tiger Woods' victory in 2006 was a major step forward for the tournament.
02:45Tiger's first appearance in Dubai in 2001 and I think Ernie Ailes' third win being the
02:51only player to win it three times is a phenomenal achievement and of course Rory McIlroy winning
02:57his first ever professional tournament here.
02:59When it actually opened and General Seahawks hit the first shot when they parachuted down
03:07a golden club for him to hit the first shot.
03:11Montgomery's shot to the 18th hole when he won the Dubai Desert Classic hitting the driver
03:15off the deck into the heart of the green and he won European Tour shot of the year, that
03:20was a landmark moment.
03:22There's no doubt that the Majelis golf course has really helped the growth of Dubai as a
03:27tourist destination and now it's recognised as a world class golfing destination.
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