It is with mixed emotions that I write this month’s Voice of the Tour column ahead of my retirement from the European Tour Group following the Open Championship.
Of course, the prospect of spending more time with my family, and indeed playing some more social golf, is something I am looking forward to, but equally the Tour has been such a massive part of my life for the last 47 years.
Where it all began
Prior to joining the Tour’s staff, I played on Tour for 17 seasons, making 384 appearances in total after earning my card in 1979. The 1980s and early 90s were certainly a very different era to be a professional golfer compared to the current landscape, but I had some incredible experiences and I feel very fortunate to have competed alongside some of European golf’s most iconic names, such as Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer, who I roomed with in my early days.
They were great times, particularly as the European Tour, as it was known then, began expanding outside of its traditional heartlands of Great Britain, Ireland and continental Europe and into new territories such as Asia, Africa and, of course, in 1989 into the Middle East.
Going International
That direction of travel towards golf becoming more international was something that became an even bigger focus for me when I became a golf administrator after calling time on my own playing career.
After initially working on the Seniors Tour – now known as the Legends Tour – I then became the European Tour’s Director of International Policy, followed by Chief Operating Officer in 2007, with the brief of expanding the Tour in some of the territories I previously mentioned and establishing our relationships around the world.
Those relationships continue to benefit the Tour, and indeed golf, today and they have further evolved with the creation of the pathway system recently, enabling emerging talent from our partner Tours in South Africa, Australia, India, China, Japan and Korea to compete globally on the DP World Tour.
I believe golf has huge global potential as a sport and we’ve seen how that potential can be realised if a country or a region embraces it like the Middle East has.
Playing in the 1989 Dubai Desert Classic
I actually played in the very first Dubai Desert Classic back in 1989 and it has been fascinating to see the evolution and progress that has been made over the last 36 years. We’ve brought some of the world’s leading players to the Middle East during that time and the region now boasts world class facilities to match, meaning many of our players choose to live or to practise there.
When we launched the Race to Dubai in 2008, the concept aimed to give us a compelling season-long narrative and to promote Dubai as a sporting and tourism hub. The global economic crisis hit shortly after our launch, but we navigated that challenge together and the Race to Dubai now goes from strength to strength, helped also by the success of players such as Rory McIlroy who is aiming for his seventh title in November.
Middle East support
I am very grateful for all the incredible support we have had from DP World, the Emirates Golf Federation and our partners in the Middle East which has been hugely significant, not only in terms of the Race to Dubai, but across all our events in the Middle East.
Establishing relationships has been such an integral and enjoyable part of my job with the Tour and that what I am going to miss most when I retire. I’ve been fortunate to have met so many wonderful people and have so many great experiences with them over the last 47 years.
Hopefully it won’t be the last I see of them though and that I will return to the Middle East as a fan and enjoy our tournaments, along with the culture and the courses, in a different capacity.
For now though, I’d just like to say thank you once again to everyone who has helped make my time with the Tour so very special. It truly has been a privilege.
