Rick Bevan talks to The Track, Meydan Golf’s new Director of Golf Jordan Gallagher to clear up the confusion surrounding plans for the much-loved pay and play course once and for all.
“What is happening with The Track, Meydan? I thought it was closing?”
It’s a question I must have been asked 20 times in the past six months. It’s also a query that I wasn’t able to give a definitive answer to as I’d heard multiple different stories regarding the plans for the much-loved nine hole pay and play club since its closure was initially announced at the start of 2023.
Need to wait
So, I set out to do some investigative journalism and give the good golfing people of the UAE an accurate answer once and for all! My initial digging hit an immediate buffer when word came back from upper echelons of power at the Meydan Hotel that I would have to wait until they’d recruited their new Director of Golf over the summer to get an interview.
Enter stage left, Mr Jordan Gallagher.
“The definite answer is, we’re open and we’re staying open!” smiles the Scotsman who took up his position at The Track at the end of July. “I realise there’s been a lot of confusion about whether we’re closing or not and we were in a position where I don’t think even the people who make the calls really knew what was happening or had made a decision on what was happening until around a couple of weeks ago when I was in a meeting with the asset manager from Dubai Holdings.
“Essentially, we’ve been guaranteed three years. We’ll be open for at least the next three years we’ve been we’ve been tasked to put together CapEx and staffing plans to tide us over for the next few years, so that that’s that’s the direction I’ve been given from ownership.
“As for the reasons it was meant to be closing, my guess is as good as yours, but the direction is quite clear now.”
As you were
So, there you have it folks. No real estate being built where the much-loved course once lay. No expansion to 18 holes. No new location…it’s, “as you were” for the floodlit Peter Harradine-designed pay and play club!
“Precisely,” says Gallagher. “My challenge is going to be to get it back to where it was in terms of levels of service quality etc. Obviously, over a period of time, particularly when the owners have had an eye on a certain area of the business closing, we’ve not been reinvesting the way we should. We need to look at golf carts. We need to look at on course furniture. We need to look at staff, we need to look at everything basically. So, it kind of feels like a bit of a fresh start, you know?”
No dynamic pricing
One of the issues The Track has faced since former Director of Golf Stephen Payne left the club, is that there has been nobody overseeing the finer details that need to be constantly addressed in order to stay competitive in the market place.
“A good example is the way we were listed on the Troon International app,” says Gallagher. “No one had looked at it so there was no dynamic pricing. The pricing was far too high so we were shown at the bottom of the list…we were more expensive than The Els Club! So, it’s lots of things like that, kind of short terms wins that I’m already working on and you’ll now see us towards the top of that app.
Negative Mindset
“I think in terms of reputation, and people thinking we’re closed when we’re not, that’s going to take time. But what’s interesting is it’s not like we’re not doing any rounds. When I was back in the UK before coming over, the situation when I spoke to people sounded very bleak. But from a number of rounds perspective and a GOP perspective, the year hasn’t actually been anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I thought I was coming back to nothing. We have operational staff, it’s not like we have no staff, we just need to add to it. It’s not like we have no golfers. We’re not doing as many rounds as previous years but we’re only 20% behind last year. But my concern is the quality levels going forward and making sure that the staff are trained properly to actually provide the service we need to do. That’s something that we are working on that I’m working on, on a daily basis.”
Strong background to understand local market
It’s not Gallagher’s first rodeo as far as life in Dubai is concerned. He previously spent five years in the emirate, first as retail manager and then head of custom fitting for Pro Sports International with stints at Jumeirah Golf Estates and Emirates Golf Club, and then as a teaching pro at The Address Montgomerie Dubai. It was during this period that he did his Advanced PGA qualification, becoming one of the youngest people in the world to achieve the prestigious certification, and his Club Manager’s diploma.
Having moved back to Scotland in early 2022, taking up a role as freelance Head PGA Pro at Baberton Golf Club in Edinburgh, Gallagher had been looking for an opportunity to step up to the next level in his career.
“Phil Henderson (General Manager at Al Zorah) played quite a key key role,” says Gallagher. “I’ve known Phil for years and he reached out to me about a opportunity at Al Zorah. Ironically, because I didn’t have lots of experience in Troon and Stephen Payne was leaving Medan, Stephen actually ended up getting the job. So the irony of it is, I ended up taking Stephen’s position here at Meydan! I received a phone call from DJ Flanders, the Senior Vice President at Troon, who invited me to come back out and it was a challenge that suited me for where I am in my life at the moment.”
Network to meet new challenge
Having worked in the region previously, Gallagher has built up a solid network of contacts in the industry who he can turn to for support and advice as he sets out on this new challenge at The Track.
“I went and had lunch with Tom Rourke, the GM at The Els Club recently,” he says. “He was a great sounding board because he was here at Meydan for a number of years, so he understands the club. Stephen’s been great as well as he was the last person in the role here. That’s the great thing about being part of Troon, it allows us to access all this great experience within the company. DJ and Clinton Norris, the Director of Sales and Marketing, have also been great. I’ve seen them three or four times in the space of three of four weeks. It’s been good to try and understand what what direction they want to go in and understand the background from their side.”
Huge praise for Stephen Hubner
Outside of the Troon network, Gallagher credits Stephen Hubner, Club Manager at Jumeirah Golf Estates, as being a big influence on his career.
“Stephen was a big influence because he was my Director of Golf for years at Jumeirah Golf Estates,” he says. “You would see the way he operated, particularly with people. I think his people skills are basically second to none and I think that goes a long way in this region.
I’m probably quite an emotional person and at times you need to take emotion out of half the stuff that goes on over here because you can take a lot of stuff personally and can end up letting yourself down. There are better ways to deal with it and seeing the way Stephen managed, not only the people below him, but his interactions with the owners and those above him, was exceptional.”
Price is not the only attraction
The news that one the UAE’s most affordable golf courses is very much still open for business will be a joy to the ears of many but for Gallagher, it’s not only price that sets The Track apart.
“I don’t want to go down the route of solely talking about pricing, because pricing is one thing, but I think we have more than one USP. We’re quite a casual club. It’s a casual, fun and unintimidating environment which is clear to anyone who plays somewhere else then comes here. I also don’t think we talk enough about the location and the access here. Dubai has grown quite a lot in the 2.5 years since I left and there’s a lot of traffic. But here, you’re in and out – you don’t have to deal with any traffic and of course you can play nine holes under the floodlights in the evenings. So it’s a very time efficient experience which suits a lot of people with busy lives.
“The setting speaks for itself. I drove the course late late one evening last week, and, you know, you have the views of the Burj there and everything, but there’s also a lot wildlife, the water, and it feels quite tranquil when you’re out there compared to some of the other courses.”
Gallagher’s final message to the golfing public of the UAE: “It’s business as usual! Moving forward I’m looking for our team to deliver the best service we can possibly provide. We keep looking back at where the club once was, but I’m more interested in looking forward and becoming even better. I said to the guys, it’s a four-star course in terms of pricing, but I want to deliver a five-star experience.”
