Hosting the Race to Dubai’s US$8 million grand finale is huge feather in the cap of Jumeirah Golf Estates, and the emirate as a whole, and Worldwide Golf’s Mike Gallemore caught up with former Wentworth CEO, and now Managing Director, Club Operations of Jumeirah Golf Estates, Julian Small during the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, to discuss the exciting news.
Worldwide Golf: What benefits do the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai bring to the emirate?
Julian Small: The Race to Dubai activation is an important piece in telling the Dubai story. The series is a beating drum that goes around the world and ends up in the UAE and I think Falcon Golf’s commitment to that activation will help to continue developing golf in Dubai.
WWG: How significant is golf to Dubai?
JS: Dubai’s golf journey is an inspirational one. The game has advanced massively in the region in a very short period of time. Take a look at Jumeirah Golf Estates, for example. It is moving away from the construction phase into the community phase, and through milestones like the European Tour Performance Institute we have witnessed great success in evolving the sport. Golf in Dubai really focuses on all the audiences. You have got the audience that resides in Dubai on a permanent basis and you’ve got visitors and tourists coming to the city from all around the world, which is a vital part of Dubai’s growing economy.
WWG: What did you bring from your time as CEO of Wentworth Club to your new role at Jumeirah Golf Estates?
JS: When I think about what I am bringing to Dubai’s DP World Tour Championship and Jumeirah Golf Estates from the many years I spent at Wentworth, I can relate and look back at the establishment of the European Tour’s Flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. I was involved in running the event in 1996 and I have seen this championship evolve to something that is absolutely spectacular. I can remember sitting down with the sponsor in 2000 to discuss where we wanted to take the tournament to, and because we had a long-term agreement we were able to do that. One of the big positives of the announcement this week at Wentworth that the DP World Tour Championship will remain at JGE until 2020 is that we have the opportunity to work and plan for the future. I have had meetings with Falcon Golf, Rolex and the European Tour, and I am planning to also meet up with the DP World. I’m asking the same question: “Where do we want to be in 2020?” There are certain new ideas like ‘Park and Ride’ that will be introduced at the DP World Tour Championship so the whole customer journey to the tournament will change. As long as we are continuing to present the golf course well, the golfers themselves will be the stars of the show. What we also have to do is look at how we can continually improve the experience for our spectators and the media as we develop and move things forward. This will help reflect the innovation and spirit of Dubai which is always about pioneering and advancement.
WWG: Are there any plans to move the course from the Earth course to the Fire course over this coming period?
JS: We have looked carefully at the possibilities of switching the Championship to the excellent Fire course but have decided to keep it on the Earth course. The players themselves regard the Earth course as a world-class challenging course they like to play and one of the finest on the Schedule. Logistically, the layout of the Earth course lends itself to such a prestigious event in regard to the spectators so for a number of reasons it will continue to be played on the Earth course.
