England’s Stuart McMurdo has been recently promoted to Director of Sports at JA the Resort in Jebel Ali. But his journey in the UAE started over 30 years ago.
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Read more Golf in UAE stories here:
https://gulfnews.com/sport/golf-in-uae
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #golf #sports
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00:00My first visit was in 1989.
00:14I came over here as an 11-year-old.
00:16My father was posted here, and that's where I first got my first introduction to golf
00:20through my school, which was at Dubai College.
00:26We went through as a school activity, and then literally from that day, a few friends
00:31of mine decided that we really liked it, and we got the bug, and ever looked back, pretty
00:36much played every day throughout the year, and became decent golfers for our age groups,
00:42and progressed on, and some of the guys have gone on to do some fantastic things in golf.
00:46So yeah, very fortunate.
00:47We were at the Emirates Golf Club, which had a great junior section, and that's again where
00:51I met my coach at the time, which was a guy called James Williams, one of the first golf
00:55pros here in Dubai.
00:56He became a good friend, a good coach for me in my amateur days as a golfer.
01:03When I went back to the UK to play golf full-time, when my parents moved back, ideally I wanted
01:08to look at a career in golf, you know, I became quite a good golfer, I was a scratch golfer
01:12by that time.
01:13I was 15.
01:14I really, I liked the competition, you know, the camaraderie of traveling, and playing,
01:19and did a lot of that in the UK on the amateur scene.
01:23Really enjoyed it.
01:24Realized, like a lot of great golfers, you know, it's a really tough market, I wasn't
01:28quite good enough at the time.
01:29So the next best thing is to get some work within golf, and that's exactly how it happened
01:34for me.
01:35James gave me the opportunity to come back and work here as the golf operations manager
01:38in January 2004, which was fantastic timing, because we were hosting the challenge match
01:43only four weeks later.
01:45So it was a baptism of fire for me, where I was thrown in at the deep end, managing
01:48an event for some of the world's best players.
01:53The golf course was designed and opened back in 1998, designed by Peter Harady.
01:58Again, he's done some fantastic golf courses in the region, we're very lucky that he designed
02:02our course here.
02:03We were the third golf course in Dubai, and we are very close partners with the Dubai
02:10Desert Classic from day one, so we're a support sponsor for them from their first year, and
02:15we've provided hotel rooms, the catering, and we're also the challenge match sponsor,
02:20which meant we had a match on the Tuesday, sort of like the curtain raiser to the week
02:24of the Dubai Desert Classic, where either the top six or the top eight players from
02:28the Dubai Desert Classic field would come here, play a charity match, get about 2,000
02:34spectators on the day.
02:35We've produced some fantastic funds for charities in the local and international arenas.
02:40Great spectacle for the resort, that we could host Tiger Woods on a number of occasions,
02:44Ernie Els, Nick Faldos, Greg Normans, and we got to showcase them on our golf course,
02:49and I think that's held us in good stead to promote the course, and it's really helped
02:53us to develop and become one of the leading nine-hole resorts in the Middle East.
03:01We struck up a very good relationship in the early days with Rafa Cabrera-Beo, very much
03:05through the Leadbetter Connection, we have a Leadbetter Golf Academy here for our lessons,
03:10and we also work with a couple of ladies on the Ladies European Tour, called Amy Bolden
03:14and Olivia Cowan.
03:15This year, Olivia Cowan has actually got a tour status on the LPGA Tour, so we'll be
03:19supporting her as she moves to the next level over in the US, so we're very fortunate to
03:23have both support on the male and female side of the game.
03:29Back in the early 90s, Emirates Golf Club was the only golf course in the region, and
03:33we've seen it develop hugely in the time, even when I left Dubai, and when I came back
03:37in 2004, when I joined JA, JA was the third grass golf course in Dubai, and now we've
03:44seen dozens of courses pop up in the region, and I think we've got everything you need
03:49here to be successful.
03:50We've got great facilities, climate, a backup of great hotels, the DTCM has laid the foundations
03:58so that companies can thrive, and sports can thrive, so everything's helped to formulate
04:04what we have today.
04:05I've been very fortunate, I've been here for 18 plus years now, so I've had some great
04:10memories.
04:11It happened very recently, I've been promoted now to Director of JA Sports, so before I
04:16was the Director of Golf, so my full 24-7 was concentrated on golf, and now I've taken
04:22over six divisions, so now we're looking at golf, cricket, football, the equestrian centre,
04:28club memberships here at the resort, paddle tennis, and the tennis academy, and I'll also
04:33be looking at the shooting club, which is located just a couple of kilometres down the
04:36road.
04:38These sports have been very good niche businesses, but it's about time that we really collated
04:42them, brought them together, and really work on moving them to the next level.
04:47Develop them using the hotel to bring in international groups, and really set up a JA Sports division.