Chris May, CEO Dubai Golf Interview on the history of the Majlis at Emirates Golf Club and the Dubai Desert Classic
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00:00Emirates Golf Club holds a very special place in the history of Dubai.
00:06It was the first grass golf course in the Middle East, the first professional golf tournament
00:11in the Middle East as well, and that really set the tone for what Dubai has become.
00:17It's become a very important golf tourism destination, and that was largely driven by
00:22the Dubai Desert Classic, which was first held in 1989.
00:26Seve Ballesteros won it in 1992, followed on by many of the best players in the world
00:31who participated.
00:33Many of them won it, from Fred Couples, Colin Montgomery, and then of course Tiger Woods.
00:37Participation in 2001 really took the event to a different level.
00:43Rory McIlroy's first win as a professional as well in 2009 is a big thing.
00:51Tiger's win in 2008, he was in the middle of a really rich vein of form, and he'd won
00:57several times in the States in a row, and then he shot five under on the back nine and
01:02hold an amazing putt, and you saw the Tiger fist pump, and that was also very, very special.
01:09It's three times been won by Ernie Els twice, by Rory McIlroy twice, by Tiger Woods, so
01:14it really is an amazing role of honor, and this tournament has done a huge amount for
01:19driving the interest of golf in the region, and really it was the pioneer of golf.
01:27Emirates Golf Club is an ideal destination to host the event.
01:30The golf course itself is very special, it's one of the best in the world.
01:35The players love it, the conditions are always immaculate.
01:39The players get welcomed in a very special way, and always have done, so it's always
01:43been a really special stop on the DP World Tour.
01:47The club itself lends itself very well for the tournament, it's a great host venue.
01:52The clubhouse is an iconic building, that's really the centerpiece of the tournament during
01:58tournament week, and it's the place that everyone wants to be, and the course itself is a great
02:02course not only for the players, but spectators as well.
02:05Very easy to walk around, to flip between front nine and back nine, so fantastic tournament
02:11golf course, but also a great course to watch on as well.
02:15We've seen lots of amazing moments, the back nine of the Majolis is always very, very interesting,
02:20and so the tournament's never won until the 18th hole.
02:23Obviously water has an influence on the last hole, but there's lots of birdie opportunities
02:27on the back nine of Majolis, and makes the back nine very, very interesting on the final
02:31day.
02:32The Majolis course is probably the most popular golf course in the region, largely because
02:37of the tournament.
02:38Last year we had 46,000 rounds of golf played on the Majolis, many of those are member rounds,
02:43The Majolis itself is very important, because it brings tourists from all over the world
02:47to play the golf course, and the great thing about the course is that whilst this week
02:52is set up for the professionals, and it's quite tough for us amateurs, when you're out
02:57at Desert Classic Week, it's a very enjoyable golf course for golfers of all levels, and
03:01I think that's one of the really special things about the Majolis golf course.
03:05In addition to Majolis, we've got the Faldo, which is flood lit, so you can play golf until
03:09midnight, and then behind us you've got also Topgolf as well, which we added two years
03:13ago, and we had over a million guests in the first two years at Topgolf, so the golf club
03:19has become a very busy part of Dubai, and brings a lot of people into Dubai from overseas,
03:25which is really important for all of us.