Stuart McMurdo on his golfing journey throughout the UAE

Gulf News

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.  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

Transcript

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.

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