Competing courses

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Golf legend Gary Player has designed Saadiyat Beach Golf Course in Abu Dhabi.

With more signature golf courses planned for the region, operators must innovate with new training, pricing and marketing strategies to avoid supply outweighing demand.

Golf club operators in the UAE are currently in a luxurious position. Spoilt even some might say.

The reason for this is simple. Demand for golf in the country far exceeds supply, with the 48-hour sell-out of Dubai Sports City's The Els Club's AED 90,000 (US$ 24,500) membership being testament to this.

Indeed, the most expensive course in Dubai already has a waiting list, despite opening for play just last month.

Developers of golf clubs are benefiting from mixed-use models that help keep down the exorbitant costs of running a golf course. Gone are the days of standalone courses - now they are being built within large residential and commercial communities.

This trend may be following a global model, but in the Middle East one thing is for sure - golf courses are expected to be endorsed by international players of excellence. Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Ernie Els, Greg Norman and Robert Trent Junior II are just some of the autographs being assigned to new projects.

Not only does the influence of these experts lead to innovative design and improved academy facilities, but reputations sell property, fuelling an industry that otherwise must work hard to profit because of the vast sums of money spent on maintenance.

At the moment, then, golf is a big-money business. The Els Club director of golf Chris Brown even says that were he to launch it again, he would double the amount of money charged for memberships.

There is little doubt that this would have changed the remarkable sell-out at Ernie Els' signature course, but there is a big question mark over whether these sorts of prices will be sustainable in the future.

This is because, with several golf courses planned for Dubai, plus signature projects in Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Bahrain and Oman among others, the demand versus supply ratio could well be on the reverse.

"The opening of these new courses will dilute the business in three to four years time," says Brown. "There's not going to be as much demand, they'll be more supply and the rates will certainly fall.

A drop in rates may not necessarily be a bad thing for the golf industry, as long as it starts to open up to a wider range of players over the coming years. While the high prices are being met now, they are only affordable to a small percentage of the population.

Brown continues: "At the moment, we're all priced very high, so golf only attracts a certain bracket in the market and that's the high-end bracket. But that will change without a doubt, it's only a matter of time.

The general manager of The Montgomerie, Dubai Ray Metz takes a somewhat different view on the growth of the golf industry.

"The demand for golf in Dubai is booming, with various golf tournaments placing the city in the global spotlight. New courses have a complementary role in further boosting the profile of golf in Dubai," he says.

Whichever side of the fence one sits on, golf does not just have to be a leisure pastime for the rich, but a sport that may appeal to those turned off by football or rugby, swimming or the gym. For this reason, a priority is to open it up at a grass roots level.

Grassroots golf

Golf experts agree that there's a desire to get more people into golf, but that the green fees prevent this from happening.

For golf legend Gary Player, the hands-on designer behind the planned Saadiyat Beach Golf Course on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, this needs to change.

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