The new-look DP World Tour schedule for 2023-24 consolidated the UAE’s place at the top table of world golf, with five events slated across the emirates, including a season-ending double-header.

Following the traditional early-campaign events in Australia and South Africa before the Christmas break, the Tour rolls into the UAE in January for three back-to-back tournaments — including a new arrival in the form of the Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek Resort (January 11-14), before heading to Emirates Golf Club and the 35th Hero Dubai Desert Classic (January 18-21). The Ras Al Khaimah Championship at Al Hamra Golf Club rounds out the triple-header (January 25-28).

Both the Dubai Invitational and RAK event offer prize money of $2.5 million, with the Rolex Series Desert Classic having $9 million up for grabs.

In another revamp to the calendar, Bahrain will be joining the DP World Tour. From February 1-4, the Royal Golf Club will host some of the world’s top players to the resort, south of Manama, with a purse of $2.5 million.

Thomas Pieters thrived at a stormy Yas Links in 2022 to claim the Abu Dhabi Championship. Getty Images

In one of the most significant changes, the Abu Dhabi Championship has been moved from its traditional January spot to form a season finale play-off along with the DP World Tour Championship.

Running in November, these two two final Rolex Series events of the season with have a pool of $19 million in prize money. The Abu Dhabi Championship will welcome the leading 70 players on the Race to Dubai Rankings to Yas Links, before the top 50 head back to Dubai for the showdown at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where the DP World Tour’s Number One player will be crowned.

At the conclusion of the DP World Tour’s 2024 season, the leading 10 players will share a $6 million bonus pool. The top 10 DP World Tour members on the final 2024 Race to Dubai Rankings (not otherwise exempt) will earn PGA TOUR cards for the 2025 season.

“Our 2024 season will see our members come together to compete across a global schedule, with greater opportunities and rewards than ever before,” said Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s chief executive. “The many new and original enhancements we have introduced will guarantee drama and excitement for our fans, our broadcasters and all our stakeholders across the entire season and means, more than ever, that every week counts on the DP World Tour.”

Here is the full 2023-24 DP World Tour schedule

Opening Swing
November 23-26 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship (Royal Queensland GC, Brisbane, Australia)
November 23-26 ​​​​​​Joburg Open (Houghton GC, Johannesburg, South Africa)
November 30-December 3 ISPS Handa Australian Open (The Australian GC & The Lakes GC, Sydney, Australia)
November 30-December 3 Investec South African Open Championship (Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate, Lanseria, Johannesburg, South Africa)
December 7-10 Alfred Dunhill Championship (Leopard Creek CC, Malelane, South Africa)
December 14-17 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (Heritage La Réserve GC, Heritage Bel Ombre, Mauritius)
International Swing
January 11-14 2024 Dubai Invitational (Dubai Creek Resort, Dubai, UAE)
January 18-21 Hero Dubai Desert Classic (Emirates GC, Dubai, UAE)
January 25-28 Ras Al Khaimah Championship (Al Hamra GC, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE)
February 1-4 Bahrain Championship (Royal GC, Kingdom of Bahrain)
February 22-25 Magical Kenya Open (Muthaiga GC, Nairobi, Kenya)
February 29-March 3 SDC Championship (TBC, South Africa)
March 7-10 Jonsson Workwear Open (TBC, South Africa)
Asian Swing
March 21-24 Singapore Classic (Laguna National Golf Resort Club, Singapore)
March 28-31 Asian Event TBA (TBC)
April 11-14 The Masters (Augusta National GC, Augusta, Georgia, USA)
April 18-21 Korea Championship (Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, Incheon, South Korea)
April 25-28 ISPS Handa Championship (Taiheiyo Club, Gotemba Course, Gotemba City, Japan)
May 2-5 Volvo China Open (Hidden Grace GC, Shenzhen, China)
May 16-19 PGA Championship (Valhalla GC, Louisville, Kentucky, USA)
European Swing
May 23-26 Soudal Open (Rinkven International GC, Antwerp, Belgium)
May 30-June 2 European Open (Green Eagle Golf Courses, Hamburg, Germany)
June 6-9 Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed (TBC, Sweden)
June 13-16 US Open (Pinehurst Resort & CC, Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA)
June 20-23 KLM Open (The International, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
June 27-30 Italian Open (TBC, Italy)
July 4-7 BMW International Open (Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany)
Closing Swing
July 11-14 Genesis Scottish Open (The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland)
July 11-14 Event TBA (TBC, USA)
July 18-21 The 152nd Open (Royal Troon GC, Ayrshire, Scotland)
July 18-21 Barracuda Championship (Tahoe Mt Club, Truckee, California, USA)
August 1-4 Olympic Men’s Golf Competition (Le Golf National, Paris, France)
August 15-18 D+D Real Czech Masters (Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic)
August 22-25 Danish Golf Championship (Lübker Golf Resort, Aarhus, Denmark)
The Back 9
August 29-September 1 Betfred British Masters (The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England)
September 5-8 Omega European Masters (Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland)
September 12-15 Horizon Irish Open (Royal County Down GC, Newcastle, Co Down, Northern Ireland)
September 19-22 BMW PGA Championship (Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, England)
September 26-29 acciona Open de España presented by Madrid (Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
October 3-6 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie & Kingsbarns, Scotland)
October 10-13 Open de France (Le Golf National, Paris, France)
October 17-20 Andalucia Masters (Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, San Roque, Andalucia, Spain)
October 24-27 Event TBA (TBC)
DP World Tour Play-Offs
November 7-10 Abu Dhabi Championship (Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE)
November 14-17 DP World Tour Championship (Jumeirah Golf Estates, Earth Course, Dubai, UAE)

The post New-look landscape across the UAE and beyond after DP World Tour calendar shake-up appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Here author Rodney J. Bogg, the Middle East’s foremost golf historian, charts the rise of the iconic Dubai landmark 

“Hey big spender”. Those immortal words were hammered out by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey to more than a thousand VIP guests, headlined by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and more than a thousand VIP guests, on a starry night in January 1993. It was a fitting climax to the opening party for the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, a party that has gone down in the annals of this remarkable city as “The Party of the Century”.

Related: 25 facts to celebrate the Creek’s 25th birthday

Two days earlier the golf course had been tested by four of the world’s leading golfers in an opening tournament – the Dubai Creek Challenge – which was a curtain raiser to the 1993 Dubai Desert Classic. Isao Aoki, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, and Severiano Ballesteros competed over the back nine holes in front of a crowd of several thousand, many of whom were probably there to see the new course as much as the stars.

Is there a tougher, or more picturesque closing stretch in Middle East golf than the 17th (pictured) and 18th at DCGYC?

The course had been designed by the same course architect as the Majlis at Emirates Golf Club – Karl Litten – but on a very different site, with just a flat piece of land on the banks of the creek to work with. But work with it he did and the result was lauded by everyone who played it in the coming months.

From the outset the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club was far more than just a golf course. As the name suggests it housed the first inland marina in the region, with berthing for pleasure boats of all sizes, plus a workshop and the first chandlery in Dubai.

The Dubai Creek Golf Academy was the first of its kind – totally dedicated to teaching golf and bringing new people into the game –  a remit that continues to be fulfilled today, especially in the introduction of so many UAE Nationals – young and old – to golf.

The iconic clubhouse taking shape.

And then there was – and still is – the clubhouse.

Driving into the property today is like entering a hidden valley, with palm trees and bougainvillea lining the entrance road between half-hidden villas, bringing one to the lush fairways of the golf course, the richness of the Marina, the stone lined entrance to the hotel, all reflecting the amazing expansion that the club has seen over the past 25 years. But the highlight of it all is still the fabulous multi-tiered clubhouse which sits majestically overlooking the entire property.

Brian Johnson’s iconic building has received more awards, plaudits, and publicity than virtually any building in Dubai – the Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa apart. Voted Best of the Best by Golf World in 1997, it must surely be the only golf clubhouse to appear on its national currency, thanks to its unique – but classic – architectural style based on the design of the lateen sail of the traditional racing dhows that were such a thrill to watch sailing along the coast.

The island green on the 14th in build.

The first brochure published about the club was called “The Creek” (a name by which it is now affectionately referred) – with the tag line ‘More Than Just Golf’, which it certainly was even before the hotel and the 92 residential villas were added in 2005.

The hotel sits on a site that hosted some of the finest parties ever held in Dubai, including five Dubai Air Show Gala Dinners – headlined by such stars as Barry White, Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart – Shopping Festival openings, and concerts featuring the likes of Roger Waters, Asha Bhosle and Sir Elton John.

Enjoying a prime location the envy of any sports resort in the world, the Creek took full advantage of its good fortune and created some of the most exciting restaurants in Dubai. Over at the Yacht Club – its design based, like the clubhouse, on a nautical theme, this time the prow of a luxury cruiser – the Aquarium with (at the time) the first floor-to-ceiling aquarium in Dubai drew seafood lovers to its location overlooking the marina, while the Boardwalk became one of the city’s ‘must do’ experiences in every travel brochure, often serving in excess of 1000 covers on its wooden decks overlooking the sparkling waters of the creek.

Boardwalk dining at DCGYC.

Despite all this, the Creek is still a golf club, and has over the years hosted numerous international tournaments. In 1994, following the success of the opening tournament, the European Tour held its pre-Desert Classic exhibition match at the Creek for the second year, this time as the Reebok Challenge, featuring Isao Aoki, Fred Couples, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer, and Greg Norman, who, despite going straight onto the course after flying in from Tokyo, won by three shots over the back nine.

For three years between 1994 and 1996, the Creek played host to the Asian Tour, the US$500,000 events becoming he third ‘major’ on the rapidly developing tour. Despite the name of the tour, the Gadgil Western Dubai Creek Opens produced two winners from Australia – Robert Willis and Adrian Percey – and one from South Africa, Paul Friedlander.

But it was the 1999 and 2000 Dubai Desert Classics that really put Dubai Creek on the map internationally, when the tournament moved from its traditional home on the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club, to the tighter fairways of The Creek. Intended to demonstrate to the world that Dubai had more than one world class golf course, and to show off the ‘new’ Dubai skyline to the world, those Desert Classics were beamed to millions of household television sets around the world.

Enjoy a post round dip.

The two Desert Classics produced two first-time Tour winners in David Howell and Jose Coceres, but received most of its publicity for two other reasons – the USA-Open style rough which Course Superintendent Ken Glover produced in response to the Tour’s request to toughen up the course, and Director of Golf, Peter Downie, who nearly created the biggest upset in European Tour history when he led the field halfway through the third round, and actually threatened to win the 1999 Classic.

Argentina’s Jose Coceres won the 2000 Dubai Desert Classic at The Creek before the European Tour event returned to sister property Emirates G.C. where it remains.

After the Desert Classic moved back to its traditional home on the Majlis , the Chairman decided that the time had arrived to develop the hotel that had always been intended for the property. Although this took away the lucrative concert site, the advent of the Park Hyatt Hotel and the 92 residential villas – and the subsequent re-design of the golf course to accommodate them – changed the Creek from a golf and yacht club to a fully-fledged resort.

The Park Hyatt Dubai is regarded as the perfect luxury city centre retreat, with its stunning architecture, world-class cuisine, personalised service, and excellent facilities, including one of Dubai’s leading spas – the award winning Amara.

Opening fireworks.

The hotel and villas may have made the Creek the complete resort in physical terms, but it is still an abstract quality that continues to make Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club such a special place – something that has become known as the Creek Culture.

From the day it opened under the Chairmanship of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Creek has gained a reputation for its warmth and welcoming feeling, excellent service, and its friendly staff, much of the credit for which must go to the early management team, and especially front man Downie, whose expression “This is not a practise round, the tournament’s today” became the motto that defined the entire Creek operation.

The Creek is a Middle East landmark for more than just the world class golf on offer.

Today, under the excellent stewardship of wasl, DCGYC continues to develop – always dynamic, always changing, but always charming – and always focussed on His Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s vision
of a world-class resort, which personifies Dubai and its cultural heritage.

While January’s celebrations may not equal those of the opening party, you can be certain that the celebrations will nonetheless be typical of this fabulous resort – classy, friendly, and a credit to Dubai.

The par-5 10th hole.

The post Creek chic – Celebrating a Middle East icon appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

by Cennydd Mills
The putter is the most used club in the bag and yet it’s the one that you probably practice with the least. Think about that for a minute.

The key to eliminating those dreaded card and confidence wrecking three putts is to get the pace of your lag putts right. It’s also essential to be good at holing out the tricky shorter putts. In order to practice both elements, I use a simple putting game called “Lag and Drag”.

You simply do what it says on the box: lag your first putt as close as possible to the hole, obviously trying to hole it, and then instead of putting it in from the spot where it finishes, you drag the ball back a putter length. This means you’re always left a testing putt to improve your hole-out ability.

Try playing 9 holes on the putting green using this game, keeping count so you have a target score next time. Trust me, when you get out on the course, putting will feel much easier.

Those pesky short putts are a real drag when you miss them. So drag your lagged putt back a putter length and learn to knock them in with confidence. You should be aiming to hole your lag putt but even if it settles on the lip of the cup, drag it back. Your scorecard will thank you.

The post VIDEO: Lag and drag appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Jack Woods
Weight shift is something that many amateur golfers struggle with. Often, in an attempt to shift weight to the right side (for right handed golfers) during the backswing, amateurs end up swaying their hips which can negate the rotation necessary to make a full, powerful take-away.

The swaying movement can also cause the upper body to tilt left, creating a position “at the top” that is the opposite of what is desired. From a top of the backswing position like this, there are far too many things that can go wrong with players needing to make too many corrective movements in the downswing. This leads to inconsistent strikes and ball flights.

Ideally you need to feel like the lower body remains more central over the ball. The key is to use the upper body to shift weight right instead. This in turn allows for much better rotation and better posture retention throughout the backswing.

Check out the video here:

The post VIDEO: Throw the sway away appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Here’s a simple pace putting drill for you that is a great exercise to work on during the off-season.

Even though getting the line correct is a vital part of holing parts, mastering your pace is the single most important ingredient for consistent putting. If you can putt with good speed, you’ll never have much more than a tap-in for your next shot. In the video below, I’ll run you through a very simple box drill that will help you work on both uphill and downhill putts.

All you will need is 10 tee pegs and three golf balls and you’re good to go. Mark out three boxes using the tee pegs as illustrated, then putt balls to finish in each box. You’re not putting to a hole here, you’re simply focusing on pace. Check out the video and build this drill into your practice putting routine to become a better pace putter.

The post Video: Think inside the box with this pace putting drill appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.