KT Exclusive: Emirati Abdulwahed eager to drive golf forward in the UAE

For someone who took to golf as a dare with his friend during his school days, Abdulwahed Al Qasem has surely come a long way. The Emirati was one of the byproducts of the excellent National Junior Development Programme run by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and went on to represent the country at numerous tournaments in the Middle East and the world.

Abdulwahed, who is among the top seven golfers in the UAE, feels that it is time to give back to the country that has given him so much. And with golf being part of his every waking hour and a massive part of his life — he works as the Senior Manager of Business Development at Dubai Golf, Abdulwahed is eager to increase golf tourism in Dubai and the UAE, while also hoping to drive the sport to more and more Emiratis.

“Now at my age, at my level, at my career, like playing for my country, it is a responsibility I have, I owe my country to now take golf to the next step,” Abdulwahed told the Khaleej Times in an interview.

The UAE and Dubai’s status on the world’s golfing map is well known with it being home to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic (formerly the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters), the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, which is the culmination of the Race to Dubai.

And this year sees the addition of another event — the Golf in Dubai Championship — which will be played out from December 2 to 5 at the Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Fire Course.

The UAE is also home to a staggering number of golf courses across the seven emirates. With top class infrastructure that can rival any across the world, Abdulwahed terms it as nothing short of a “miracle in the desert.”

“Dubai has done a lot for the world of golf and the world of golf has helped Dubai a lot.” he said.

And Abdulwahed’s burning ambition and dream is to leverage this and increase UAE’s standing as a top golf tourism destination.

“My ambition, day in day out is to stride forward into making this dream a reality. It is going to take time, step by step, it is going to take a lot of hard work, but most importantly, it is going to take a lot of cooperation and a lot of team work from all facets of the industry, whether it is hotels, government, media, federations. It has to be an all inclusive team effort towards a common goal,” felt Abdulwahed, who first represented the UAE in 2005.

“My dream is to be able to create something where we all sing from the same hymn sheet. That’s the metaphor I’d like to use for the golf course benefit, the guest benefit, the airlines benefit and the city of Dubai and the UAE to benefit from this. When people think about the UAE, 10 years ago they thought of oil. Now, they think of beaches and tourism. Not to take away from that but I want them to also think golf,” he explained.

Abdulwahed is also keen on growing the game in Dubai and the UAE and is closely working on the Get into Golf programme.

“Personally, I’m working on the Get into Golf programme with Dubai Golf. I want to spread the game of golf, to make it easier for people to access the golf course, to educate people,” Abdulwahed said.

The 31-year-old said the UAE has an exciting and good crop of young golfers but felt more could be done.

“Right now, we have an amazing pool of talent in terms of Emiratis. We also have amazing support from the EGF. When I started, there were 40 kids. It is still a challenge because golf, before it is a sport, it is an education, an awareness and a lifestyle. What we are doing with the EGF now is we focus on the juniors because that’s the future, that’s the next generation,” he said.

“If we can spread the word to as many people and if our success rate is five percent...800,000 Emiratis, five percent of that, you do the math, but that’s a healthy number. If we can get five percent of Emiratis to play golf, then this sport will be in a fantastic place,” added Abdulwahed, whose last appearance for the UAE was at the Arab Golf Championship in Aqaba, Jordan in December 2017.

james@khaleejtimes.com

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• Abu Dhabi