Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is aiming to snatch the staging of the European Tour finale away from Dubai and rename it the Road to Abu Dhabi from 2012, the club’s new general manager has said.
“I think the economic realities in Dubai might make it impossible to keep staging the Race at Jumeirah [Golf Estates], Ray Manulat, the new general manager of Saadiyat Beach Golf Club told Middle East Golfer magazine.
“If that’s the case we would definitely be interested in taking over. Abu Dhabi is fast becoming one of the sporting capitals of the world: we have the Formula 1, Ferrari World and the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, so why not bring the Race to Dubai here too?
“There is no doubt about it, we have a strong commitment to tempt international golf events here and you can’t get any bigger, on the European Tour, than the Race,” he added.
The tournament is scheduled to be held at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates next year but is up for renewal in 2012. Manulat is confident he can convince Tour authorities to bring the competition to Saadiyat, which includes a Gary Player-designed Championship course and in 2013 will complete construction of a Frank Gehry-designed clubhouse.
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