By Joy Chakravarty
General Abdulla Al Hashmi, President of the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and the recently appointed Vice Chairman of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, was in an upbeat mood describing the upcoming Asia-Pacific Amateur despite a late-night flight from Morocco.
The excitement building up for the 16th edition of the Championship was a major factor, as was the fact that the 63-year-old shot a ‘dream round’ of four under par playing at the famous Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam a day earlier.
General Al Hashmi has been instrumental in securing several elite amateur tournaments for the UAE over the past four years, including the Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy earlier this year and the 2023 World Amateur Team Championship. He was also a key member of the EGF team that assisted in bringing the 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur to Dubai for the first time. And he is confident that this year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur, to be played at the Majlis Course of Emirates Golf Club from October 23-26, will inspire and make UAE junior golfers fall in love with the sport just like him.
“I think my own experience is a good example of what golf can do to you. I had played a variety of sports growing up, but once I started playing golf, I was hooked,” recalls General Al Hashmi, who is a former fighter pilot in the UAE Air Force.
As someone who completely appreciates the importance of the upward thrust needed for any plane to take off, General Al Hashmi believes this year’s Championship could be that force for golf in the Middle East.
“The 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur was important for us, but it came at a time when the world was going through a strange situation (COVID-19). What the UAE did that year was impress Augusta National Golf Club and The R&A with how good the facilities were in our country, how ready we were to host such big championships, and also with the way golf has developed in the UAE,” said General Al Hashmi, who was readying to lead the EGF at that time.
The UAE has long since hosted prominent professional events on the DP World Tour, but rarely any notable amateur events until 2021. General Al Hashmi and his team made it their mission to change that.
“When I took charge of the EGF, the Arab Federation countries were happy to just host the Pan Arab Championship or the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Countries) Championship. Only Morocco was producing players who could make it to professional tours,” said General Al Hashmi.
“After I attended the Eisenhower Trophy in France (in 2022), I thought we needed to change this and we needed to go international. We needed to produce champions by providing them pathways to progress to the next level. So, we also now host Challenge Tour and other development tour events and have tie-ups with other nations through which our players are given spots in international events.”
Another major step initiated by the EGF was to attract talent to the country by granting players UAE passports and providing them with all the facilities and opportunities that any UAE national player gets. Professional players like Spain’s Adrian Otaegui and England’s Josh Grenville-Wood, and amateurs like Jonathan Selvaraj, Sam Mullane and Rayan Ahmed now play under the UAE flag.
“Since they live here, some of them are born here, it seemed unfair that they were not getting the same opportunities to explore their abilities. It happens all over the world. Why can’t we do it?” he said.
“All this, along with the work that we are doing at the EGF, has had a major impact. In the Arab world, we are now either No. 1 or 2 [in golf development] along with Morocco. In Asian golf, we were ranked beyond 50 and now we are No. 12. That’s the progress we have seen.
“This year, as the host nation, we have five players in the Asia-Pacific Amateur. That’s going to be so inspirational for all the other players. The impact will be huge.”
General Al Hashmi said he won’t be surprised if all of the UAE players make the cut.
“For me, the best result would be if they all make the cut, and a couple of them are in contention on Sunday. I might be asking for too much, but I have full faith in them. It’s not an unreasonable expectation. They all know the golf course well, they are all prepared after a three-week camp in Morocco, and they are highly motivated,” he said.
“Our vision is to have a champion golfer from the UAE in maybe 10-15 years, and this year’s Championship is going to be an important part of that plan.”
Emirates Golf Club
Emirates Golf Club
Majlis Course, Hole 12
The R&A's work in the region
The work done by organizations like the EGF in the UAE, Golf Saudi in Saudi Arabia and the Indian Golf Union in India, is now being actively supported by The R&A , the world governing body for golf.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur Academy program, launched by the Masters Tournament, The R&A and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation in 2019, has aided growth efforts in the Middle East, including an Academy held in Dubai in 2022. One of the attendees of that Academy was Saleh AlKaabi, who became the first player from Qatar to make the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur in 2024.
The R&A has provided a new impetus to the development work done with the appointment of Neal Graham, The R&A’s Development Officer for the Middle East, Central Asia and India.
“Our role is to work and support our affiliates, the national golf federations across the region, as and when they require our assistance,” said Graham. “We are there to support and provide strategic advice and consultancy, and that can cascade down to programs like Golf Sixes, junior development programs, and high-performance programs. We share a lot of our experience and best practices with the affiliates around the world as well. We also help create programs and assets that help people play more golf.
Graham is in no doubt that the Asia-Pacific Amateur will make a major difference to golf in the region.
“We have been hosting these extremely important and high-profile professional events. But these amateur events are the future. These are the future champions,” explained Graham.
“For starters, this is where our young players get noticed. Many college coaches in the United States will keep an eye on what’s happening here. This is also where our federations get noticed. A good performance at the Asia-Pacific Amateur can convince the government back home that they are on the right track and unlock funding. For the federations, it is also an opportunity to meet and network with some of the most important people and organizations in the sport.
“The Asia-Pacific Amateur really has the potential to be a transformational week for golf in the region.”
