The battle for the Dallah Trophy between Viktor Hovland, Richard Bland and Rory McIlroy at the weekend will go down in the annals of great moments at the Dubai Desert Classic.
There have been plenty of those since Emirates Golf Club became the first in the Middle East to stage a European Tour event back in 1989.
From the region’s most historic tournament, the now-renamed DP World Tour caravan is now heading up the coast, to a venue that is ready to mint some memories all of its own.
Starting on Thursday, Al Hamra Golf Club will become the latest member of an elite club, when it makes its Tour debut by hosting the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital.
Al Hamra will immediately achieve something unique. None of the courses in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia — or anywhere else for that matter — staged its second tournament as soon after its first as Al Hamra will be doing.
Because of issues arising from Covid, the Qatar Masters was postponed midway through January. Having first decided back in October RAK was a worthy host for a new event, the DP World Tour this month asked if it could manage back-to-back weeks.
It met with a positive response. And so Al Hamra’s debut will be followed immediately by the Ras Al Khaimah Classic next week.
“The second week is a unique situation, purely based on what we are facing in the world,” said Craeg Deery, Al Hamra’s sales, marketing and membership manager.
“It is unfortunate for Qatar as a venue and a destination, but they are just moving that event — not cancelling it.
“What it did do is provide us with an unforeseen opportunity. It is like London buses: you wait for one to come along, then two come back to back. It is fantastic.
“We are really, really hoping this will put us on the map — or escalate what we already have.”
As Deery points out, Al Hamra and the Emirate in which it resides remain a relatively well-kept secret on the international stage. He is hopeful the arrival of golf’s elite will go some way to altering that.
“It is a phenomenal opportunity to showcase the whole destination, and what Ras Al Khaimah is about,” he said.
“Dubai and Abu Dhabi, rightly so, have a phenomenal reputation as world-class destinations for their golf course facilities.
“But we are lucky that other Emirates have that as well. We see that with the amount of guests we have coming across from Europe and the UK.
“They really enjoy playing here, despite not necessarily having heard of it before. They might have known it as somewhere just past Dubai Airport, but are not quite sure where it is. We just really hope it puts us on the map.”
Tour officials made their final inspection of the course in September, and confirmed it worthy of an event immediately.
Not everything ran smoothly thereafter, though. Within days of the Tour’s head of agronomy giving it his seal of approval, the system pumping water to the course broke down. The problem persisted for weeks.
Dindy Macatlang, Al Hamra’s course superintendent, and his team had to water the greens by hand in order for the Bermuda grass to survive, until the issue was eventually rectified. Not that even a seasoned observer would be able to tell by looking at the course now.
“At the end of the day, it is all summer grass, so drought resistant, Macatlang said.
“After 10 days, when we saw the golf course I was thinking, ‘This is really drought resistant?’ It was so brown. It was terrible. I couldn’t look at it.
“This was the first time in 25 years I’ve experienced something like this. That is why my head was really spinning, thinking, ‘How can I revive this golf course?’
“If we didn’t have a tournament, I could guarantee we could get the course back in due time. But with the tournament, the time frame is very small.
“At the back of my mind I was thinking, ‘Can we revive this?’ With proper planning, with the right amount of products we have, we have been able to do it.
“Two months from November 3 is what we had for tournament preparation. In two months, we have made a big turnaround. I am very proud of my team.”
Macatlang has a quarter of a century’s worth of experience in golf course agronomy. The fact he is not the only one in the Al Hamra management with such depth of knowledge is perhaps a clue to why the Tour deemed the place capable of hosting two $2 million tournaments.
Paul Booth, the club’s general manager, had a key role in organising the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in his previous role at the National Course.
“We had been talking to various tours about hosting an event here,” Booth said of how the Tour decided on RAK.
“To showcase the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, it has been great to get that done.”
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The biog:
Languages: Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, basic Russian
Favourite food: Pizza
Best food on the road: rice
Favourite colour: silver
Favourite bike: Gold Wing, Honda
Favourite biking destination: Canada
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
EXPATS
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History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
The specs
Engine: 2.5-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 400hp
Torque: 500Nm
Price: Dh300,000 (estimate)
On sale: 2022
The specs
Engine: 2x201bhp AC Permanent-magnetic electric
Transmission: n/a
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 659Nm
Price estimate: Dh200,000
On sale: Q3 2022
The%20Roundup
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Company%20Profile
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