Almost 100 executives from the international duty free industry will descend to Dubai to compete in the 30th edition of the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, taking place today and tomorrow at the Trump International Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club respectively.

The invitation-only tournament has attracted over 50 overseas players in addition to those competing from the UAE and Gulf region and has grown into one of the most popular events on the duty free calendar.

The tournament follows hot on the heels of this week’s Middle East and Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) conference, which this year is taking place in Accra, Ghana.

For thirty years, the golfing tournament which started as a concept to bring together representatives of the duty free industry to Dubai for a few days of friendly competition, has turned out to be one of the most successful and popular golfing events on the industry calendar.

Commenting on the forthcoming tournament, Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Dubai Duty Free, said: “We are proud to have been running this tournament for three decades, and we are looking forward to welcoming our players and guests this year to enjoy the atmosphere of friendly competition. This milestone year, which also coincides with another milestone year for the operation as we celebrate our 40th anniversary, is a fitting celebration and a great meeting place for those involved in the duty fee industry for social interaction. We are also happy to welcome back Des Smyth as our golf pro for the tournament.”

The past champions of the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup include Steve Flanagan (1993, 1996); Raimund Legnar (1994); Brendan O’Shea (1995); Noel Fox (1997- 2000); Jan Baljet (2001); Ulrik Moller (2002); Adel Zarooni (2003-2004); Art Miller (2005); John Kammerman (2006); Nayma Maya (2007); Mark Van Huesden (2008); James Kfouri (2009); Gurbax Singh (2010); Clark Francis (2011); Rabih Sfeila (2012); Dermot Davitt (2013, 2022); Denise Kennedy (2014), Bayer Khan (2015), Scott Campbell (2016), Clark Francis (2017), Cees van Dooren (2018), Richard Lombard-Chibnall (2019) and Marius Fouche (2021).

Image: Dubai Duty Free