Emirates Golf Club club manager Barney Coleman is off to new pastures as he is returning to the UK to become the GM at Burnham & Berrow Golf Club in Somerset.

Golfbusinessnews.com announced the news on Friday, bringing Coleman’s six-year stint as EGC manager in the UAE to an end.

During his time in Dubai, Birmingham native Coleman has overseen operations at the home of the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic and began his career there in 2006.

He had previously been working at PGA’s National Headquarters at The Belfry.

Photo by Burnham & Berrow GC

Photo by Burnham & Berrow GC

“I am honoured and humbled to be offered the position as General Manager of such prestigious club as Burnham & Berrow Golf Club,” Coleman told Golfbusinessnews.com. “I am excited about the opportunity ahead and am looking forward to working closely with the fabulous team and proud membership of one of the UK’s premier golf clubs. The club has recently engaged with the membership to discuss future strategies and projects and I look forward to bringing them into fruition on behalf of our passionate members.”

Photo by Burnham & Berrow GC

Jeremy Hodge, chairman of Burnham & Berrow Golf Club, added: “We are thrilled to welcome a general manager of Barney’s calibre to the club and we look forward to harnessing his skills and undoubted experience to build on the great work that has been achieved in recent years. He joins us at a key time and I’m positive he will play an integral role in the continued success of the club and further enhance all areas of the Burnham & Berrow experience.”

The post Emirates Golf Club’s Barney Coleman heads to new role in UK appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Indeed, there will be more moon – and definitely more floodlighting – at the second edition of the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic this year after feedback from players and fans following last year’s change to a Pro-Am format under lights.

In reality, the pros played as few as five of the 54 holes last May under floodlights on the Faldo and found it difficult transitioning between dusk and full darkness at Emirates Golf Club. There will be no such challenges for the 56 pros at the $285,000 event from November 4-6 – they will play two of the three rounds completely under the Faldo’s LED lights.

“The Moonlight Classic was a new initiative last year which was day-night golf. After last year’s inaugural event, we got feedback from the players, feedback from the sponsors and we felt the night elements were good but there wasn’t enough of it,” said tournament director Simon Corkill.

“We’ve got a great concept, great golf course, the Faldo course under lights, let’s really maximise it and tell that story for Dubai. There aren’t many places you can play championship golf under lights on such a wonderful golf course.”

The shift from May to November and to later tee times – alternating 11.30am and 5.30pm shotgun starts in rounds one and two and the final round fully under lights – won’t be the only noticeable change to the Moonlight Classic.

Corkill and the team from Falcon and Associates want the LET event to be a conduit to golf for non-golfers and are introducing a food market as one way to achieve that remit.

“We looked at the event last year and thought, alright, if we are going to really change to a night event, let’s create a reason for people to come to the golf club as well as for the golf,” Corkill said.

“Providing a location and also an activity for friends, family, couples, everyone, to decide to come to Emirates Golf Club, we need to create an attractive proposition so having a night food market, a music element, having a come and try golf experience, is imperative.”

The challenging closing hole on The Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club.

Corkill also hopes regular golfers will take the chance to watch a game with which they are more familiar, notwithstanding potential social distancing and probable health and safety restrictions likely to be in place during the three-day tournament.

“I think it is great to educate everyone in the game of golf and what is so fantastic about the ladies game is people can relate to it. I mean the guys are bombing it so far, you can’t relate to it. The women’s game is excellent and the women players are very accessible as well.”

Corkill is hopeful of having “the top players” from the LET as part of the “intimate” field come November and is also chasing a handful of LPGA Tour stars, pending any COVID-19 travel challenges.

“We’re trying to get two or three marquee players. One reason for the change to the November date is that it is against the LPGA in Japan which is a limited field so we hope to get two to three players, whether they are the top Europeans who play on the LPGA Tour or Americans, we’re certainly looking to get some key, marquee players to headline the event.”

The 13th edition of Dubai’s annual LET stop enjoyed a grandstand finish last May with Spaniard Nuria Iturrios (pictured below) edging Germans Olivia Cowan and Esther Henesleit by a stroke to become the first nighttime winner.

The post OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic organisers double down on night aspect, add food market to LET stop appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 25-year-old Englishman fired a best-of-the-day and could-have/should-have been better 65 on the Majlis to move from 10 strokes back starting the third round to just seven behind leader Sergio Garcia overnight.

Hatton is in a four-way share of seventh with Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin, Englishman Chris Paisley and Spaniard Nacho Elvira and will need something special Sunday to mount a serious title challenge.

But the world No.23s charge Saturday and near-misses in his two previous Middle East events – T2 at November’s DP World Tour Championship and T13 at Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago after leading through 54 holes – point to that capability.

Starting on the 10th at -2, Hatton gave little indication of what was to come when he traded a birdie on 13 for a bogey at 15. But the High Wycombe wonder then played the next five holes in a scintillating six-under-par, sparked by a eagle two on the drivable par 4 17th. Four successive birdies followed before further gains on the 5th and 8th.

Hatton had a putt for a 63 on the 9th only for it to burn the left edge of the hole and roll five feet by. Sadly his par save was returned with a tad too much venom, rimmed out of the hole and was admonished with a bath as he flung the disobedient sphere into the lake fronting the testy par 4 in disgust.

The frustrating late blip aside, Hatton was happy with his day’s work having completed his weather delayed second round with two birdies in his last three holes for a 70 alongside Henrik Stenson and Garcia.

“Yeah, definitely. If you said I was going to shoot 7-under (65) after my first seven holes [in the third round}, I probably would have been slightly surprised,” said Hatton whose European Tour breakthrough came at last October’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. “It was a great last 11 holes. I’ll try and forget about the 9th green.”

So did you feel a good score coming on?

“No, not at all. I didn’t strike the ball particularly well, especially this morning. And playing next to Stenson and Garcia, probably exaggerated that for me because they hit the ball so good. It was frustrating this morning. Although I scored actually okay, my game just didn’t feel good at all. So I’m very happy with this afternoon’s score.

“The first few holes started off as they had very similar to the previous two rounds. [But then] I hit a really good shot into 17, went for the green, hit it to about six or eight feet and made that and I’m two-under. So set me off and got on a good run there.

“I love being out here. The golf courses [in the UAE] are fantastic and always in good condition. Quick greens is what players like, so I always look forward to coming back.”

The post Tyrrell Hatton proves <br> his desert pedigree <br> with the move of moving day appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Hatton hosted a pre-tournament clinic on the driving range that offered guests an insight into the practice rituals of one of the tour’s brightest young stars, before the Englishman assumed his place on the picturesque par 3 seventh for a Beat-the-Pro Challenge. At the dinner and prize presentation, Hatton gave a Q&A session where he discussed everything from his favourite aspects of life on tour to his favourite Hilton hotel.

In the competition itself, the team of Phill Robson, Auz Austin, Zhang Luxin and Jin Chunjing compiled an impressive score of eight-under par (80 points) to win by two. The quartet of Hannah Lubke, Ayumi Kitawaki, Toby Adams and Khalifa Al Masaood claimed the runner-up spot on six-under, while one stroke further back in third was the team of UK PGA professionals Rick Shiels and Peter Finch, with Neil Tappin and James Leeman.

Hilton is the Official Supplier to the European Tour and Official Partner to the Asian Tour. Hilton has eight properties in the UAE, with Hilton Invitational guests all hosted at the Hilton Jumeirah Beach

The post Tyrrell Hatton hosts inaugural Hilton Invitational at EGC appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.