RIYADH, 23 March 2006 — Call it a makeover or image-building, if you will. The Saudi Golf Committee is to launch a high-profile campaign to reintroduce golf to the sporting public and attract more Saudis into the game.
To woo the citizens of all ages specially the golf-minded individuals the SGC under the aegis of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare herded more than 20 members of the Arabic media (print and electronic) at a news conference on Tuesday night at the Radisson Riyadh SAS Hotel ballroom and gave them a crash course on golf, laying emphasis on the role they play in the promotion of golf in the Kingdom.
SGC President Khaled Abunayyan said of the total golfing population of 3,500 in the Kingdom only 100 are Saudis or roughly a ratio of 1 to 35 — a telltale statistic that Abunayyan said is about to change.
He added they would like to open golf to a wider audience. At present Saudis playing the game are mostly top executives of big companies.
“But it will be a lot of hard work and will take a long time. There will be more committees to come after us before we get the job done,” said Abunayyan.
He, however, said they are starting to sow the seeds by aggressively developing a junior golf development program. Early this year Dirab hosted a week-long golf training camp for the youth and at least nine emerged with the potential to become members of the national junior golf team.
The estimated number of golfers in the Kingdom was based on the memberships at golf clubs across the Kingdom. There are five all-grass courses in Riyadh including the 18-hole championship layout at Dirab Golf Club and Riyadh Golf Club.
Aramco has one all-grass course in Dhahran and maintains sand courses in Abqaiq, Ras Tanura, Yanbu and Odeliah, according to committee representative from the Eastern Region Yousef Al-Mahfouz.
Jeddah used to have the Durrat Al-Arous grass course,which closed down more then three years ago. Desert Lakes Golf Club and Trio Ranch are the ones left to cater to the playing needs of Jeddah-based golfers.
While local golf tournaments are well covered by the English press, there is little or no mention of the same in the Arabic press which, in contrast, devotes pages of soccer coverage.
Dirab Golf Club manager Bouchaib El Jadiani complemented the slide presentation for the benefit of Arabic press with a golf equipment orientation.
In closing, Abunayyan thanked the media for their support.
“The media are our biggest supporters, our first line of defense to attract the fans and push the promotion of the game.”
Joining Abunayyan besides Mahfouz at the conference were SGC Secretary-General Ali Al-Sohaim and committee members Yousif Eddeewish and Saad Al-Otaibi. Also in attendance were Dirab Golf Committee chair and marketing manager Tom Matthews and Andrea Corvett and RGC general manager Nigel Roscoe.
Meantime, the SABB March monthly medal tournament tees off tomorrow at Dirab. The shotgun-style tee-off will be at 7:30 a.m. with 100 players entered in the competition.
