The UAE’s budding junior golfers are set to receive a major financial boost courtesy GolfEx Dubai, the global golf summit and exhibition aimed at unifying the golfing world which takes place at the Jumeirah Conference Centre from January 29 to 30, 2006.
Organisers Driving Force have announced that ten per cent of profits generated by the event will be donated to the Junior Development Programme (JDP), established and managed by the UAE Golf Association (UGA). It’s a move that has been warmly welcomed by the UGA, a body that receives most of its finances for junior golf from sponsors and golf-related corporations as opposed to government assistance.
“This is a wonderful gesture and one that will go a long way to helping support the objectives of the Junior Development Programme,” said JDP chairman Mohamed Buamim, who also holds the roles of vice-chairman of the Dubai Desert Classic and Golf in Dubai (GiD), two organisations giving the two-day golf summit their full support. Primarily a conference, GolfEx Dubai will also host a trade exhibition and gala dinner and Neil Hamp-Adams, managing director of Driving Force, said the decision to put something back into local golf was an easy one. “GolfEx Dubai is the first convention of its kind aimed at uniting the sport and naturally we are delighted to be hosting it in Dubai, a venue recently described as the most exciting golf destination in the world,” he said. Among the key VIP speakers set for the GolfEx Dubai conference is Johan Immelman, commissioner of the South African PGA Tour and father of leading pro Trevor Immelman.