Latest / The Backdrop Podcast / Episode 6 - Stephen Wilson, Director of Events and Partnerships at Five Iron UAE

Transcript

Episode 6 - Stephen Wilson, Director of Events and Partnerships at Five Iron UAE · The Backdrop Podcast

• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Bible.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: This week on the show, we're joined by Stephen Wilson, who is head of events and partnerships at Fiveiron UAE.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Steven is a PGA professional, turned events and partnership leader.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Stephen began his career working on one of the UAE's premier golf events, the Deep B World Tour Championship, before moving into the hospitality and sports sector.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Today he leads a development of partnerships and experiences that are redefining how people engage with golf.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Rather than relying on the traditions of the game, Steven focuses on making golf more accessible, inclusive, and commercially relevant using experiential venues, strategic partnerships, and innovative event concepts to introduce both individuals and corporate audiences to the sport in entirely new ways.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be a fascinating conversation about the intersection of sport, hospitality, events, and business and how experience-led engagement is helping grow the game of golf beyond the fairways.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the show.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Stephen.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Stephen, thank you very much for joining us.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, really, really happy you could make the time.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it's actually quite baffling how you find any of your schedule to be here because you guys are really, really busy.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: So again, thank you for coming.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate it.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for that.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having us.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, Michael, appreciate it.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I mean, we are we're full on at the moment.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: We are in the middle of a huge expansion across Five R and UE across the the whole region.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, everybody knows is for our West End Mini Siahi venue, which is now exploding.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're seeing 7,000, 8,000 people coming through the doors every month there, which is super exciting.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're we've really built community there.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: And during this kind of tough period, it's been amazing.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh around five weeks ago, we opened Business Bay and Demack Towers by Paramount.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: So venue two is now live and and kicking.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh membership has been beyond our wildest dreams, really, for that venue.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: We've already exceeded our expectation for our first two months.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and now our attention turns to Yas Bay.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, as you say, there's a lot going on.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're running around between Abu Dhabi, Dubai, also pushing into other Emirates and in due course as well.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it's quite the complex in Abu Dhabi.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's going to be amazing.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Is it two levels?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it is.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: And we are we're very proud that the West End's the largest five iron in the world, very Dubai stand-up.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um 32,000 square foot.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we are proud to announce that Abu Dhabi is actually even bigger.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we're 34,000 square foot there.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: So um Abu Dhabi will officially be home to the world's largest five iron, which is going to be pretty amazing.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's two floors, uh 12 golf simulators.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh one thing we've learned massively is we need more event space.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you now have in the upper in the in the first floor, you have space for around 400 people in a network in this situation.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: We then have a 10,000 square foot terrace which can host six, seven hundred people.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we've got some really cool stuff planned for this winter um when it comes through, obviously, with Abu Dhabi Championship at Yas Lynx, and then obviously the Formula One as well.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: So we're uh we're super excited for what better place than Yas, though.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's that's a great place.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's a special place.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: You guys are giving Starbucks a run for their money.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's incredible.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but uh you yourself, so you you were the head of events and partnerships.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Correct, yeah.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So someone like you in that role has a lot to do.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: So um I wanted to just uh kind of delve a little bit into or the tie-in between you know your past and what you're doing now.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: You've got a massive golf like PGA, you've got a huge, huge um background in corporate tie-ups, corporate branding, but in the golf sort of realm.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: What are you seeing now?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because I see a huge, personally, a lot of of sort of connectivity between the golf world and the events world, networking, yeah.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, a lot of golf events are are creating a lot of opportunities uh at for peripheral events as well.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: So what what what are you seeing now with with this new world of golf and events?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Golf changed, right?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Especially in this region.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: So COVID changed everything for golf in this region.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was the first thing that allowed people back out.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we've seen a huge uptake, which then also shifted the perception of the game from both a corporate standpoint and an individual standpoint as well.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we are now seeing more companies want to buy in from an exposure standpoint at a global level, whether that be you know DP World Soil Championship, etc., some of the brands you're seeing involved in that now are incredible.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but also at a local level, you're seeing so many companies benefit from what golf can offer.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because just as you've said, like from a networking standpoint, from a client engagement standpoint, whatever that may be, it's um it's very unusual to get a game that forces people to speak to each other quite as much as golf does.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the traditional game itself, you're you're forced to be with someone for four hours, whether you like them or you don't like them.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so um we're kind of bridging that gap in terms of of how long it takes.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we still give that networking opportunity and that ability to bridge business and the sport together, which is the most important thing.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I see that um we all know that golf is such it's such a massive part of the identity of the UAE.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're we're bringing in the best of the best.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: We have some of the best tournaments in the world, if not the best in the world.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: We have some incredible courses, but many months of the year, although friends are still asking to come for a tea time at 2.30 and 3.30, yeah, those brave souls and you know who you are.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um there it's really, really tough for for a lot of the year to get out on the course.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you guys really nailed it.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there were I guess some simulators to some degree in in in different places.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: But you guys have really packaged it.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: You've you've created the blueprint.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: So what are you seeing now for?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you answered a little bit of this, but I just wanted to sort of expand on, you know, why you think that a place like Fiveiron has become an event destination for a lot of people.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that kind of ties in with the fact that it's it's a marriage made in heaven with with the weather and and what you offer inside.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, first and foremost, location is everything, right?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: We know that if you put if you put the most amazing venue in the middle of somewhere where it's impossible to get to, traffic can be a nightmare, etc.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: etc., it becomes less appealing.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: We have really been fortunate, and it's by design from our our team where you know Western Minasiahi, prime prime location, people are always going to be around that.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: From a tourist standpoint, we drive that through the door, but more importantly, that captive audience.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and now for us during this kind of what we regard as our peak season where the temperature comes up, yeah.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's peak season for somebody.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's got to be for someone, right?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing, and it's super interesting, and this is for for track man globally, which is the technology we use.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you go to any commercial sim centre across the world, whether it be five iron or not, if you go in and you look at their most played golf course, it will more than likely within the top three will be the closest one to that venue.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it happens for us.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: So despite the fact that people are playing indoors, they're playing Emirates Faldo, they're playing Magulus, they're playing Jameer Golf Estates Earth course, they're playing the Fire course.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So we get that option for people to be able to play these best golf courses, but during the summer and also in a more kind of time-convenient way.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's yeah, it's very, very cool.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: So the this uh this well, the the five iron that that I've been to, the new one in Paramount, I think it's fairly new.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, obviously I've been to to uh for a few a few times uh at the uh Minut Si Ahi, yeah, uh which is an incredible venue.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's sort of the the flagship.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: The OG um and it's so popular.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's so incredibly popular.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: In in fact, I mean, as you know, I'm I'm hosting a group of 60 people after this to be there.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I mean, the only place I can think that could host a huge group of people and have three hours, four hours, five hours completely full of activity is is a place like this.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not just simulators.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, how do you see as you guys are growing?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I'm sure this always comes up in meetings, um, in development meetings and planning meetings, and and of course with I I guess with with David Zabinsky, an old friend of mine, and uh and uh one of the owners uh who just does not sleep apparently um he uh you know the group itself always needs to think of the customer experience.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because events are not just workoutings, hey, let's go hit a few golf balls.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's it's uh it's actually business breakfasts and a lot of stuff you guys are organizing.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: What do you see now for what what are what do you see in terms of client engagement and that experience that you're providing and how it's growing within any of the five hours?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, so for us, we're also learning as we go, right?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we we spoke just before this about our new sports bar, Dirty Birdie.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: So within the the the the OG, the Western Minnesota, we had a space on the left-hand side, which ultimately, over the first 12 months of that venue being open, we realized that it was functioning almost as a waiting room for people more than anything else.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we decided that you know what, that's uh an awesome opportunity for us to create a new privatised space for events.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we've now created what you would maybe regard as a traditional British pub or Irish pub potentially.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's got that dark look and feel.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's good for around 75.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: I like to say warm and cozy.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, that's that's it.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's it.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, so it's good for 75, 80 people seated, um, but it's got got capacity for a couple hundred people in there, you know.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I think when you look at what we're doing, just as you said, it can be 7 a.m.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: to 1 a.m.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: is our opening time standard, right?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: So 7am breakfast networks, lunchtime breakout meetings, you know, play some golf on the Sims.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: You've always got that ability for multi-sport as well.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not just a golf place, as you said.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can play football, you can play um basketball, you've got bowling, you've got your favourite shuffleboard at the top of the stairs as well, you know, you've got um you've got a whole host of things.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I think to answer the question, you know, very concisely, people now are looking for ROI from a corporate standpoint, you know, they don't want to invest six, seven hundred dirhams in a uh per person on a uh a fancy dinner where everybody ends up sitting on their phones because that's kind of the way the world's ended up, right?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we allow people to engage in such a way, and also most importantly, they feel like they get real value for their money.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you come down to us for for not too much money and you enjoy yourself for two, three, four hours.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, our food and beverage programme is fabulous.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Big shout out to our ops team for that, you know.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have and the food is amazing, it's proper, right?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's very, very it's changed, I think, recently.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: So Chef Nigel uh lobster risk rings, like the brunch menu now, right?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: So um Michelin started.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: We eleven we elevated it.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the reality of it is for the for the brunch menu you're referencing, Dubai's famous for brunchers, right?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, of course we're now giving people the ability to enjoy themselves from an activity standpoint, which has allowed us to be quite close to full capacity every week.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: But we were then seeing how do we retain these guys, you know.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: So you you then elevate the food experience for it.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: The service is always pretty good with us.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: We're always we're always, you know, we're five-star on Google still, which is quite incredible.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, we've we've elevated that side of it, and now we're seeing brunch every Saturday, fully booked.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, today you guys have got a good good group coming in as fully booked this evening as well.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: We've got another, we've actually got a corporate group in this evening and live entertainment.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: So in between brunches, we we host um we've got band uh and then DJ in the evening as well.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: So every box is checked.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Incredible.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: So when you guys are thinking of, I mean, when the group is getting, you know, CDME leadership getting together and you're deciding on the new one, and yes, okay, it has to be double decked, we got to go bigger, bigger, bigger.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about the facilities within and all the things that you can do, the activities that you get, and so you're covering everything to make sure that people stay for a long time.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: But what about the sort of the more infrastructure-related features?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are you are you guys thinking of uh are you doing any kind of like benchmarking with other groups?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: This, you know, is is anyone getting around flying here and there to see what are they doing, what are they doing?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: We need to amp it up a little bit because you have, but is there something that you feel in the future could be for sure.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like we we're very lucky to be part of such a strong brand globally.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so our our corporate team in in the US, where the the five iron brand originated um in 2017, we we benchmark ourselves against those guys.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: They've been doing it for longer than us.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they've also been doing it in such a variety of cities as well, you know, everything from New York, you know, real financial center, which is what we're trying to pull on for our business bay venue, through to more, you know, can you your your family-oriented venues just launched in Miami as well, you know.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: And we're we're learning from all of these guys.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: We're trying to understand what are they including, you know, things that work in the US.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: Will they work here?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: We'll try it, you know.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, and you've seen that throughout what we've been doing.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and as we continue to grow, the larger the venues get, the more intricate they're getting for us in terms of it can't just be simulators, you know, where so yes will have the introduction back of Formula One Sims because obviously it's connected, right?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: It makes total sense.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you'll see the the fan favorites of billiards and and uh shuffleboard and all these kind of things.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: But as we grow, we'll we'll consider looking at, you know, it could be anything from bowling lanes, duck pin bowling, all of these different things.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, we we continue to evolve and understand what the market wants as well.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's the most important thing, right?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: I you're absolutely right.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think that that those profiles, the F1 guys and and and the you know, the people that go out for these big activities and in Yas Island at least, um they this is there, this is a great spot for them to come because it's it it provides a lot of uh activity.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: But when it comes to um partnerships and different events that you're hosting, do you want to give sort of an idea of some of the things you've seen or some of the things that you've you you're that are on the way that are being booked, something that's completely different that you've not seen before?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're um we're in a real interesting phase at the moment.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we've now we now have a brand recognition and in the region.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and now because of that, we're starting to see higher level corporates coming through the door there where we're really working hard within that market.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: One of the most important things with those guys is personalization.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: They don't want just like an event brochure, here's your event brochure, what what menu do you want?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they want to come down and experience the venue, they want to walk through, they want to understand, you know, what what can we actually do in here?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: And having such a uh a digital venue like we do, we can give people the opportunity to have so many different partners, sponsors within their own event, which obviously gives them the opportunity to initialize their own event as well, potentially, which therefore means for us, it it means more and more business from them.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not just that one-year one-off event, you know.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we've literally just in May we hosted um two two fully exclusive venue buyouts for uh one of our corporate partners.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the the plan was it went amazing.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: If it goes well, we'll just book with you next year.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: They booked in with us for next year.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: I had received an email two days ago saying, Stephen, do you know what?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Can we just do September as well?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: So now we've got two days from them in May, two days from them in September, two days with them next year.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's you know, if if we continue that real one-to-one personalization and that making the customer feel special, that's the most important thing.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, listen to what they want, understand.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to change your menu?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want something specific for your clientele?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: What do you have?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Do you how well do you know your customer?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's if we work together with these, you know, whether they be event coordinators from the professional sectors, you know, we can create some cool stuff.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Are are you getting any data from the customers?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting like you like feedback?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting information so you can sort of customize experiences a little more?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: So everyone that we um everyone that we now host an event with or a group booking with, uh upon the the could the completion of that event, they'll receive uh an email survey from myself um asking them for the feedback of how that went.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how did they find it?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: If they were to do it again, what would they do differently?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what can we learn from it as well?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because let's be honest, you you have to criticize yourself to make yourself better, right?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're flying, we're doing really, really well, but we need to continue to elevate that.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: And especially, you know, we've went from 32,000 square foot to not too far away from having 85,000 square foot to fill across three venues.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we we need to keep raising the bar and keep making sure where profile goes as well.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: You kind of force yourself in that corner now.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you get there's no coming down that keep going as well.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: As you said, David and and the guys, our ownership are are super ambitious and uh it's very, very it's cool to be a part of.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's a real cool it's amazing, and it's amazing to watch from a third person perspective, too.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's very, very cool, especially if you like the place, you know.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I do I do hope it goes well.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but I wanted to get um so I wanted to understand a little bit about now.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want to I want to be clear here.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Up until now, this seems like a paid advertisement for five hours, and it's not.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you, it's not.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's not.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is you know, golf plays such a massive part in the events uh sphere, you know, in the whole event spectrum because it's just related to peripherally as an activity where people network and they always have, it's always been an event.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Not just a sporting event, but an event where businesses come together, where partnerships are made.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that is it's the same as you know, a conference where people come together, they share business cards, they shake hands, they listen to people talk, they maybe convey a message of value to someone that might, you know, uh turn into something else.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what golf is.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: But you guys, again, have taken that and and created something, created a platform for people to do this in like not just in the summer, but all year round, obviously.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um so how do you how do you see golf in itself, like just outdoor golf, all of that in and where Dubai is going in terms of this uh the the golf uh the sport of golf and how important it's become?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: It it's so interesting because myself as a as a golfer, I'm a super traditionalist, okay?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: So um when people come into um Five Iron, they see everyone in shorts and t-shirts, they go, it's not really a golf feel.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that is that's the modern day golfer.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, okay.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Even today I'm sat here in golf trousers, uh, you know, a quite old-fashioned top.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm I'm very much a traditionalist when it comes to that.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: I struggle to find people who love golf more than what I do.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So when it comes to that question, I I could go on for a long, long time.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the reality of it is golf in this region is not going to stop growing.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um the the the leadership from you know, whether it be via Dubai Golf, Emar, whoever that may be, they continue to grow and they continue to evolve, and you're seeing that within the the facilities that they have as well.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a new golf course launching uh towards the tail end of this year in EMAR South.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I think that that in itself, after everything that's gone on so far this year, that is just such a good example of where the sport is at.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: More and more people are playing it.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: One of the most important things is it's not just an individual game anymore either.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: We're seeing more and more families involved in it, which therefore gives the sport a little bit more credibility.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, when it comes to you know, these large scale events you spoke about, DP World 2 Championship, Desert Classic.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you've even got like the Rack Championship and all of these things that people Don't even necessarily think about these are huge, huge scale events.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And they're growing number one, they're growing the awareness of the game in the region, but they're also growing the awareness of the region globally, which is so important as well.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it encourages people to come to Dubai, it encourages people to come and experience the UAE.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: And you will be very hard pushed to find a bad golf course out here.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um, I grew up in the west coast of Scotland, was super lucky with all the golf courses.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: We had a few, we had a few, but we um certainly didn't have the weather and we didn't have the facilities.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's something that people need to always realise and understand.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the most important things is the opportunity that gives, whether that be a C-suite professional who's just starting to play the game, yeah, or a five-year-old kid who's picking up a golf club for the first time.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: The UE is giving people the opportunity to play golf in better conditions with better facilities, and then added on with a facility like ourselves, more data and access than anybody's ever had before.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it it's it's going to continue to grow.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the game is more social than it's ever been before.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you only have to go to you know, come down to five iron on a Friday afternoon and you see the the guys in after work having their pints and enjoying themselves.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: But also you go to um Jameer Golf Estates, you go to Em Minutes Golf Club, these golf courses are packed, they're hated and even you know local market at the moment, that is what these people have been relying on.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's been no tourists for quite some time now.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: But can you think of any sport?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, literally think of any sport that's become young in terms of the players have become young.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, where I mean there there are no sports, even I mean, I can't think of any sports, really.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, there that were used to be an older generation that's become a younger generation.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Rory McElroy is, you know, he's he's not young, young, but he's young enough and he's popular and he's trending and he's yeah, you know, and then you've got uh actually Batia and uh Dunlap, Nick Dunlap, Tom Kim.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: These are all kids and they're killing it, right?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's gotta do something to encourage younger people to pick ups for clubs and just the most important thing now is fashionable.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it never used to be fashionable, it used to be it used to be quite stodgy.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, people used to look at golfers and they'd be like, if you go real back, plus fours and these like long socks.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't play that onwards and they're like you know, so now pants up to here and it's cool, you know.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think one other one one name you've not mentioned there, who I think the younger generation are fascinated with is young Australian guy Min Woo Lee.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Min Woo Lee has created a brand for himself, you know.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: He is getting slogans like let him cook shouted at him on every fairly.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason being is he wears cool clothes, he's a nice guy, and he's young.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: So for the younger generation who are obsessed with TikTok and Instagram and all these kind of things, they see him at least his train.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden it's like, okay, I actually want to play golf because it's actually a real cool sport.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because they think that, oh, you know, this is an old guy's sport.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, wait, it's not.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're taking over.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: So that's so that's your kind of teenage years.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then when you evolve into that young adult, you then realize, you know, you can combine that with a whole day out, especially here in the UE.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: You get on a golf cart, you get out there for four hours, music on, couple of cold drinks.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's tight me up.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: But Tiger Woods did, I mean, he was one of the only ones a long, long time ago when he was a kid.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was early 2000s, and he was just like, he was killing it.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he was and he was it was so cool seeing this this sort of mixed race young guy coming out in the in this field of other you know, other guys and just ripping it up, you know.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if he's the reason I play golf, yeah.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: He he really is a template, right?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I think uh one memory, you know, 2001, it's incredible, 2005, that night commercial where he chipped in at Augusta and the night logo sits in the hole, everything was like that was real life, you know.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: But it's a commercial, it was incredible, you know.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the vivid memories for me was when he came back in what would have been maybe 2015, 18, something after his injuries.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and he won in the US, and the whole crowd walked down that fairway with him.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the most important things was there was no mobile phones, there was just everybody enjoying what Tiger Woods were doing, and that was because Tiger Woods made the game so interesting in the early 2000s.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, a big thanks to him, people like Minwoli and Nick Pinlop and all these young, you know, the next generation of golfers.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I look at my fellow Scottish companions and you know, Robert McIntyre, top top ten in the world.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I we grew up claying golf at a very similar age.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, did I ever think that would happen?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: No, Ewan Ferguson, Connor Syme, all these guys have gone out and they've made a living for themselves.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you speak to every one of them, why did that happen?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Tiger will have an impact on all of it.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm sure for sure.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's undeniable, isn't it?
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: So what so how often do you get to play?
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we were scheduled.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: More than people would expect.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: No, more than people would expect.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's um it's my addiction, right?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm a I'm an early bird.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so from back in my days at at El's Club and Jemiro Golf Estates, I was I was there from an operations standpoint at 6 a.m., right?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm still five o'clock, I'm awake.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so quite often I'll be in five iron slightly before it opens, hitting a few shots, you know, making sure that I'm keeping my game going.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still playing all the PGA events.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we play um we've got the Emirates PGA, which is a a series of around 28, 30 events every season.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: We play every single course in the reason the region.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: We're so lucky.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we continue to grow that as well, you know.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're engaging with from that standpoint, we're engaging with corporate partners to create Pro Am series.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we we work with like Lincoln, for example, and we've got the Lincoln Pro Am series.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I still play a lot, still play a lot.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: I still played last night.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I was on I was on Fallout last night.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: Never played night golf.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I I can't understand the dynamics of it.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's tripping through the first few times, it's tough.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the lights, and especially I teed off 6 p.m.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: last night.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Sunset comes down, so you play your first four holes, five holes in daylight, and then it comes down, and it takes you about two holes for your eyes to actually calibrate to the lights.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um takes you a while, but it's it's very cool.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: And again, something the UAE offers you, there are not many places to, you know.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that's another that's another cool feature.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: Or somebody was mad when they thought let's do it at night.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's when it's pitch dark, let's this yeah, yeah, let's throw a couple of flashlights up.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um so let me let me ask you this.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's mid-November, you're going to play.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: What are your and this is not a shout-out to I'm just this is just I just want to I want it for myself, I want to find out what you think as a golf professional.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: What are your courses of choice?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Great question.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Anywhere in the UA, it could be anywhere.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: So UE focused a drive away.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not flying to Aberdeen or absolutely so UE focused.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: The for me, the most special golf course and the the most special environment you'll play is Yaslix.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you are on the water's edge, it's peaceful, there's no noise around you.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's maybe a few F1 cars and GT cars flying around the racetrack across, but that's quite cool in itself as well.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um the condition of that golf course over the last few years has just improved time and time again, and I struggle to think that there's a better experience.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: For me, my favourite golf course here is the Earth Course at Jamira Golf States.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: It'll always hold quite a special place for me.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was very lucky to be part of three DP World Tour championships when I was golf ops manager at JGE, and it was um it's a place I wander around and have a lot of fond memories from a working standpoint, from a friendship standpoint, but then from a golf course setup, there's not a bad hole in that golf course, and you need to be sharp as well.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you sleep, then it'll it'll kick you.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I'm good enough to play that.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'd be chased down by the parties behind me.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get you out there, we'll get you there.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: But uh I yeah, yes is I mean, yeah, you couldn't open in a better place than than that.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean this is Yas in general is just it's it's becoming the sort of the center of the UAE.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um Well, I I I'm really glad that I I got the chance to sit down and talk to you, Stephen.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: I know that you've gotta dash off on the road to Abu Dhabi.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really glad that you did take the time.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think I'd get you before August, but uh here you are.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Might air in August, but I I got you before then.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really happy that we got a chance to chat and talk about one of my favorite places, but also talk about something that's so, so important, if not, if not globally, at least in the UAE or in the region, and that is just the presence of golf as such a power of a force of nature in the events industry in general.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: So really, really happy that you could come.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much, Steven.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having us, Michael, and we look forward to showing you Yason as well.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: We'll uh we'll get you down and we'll show you my plastic kid clubs and uh not a tell we'll get you.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get you on Earth one day as well.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: I get it.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, man.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Cheers.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: The Backdrop Podcast was recorded at One Central Dubai, hosted by Michael McClennan and produced by Dan Powell.