Braidwood under the spotlight

Full name, job title, age?
Michael Braidwood, general manager of Riffa Golf Club (and BIGCC (Bahrain International Golf Course Company, the owning company of Riffa Golf Club). Age 37.

Why did you come to Bahrain?
I came to Bahrain in 1998 to take up the position of general manager of Riffa Golf Club. At this time the course and the clubhouse were under construction. The management of the club had been contracted out to Gleneagles Hotel who I was previously working for.

What was your first job with Riffa Golf Club and how did you get to your current position?
My first job at Riffa Golf Club was general manager, however, with the business being new and growing steadily my role covered as much operational matters as it did managerial. As the business grew over the years I have been fortunate enough to add to the operations team allowing me to focus more on the management of the business and the owning company BIGCC.

What is your funniest Riffa Golf Club golfing story?
Over the last eight years there have been so many humorous happenings at the golf club. Riffa Golf Club has a tremendous camaraderie amongst the membership and the stories are too many to mention, here is a snippet of a few:
● Any CFC Masters tournament always gives some great laughs (The CFC Masters is an annual fancy dress tournament played around Christmas time).
● Glenn Stewart and I taking a 16 at the 9th hole in a club greensomes event. It wasn’t funny for us, but our playing partners loved every minute of it!
● Monkey in the club house … say no more.
● The day/ week the Real Blokes’ rabbit went missing. A group of Bahrain resident golfers called the Real Blokes play a monthly tournament with the main prize being a stuffed rabbit! Well the winner on this occasion inadvertently left it behind and Mr Bunny went on a trip!

What ONE tip would you give to a golf fanatic?
Learn the traditions and etiquette of the great game and don’t take it too seriously – after all it is a game! Sorry that is two tips.

What was your first reaction when you heard about the plans for Riffa Views?
I was involved in the conception of the idea. In 2003, David Dean a director of Gleneagles and I explored ways in which Riffa Golf Club could grow and develop in the future. Golf clubs are slow to bring investors a return so expansion was an obvious way forward to meet the expectations of the initial investors. With the assistance of our chairman Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and our vice-chairman Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa we managed to secure additional land around the club. We then developed the initial concept and feasibility study and proved that it was a viable proposition. The board liked what they saw and told us to go forward and find an investment partner. This is when Arcapita Bank became involved and we formed the joint venture company Riffa Views. The concept has changed slightly since the initial study we carried out. We had more golf and less houses, but what would you expect from a golf company!
The final master plan that Riffa Views have created is the right one for all concerned and we will end up with the best golf community in the region.

What’s it like to be associated with one of golf’s greatest names – Colin Montgomerie who is designing the Championship Golf Course?
Colin first came to Bahrain in 2004 to playing an exhibition match for one of his sponsors Ebel Watches. He spent just over two days here and was phenomenal in his professional approach to every request. I was fortunate enough to play golf with him and to see the quality of his play close up was a great experience. When Richard Browning (CEO of Riffa Views) and I reviewed the signature architect options for Riffa Views Monty was an obvious choice. He has a golfing legacy already and he is probably one of three leading current players who will make a future in the golf course architecture business. His eye for detail as a player is exceptional and he has carried that through into design. We like his design philosophies and they fit in well with the type of terrain and windy conditions we experience in Bahrain. When he is on site he is great to work with and gives 110 per cent to this project. 

How do you feel about the temporary closure?
As the club manager I resisted any thought of closure in the initial period of the development, but as the development took shape and the scale of the construction work became apparent it was an obvious decision for us to close. It would have been impossible to operate to a high standard during the construction phase and it would also have put our members and guests at risk by having them play golf in the middle of a construction site. It is the right decision and one that has aided us in accelerating the over-all construction time table.
As a result of the closure we have created many ways of keeping the golf community occupied. A new driving range is currently under construction at the Bahrain Golf Club, we are installing a golf simulator in our new shop in the Country Mall in Budaiya, we have arrangements to play at Awali and the Bahrain Golf Clubs, we have numerous overseas golf trips organised and we will carry on teaching junior and ladies golf at the Ritz-Carlton. The time should pass by very quickly!

What tasks lie ahead for you and the team up to April 2008?
We have a lot of work planned for the period of closure and all of our staff will be kept occupied. The golf course maintenance team will be responsible for growing in the new golf course. We accept handover of each hole from the contractor as soon as the sprigs of grass go into the ground.
My golf shop team has the challenge of opening our new golf shop in the Country Mall in October. This shop will be a golf, tennis, lifestyle shop, will feature our new golf simulator and will have a very modern approach to golf retail.
The operations team will operate the new driving range at the Bahrain Club and will organise and carry out all of the additional events we have organised for our members.
The golf pros will keep busy teaching at both the Bahrain Golf Club and the Ritz-Carlton.
From a management perspective we are focusing on developing the best team to operate the new club so our focus will be on training and development of our existing employees and the recruitment of new team members.
We are also heavily involved in the development from the golf perspective so a lot of our time will be taken up with the new golf course and club house refurbishment.
Our owning company BIGCC is expanding into the landscape business and we are currently forming that division. We are also expanding our golf cart maintenance and leasing business.

What is your hope/vision for the future of Riffa Golf Club and its members?
That the new club will be the best in the region.