Change is good

I first arrived in Bahrain in May 1998. I recently got married to Judy and we had our first child on the way.

I had applied internally at Gleneagles Hotel for the position of general manager at Riffa Golf Club (Gleneagles had been appointed by the owners BIGCC to manage the new golf club) and had been offered the job. This was my first look at the project and at Bahrain.
Growing up in Scotland and working at Gleneagles (the most beautiful resort in the world), I was partial to a good bit of scenery. The first day I was picked up by the construction project manager Ron Broome and driven to the site.
It was a dusty day  – something that I would become familiar with – and Ron drove me through the industrial estate, not the most scenic of routes. I was missing Scotland already!
Was this the place I was going to bring my new bride and bring up my family?
When I got on site there was sand blowing everywhere, even with a detailed plan of the course you could not figure out where any of the holes went and we were due to open in eight months time. Being a cynical Scot, I thought it will never open on time and I was right!
The clubhouse was finished and opened in March 1999 and the course followed on soon after.
However, it was a huge learning curve and I survived to do it all again with Riffa Views.
Fast forward eight wonderfully challenging years where Riffa Golf Club went from strength to strength, where we were voted No 2 golf club in the Middle East twice (behind Emirates Golf Club), hosted the European Tour’s Senior Tour Championship on two occasions, the Gulf Air PGA Pro Captain Challenge on three occasions and the Pan Arab Championships twice.
The introduction of flood-lights in 2003 made a massive impact to the club and made the club so much more sociable and the business easier to manage.
The club has always had the accolade of being the most friendly in the region. This is down to the membership and the attitude the members bring to the club.
Our various club captain’s over the years have put fun and social golf to the fore front and kept the “snooty” element out. This had made the club warm and inviting and made new comers feel welcome which is very important in a transient location like Bahrain.
This, like many of the traditions that have evolved over the years at Riffa, will be brought forward into the new club when it opens next year.
I was nervous about what the new Riffa Views development would do to the strong vibrant club we have today. However, as we get closer to closing we get closer to reopening and I am confident that during the period of closure our club membership will become stronger and the social scene more vibrant due to the various activities we have planned.
Golf is golf where ever it is played ... but it is the people who make the club’s atmosphere.
Looking back over the last eight years Bahrain and the region has changed so much and I think because of that it is appropriate that Riffa changes for the better too.
The development will bring us a fabulous new golf course which will pose an equal challenge to all category of golfer, a fabulous new golf academy and practice facilities, a par three course which will be great for all new golfers, junior players and people with time constraints.
The new club house will meet the demands of our growing membership and visitors and the country club will be the focal point of the new Riffa Views community.
Bahrain “discovered” golf in the 1930s and has produced the best Arab players over the years. By right it is the “home of golf” in the region a title taken from them by Dubai. I think the new course the facilities and the interest in the game that Riffa Views has produced will help get Bahrain back to the fore front of golf in the region. Wouldn’t it be great to see Bahraini golfers compete on the international circuit? Riffa Views is just one part of that jigsaw in the development of golf in Bahrain that will help make this happen.
I have been fortunate to be surrounded by people who have shared the vision of making Riffa the best golf club in the region. My thanks goes out to our chairman Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa for guiding this vision, our vice-chairman Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa for all of the time and energy he has put into the business and to the management team at the club who make it such an enjoyable working environment every day.
It goes without saying that without the club members the club would never have succeeded and we certainly would not have been in a position to grow with out them. Their enthusiasm for golf, camaraderie and travel has carved the traditions of the club and long may this continue into the future.
I think I am in the unique position of being the only club general manager who in 10 years will open a club, see it grow, close it down, re-build it and then re-open it! I have always liked a challenge!
On reflection the scenery I craved all those years ago is about to be created at Riffa Views ... roll on 2008.