Sport

We're on course for opening date

May 7 - 13, 2008
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Course designer and golfing legend Colin Montgomerie has been visiting Bahrain again as a guest of Riffa Views.

During his stay Monty enjoyed the Gulf Air Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix and made a visit to the Royal Golf Club where he inspected the work in progress and tried out a few of the holes for the first time since they were grassed.

He said he was "very pleased with the progress being made" and is looking forward to returning in November for the grand opening, the club's e-newsletter reported.

Eleven holes of the Montgomerie-designed championship golf course and two holes of the par 3 academy course have been grassed and are growing in well.

The landscaping for the golf course has also commenced. One of the four major lakes on the golf course is now completed and is currently filling up with water.

Holes 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18 have been approved for irrigation and will be grassed shortly. Holes 17, 11 and the balance of the par 3 academy course will be completed soon after.

It is expected that all 27 holes will be grassed by the end of this month and will be fully grown in over the summer months.

"We anticipate that the course will be ready to play by November," said general manager Michael Braidwood.

Interior design work has now been completed on the new Royal Golf Academy and designs are now under consideration for the Royal Golf Club's signature restaurant, public restaurant and members' only lounge as well as for several other food and beverage outlets.

The design for the new retail outlet is also underway with a "store-within-a-store" concept being studied for various leading manufacturers such as Oakley, Ping, Titleist and Ralph Lauren.

Pennie Nixon has joined the team at the Royal Golf Club as the director of sales and marketing. Pennie, who comes from Melbourne, Australia, will be responsible for setting up a new loyalty programme for members and guests as well as for preparing an overall sales and marketing strategy for the Royal Golf Club.







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