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THE Royal Golf Club’s board of directors has employed the services of Troon, an internationally-renowned golf course management company, to manage the Riffa Views facility from November, writes Stan Szecowka.
Members, who pay up to BD2,500 annually to play on the Colin Montgomerie-designed course, were told this week that general manager Susan Stevenson was leaving at the end of October and moving to Dubai after ‘five very enjoyable years’ working with the team at the club.
“I am sure the transition of the management of the club will be a smooth one,” she said.
Troon Golf, founded in 1990 in the US state of Arizona, already manages a number of championship courses in the Middle East, including Abu Dhabi Golf Club and The Els Club and Montgomerie in Dubai.
It says adding the Royal Golf Club to its portfolio increases the company’s presence in the region while also affording a number of what it describes as ‘important benefits’ to members and guests, including:
*Very favourable reciprocal rates at some of the world’s top golf courses
*Bringing the agronomy expertise of industry leaders, renowned for producing quality services and playing surfaces
*Solidifying the Royal Golf Club’s position as the kingdom’s leading leisure facility
*Further increasing the club’s service standards, thus ‘elevating’ the club experience for members and visitors to an ‘even higher level’
Mark Chapleski, area managing director, VP of Troon Golf Middle East, described the Royal Golf Club as a ‘perfect fit’ for the company’s brand. “We look forward to bringing the Troon Golf Experience to the Royal Golf Club and continuing to build on all that the facility has to offer,” he said in a statement.
One of its most experienced general managers, David J Flanders, pictured below, has been appointed to take over in Bahrain. He initially came to the region in early 2007 when Troon first moved into Abu Dhabi Golf Club and then was heavily involved with the development and opening of the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi.
He left the UAE in late 2009 for a similar role at the Muttontown Club on Long Island in New York where he has been for the past three years and will be moving back to the Gulf with his wife Debbi and two young sons, Jaxon and Jadon.
“With his experience in running PGA Tour Events, corporate tournaments and extensive club operations knowledge, DJ will be a tremendous asset to the Royal Golf Club,” added Chapleski.
The Royal Golf Club staged a successful Volvo Golf Champions tournament and was due to open the European Tour in January until unrest in the kingdom scuppered the plan and it was moved to South Africa. However, organisers are looking to bring it back to Bahrain in 2014. The third edition of the Volvo Golf Champions will take place at the Durban Country Club in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province, South Africa.
