Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Colin Montgomerie, the man who designed the championship course at the Royal Golf Club (RGC), is hopeful Bahrain will become part of a ‘desert swing’ for senior tournament players.
There are on-going talks about the kingdom hosting another major event and a competition featuring the legendary names of the sport may be the start of the world of golf once again focusing on Bahrain as the kingdom gears up its tourism credentials.
The popular ‘desert swing’ begins in Abu Dhabi in January and attracts a host of European Tour stars to the Gulf region. At one time it was scheduled to open in Bahrain but the organisers got cold feet because of the unrest in 2011, despite a successful tournament being staged just weeks earlier at the Royal Golf Club.
“It would be superb if something could happen here,” said Monty, moments after he offered playing tips to guests of HSBC bank which was hosting a golf day at the RGC last week.
“We have tried and we have been very close to gaining sponsorship. Government approval is OK, it’s just a matter of getting some sponsorship but, of course, the oil price hitting a low doesn’t help us … but at the same time the success of the Middle East Swing of the European Tour should aid us in trying to get something going.
“It’s been on-going for a couple of years. Let’s hope we can do it and not just here. Let’s hope we can ride on the wave of the success of the European Tour’s Middle East Swing and let’s hope the Senior Tour can have a Bahrain-Abu Dhabi-Dubai-Qatar schedule.
“I would love to be part of something and I certainly would play all four events over here. It would be great if something could be done where we get a Senior Middle East Swing together – it would be super for us all.”
The Scot is a great fan of Bahrain and regularly visits the kingdom. He says he is immensely proud of the course that bears his name, although, as reported in GulfWeekly, it has suffered a fair amount of criticism too over the years because of its challenging greens.
“I’m very proud to have my name attached to something as good as this,” he said. “It’s becoming a very good test of golf now. It’s ‘bedding in’, to use a golf term, and maturing in a very positive way.”
He urges sports lovers to give it a try, in a social sense as a means of meeting new people and making friends, the RGC boasts fabulous facilities and hospitality options and because ‘a lot of business is still done on the golf course’.
“I would encourage people to come and have a go. It is a challenge and people like a challenge and it takes just one good shot to bring you back for more. At the same time it’s a nice place to be, it’s a safe environment and a lovely place to spend the day,” he added.
Known affectionately as Monty by golf fans, he won a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999. He has recorded 31 European Tour triumphs, the most by any British player, placing him fourth on the all-time list of golfers with most European Tour victories.
Montgomerie notched three consecutive Volvo PGA Championships at Wentworth Club between 1998 and 2000 and nine years later it was announced that he would captain the European team at the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. In October 2010, Montgomerie led the players to a famous victory, 14½ to 13½.
He has finished runner-up on five occasions in major championships, his career high world-ranking was second and he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
In June 2013, after turning 50, Montgomerie joined the US Champions Tour, where he made his debut in the Constellation Senior Players Championship, one of the five senior major championships.
In the following May, Montgomerie won his first senior major championship at the Senior PGA Championship. He followed this up in July, when he claimed his second senior major at the US Senior Open.
“I’m loving it,” he told GulfWeekly. “To compete again at 50 years old – in most sports you’re dead and gone. To have another chance, another chapter in one’s career, it’s fantastic.
“I have embraced it and the American fans have embraced me. It seems to have worked very well and to win twice over there, two major championships, is great. I’m looking forward to going back (on Monday) to Arizona and yet again really looking forward to competing. The standard is extremely high.”
He named Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, Kenny Perry and Vijay Singh and several other stars who he described as ‘all very competitive’.
With luck, golf fans will be able to see for themselves just how good Monty and other legends of the sport are … here in Bahrain …in the near future.
