Preparations on course for Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour grand final at Al Badia Golf Club

Preparations are already well underway for the climax to the European Challenge Tour season, the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club, which is set to take place from Wednesday 5 to Saturday 8 November. The man charged with ensuring the Al Badia golf course is in tip top condition is Golf Course Superintendent Patrick Ryan, he and his team are relishing the prospect of hosting the top 45 players on the Challenge Tour in this season-ending showcase for the second year running.
 
Some exciting new developments have been put in place at Al Badia Golf Club by InterContinental this year but, as Ryan explains, the aim is to create and maintain a course that is championship quality all year round so that members and guests can enjoy the same standards as the cream of the Challenge Tour, who will compete to decide not only who wins the tournament, but who will secure the top 15 places on the season-ending rankings and a dream ticket to play on The European Tour in 2014/2015.
 
“The goal of the maintenance team is to produce tournament conditions every week; we speak about this continually at our team briefings, if we can prepare the course for tournament week; we can do it every week,” says Ryan. “Hosting the tournament is extremely important to the maintenance crew, we love the challenge and it really motivates the team.
 
“Al Badia is on a programme to enhance the golf course playability and conditioning. Two new tees on holes 11 and 17 adding a further 44 yards to the golf course and a new short game area have been constructed this year. Several bunkers have been adjusted and the mow patterns have been re-shaped and tightened in many areas.
 
“This work will help with the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final preparations but it is more about trying to produce a high quality and enjoyable golf experience 365 days of the year. The better the course is conditioned on a daily basis; the easier the Tournament preparations are.”
 
The Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club kick-starts a dream month for golf fans in the UAE, with The European Tour’s grand finale, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, also taking place in the region at Jumeirah Golf Estates from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 November.
 
Last year India’s Shiv Kapur stormed to a four-stroke victory in a captivating tournament at Al Badia Golf Club to surge from 20th to third in the Challenge Tour Rankings and gain his place on The European Tour this season.
 
 
 
Top 15 on the European Challenge Tour Rankings as of August 25
following the Rolex Trophy:
 
 
1          Moritz LAMPERT                   GER                €133,835
2          Andrew JOHNSTON              ENG                €131,615
3          Jordi GARCIA PINTO            ESP                 €100,322
4          Byeong-hun AN                      KOR                €85,677
5          Florian FRITSCH                    GER                €73,143
6          Jake ROOS                            RSA                €73,033
7          Benjamin HEBERT                 FRA                 €72,870
8          Michael LORENZO-VERA     FRA                 €66,104
9          Oliver FARR                           WAL                €62,114
10        Mark TULLO                           WAL                €60,004
11        Scott HENRY                         CHI                  €57,721
12        Antonio HORTAL                    ESP                 €56,467
13        Sam HUTSBY                        ENG                €50,779
14        Edouard ESPANA                  FRA                 €49,931
15        Lasse JENSEN                       DEN                €47,750