New Chairman David Williams marked his first official attendance at a European Tour event by visiting the European Tour Performance Institute (ETPI) at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
Williams, who succeeded Neil Coles as Chairman of The European Tour on January 1, attended the recent Dubai Desert Classic where amongst his various other official engagements, he viewed the new state-of-the-art ETPI complex, which was formally opened at the nearby Jumeirah Golf Estates last November, during the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
Yousuf Kazim, General Manager of Jumeirah Golf Estates, showed him around the impressive facilities, which aim to provide an holistic approach to refining, improving and optimising all areas of a player’s performance.
As part of his tour, Williams took in the strength and conditioning studios, sports therapy treatment facilities and cutting edge video analysis offered at the ETPI, which is the second of its kind on The European Tour after the inaugural Performance Centre at Terre Blanche Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort in Provence, France, which opened in 2012.
The Dubai ETPI was used extensively by European Tour players prior to ‘desert swing’ in order to fine tune their games ready for the resumption of the 2014 season, and Williams was similarly impressed by his first visit.
“I was delighted to meet many of the European Tour players, staff and stakeholders in Dubai and to have the opportunity to acquaint myself with the Performance Institute, which is a first-class facility,” said Williams.
“The ETPI is an important part of The European Tour’s vision and global brand, and I’m certain it will be greatly appreciated by both our tournament players and by all golfers in Dubai for many years to come.”
Kazim, who performed the opening ceremony of the ETPI jointly with George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, in November, added: “We were delighted to welcome David Williams, Chairman of The European Tour to Jumeirah Golf Estates and our recently opened world class European Tour Performance Institute facility.
“The European Tour is a very important long term partner to Jumeirah Golf Estates and this has been acknowledged by both parties with the continuation of The Race to Dubai until at least 2017. Furthermore at the end of 2013, Jumeirah Golf Estates joined the European Tour Properties portfolio as a European Tour Destination. We look forward to working with David and his team over the coming months and years and, with their support, help grow the Jumeirah Golf Estates brand on a global basis.”
