These days we are witnessing the latest achievement of Saudi Arabia to become a real golf country. First, let me summarize some of the achievements of the Kingdom:
- Host a Eurpean Tour event in 2019 at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club (designed by European Golf Design) in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
- Thomas Björn, Jose Maria Olazabal, Catriona Matthew, Ernie Els, Keith Pelley (Chief Executive of the European Tour), and Camilla Lennarth (Ladies European Tour winner) participated in a panel discussion at the 3rd Future Investment Initiative event.
What I wanted to share with you is Abdullah Kamakhi’s (see picture below) acceptance into the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, positioning him to become Saudi Arabia’s first golf course architect.
He studied Landscape Architecture at Arizona State University. After a couple of years working as a landscape designer in Riyadh, Abdullah Kamakhi joined Golf Saudi in 2019 and begun his journey in the golf industry.
Creating new jobs and careers for Saudi nationals within the golf industry continues to remain a priority in Golf Saudi’s vision.
Significant investments continue to be made to present individuals these opportunities from learning from industry experts to supporting career developments through training and qualifications.
Abdullah Kamakhi will begin the two year course at the European Institute of Golf Course Architects in May 2021 and will be on the career pathway to becoming Saudi Arabia’s first-ever qualified golf course architect by mid-2023.