Little home advantage in Dubai for golfers in the UAE

Familiarity is of little benefit on an ever-changing Majlis course at the Emirates Golf Club.

Thomas Bjorn of Denmark won the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic.

DUBAI // Home advantage, by its very phrasing, should have a positive impact on an athlete's performance and yet few of golf's European Tour players who have residence - be it temporary or permanent - in this sun-kissed emirate regard their base as beneficial during this week's Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Johan Edfors have all spent substantial amounts of time in Dubai these past few months, while Henrik Stenson lives here, Ross Bain moved here when he was six years old and Thomas Bjorn's father-in-law helped build the clubhouse at Emirates Golf Club.

Bjorn called the Emirates his "home away from home" and said he feels "like a member of the club", but the Dane was quick to dismiss any suggestion he has an advantage over his peers, despite finishing his opening round yesterday in joint third.

"I know all the members and that gives me confidence and a nice feeling coming here, but there is a big difference to how the golf course is set up for everyday-play and how it is set up this weekend.

"All the players here have played the course so many times they know how to go out there and produce numbers."

Alterations to a golf course in the run-up to a major tournament include over-seeding the rough, quickening the greens and shifting the tee-boxes.

By the time the field is ready to tee off on a Thursday morning, the course is, according to Bain, "nothing like the course I play week-in, week-out".

While Stenson is in the process of selling his home in the UAE as he seeks a new start in the United States, Bain has been playing the Majlis Course since the age of 11 and was the first player to turn professional from the UAE Golf Federation's youth development programme.

If anybody knows the course, it is the 36-year-old Scot - and yet even he feels little benefit.

"The advantage I have is I know the lines and distances," he said. "I'm not going to get it wrong - or badly wrong at least - because of club selection, but it is a case of yes and no.

"I've had some good rounds in the Classic, but sometimes when you play your home tournament you expect too much and put pressure on yourself.

"There was definitely a little bit of that [yesterday]."

Bain, playing alongside the Mena Tour winner Jake Shepherd, finished the day on level-par after a tentative start saw him bogey the first hole.

Shepherd, making his Tour debut as reward for his success in the region, ended the afternoon on one over, but the Englishman said the course set-up "might as well have been a different golf course" to the one he played last week during a practice round.

"The whole week has been great though," he said. "Earlier in the week, when I first arrived I was looking around at some of the big names and was a bit like a kid in a candy shop for a few days, but come Wednesday, I tried to focus and forget about them.

"Obviously, there are some extra distractions here and there, but I think I did a pretty good job."