Khalid Yousuf: The UAE's Young Gun at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

Golf's young guns were big news in 2010.

Hardly a week passed without some reference to the talented young guys in their teens and twenties making their mark on professional golf.

Rory, Rickie and Ryo quickly became the poster boys for golf's 2010 youthquake.  Each came from a different continent... but each had the killer combination of charisma and cool that defines the genre.   ~ Matteo Manassero moved meteorically into the upper echelons of the young and talented, with a spectacular year in 2010.  Turning professional after an impressive T36 finish at the Masters, he won his first European Tour title and was named the European Tour's Rookie of the Year... at age seventeen.  ~ The year came to a close with Martin Kaymer winning the Race to Dubai at 25, and many wryly suggested that the Chinese "Year of the Tiger" had become the international "Year of the Young Gun".

We'll probably be seeing all of these names on leaderboards in 2011, along with those of the other young players who've appeared on the collective radar of golf fans recently... and they'll just as surely be joined by new names we haven't yet heard. ~ Because as golf grows globally, emerging golf markets have their own rising stars.  Last weekend, 22 year old Gaganjeet Bhullar became the first Indian to win on the Challenge Tour at the season-opening Gujarat Kensville Challenge, held in his homeland... while at the Sony Open saw an impressive PGA Tour debut by Jhonattan Vegas, a Venezuelan with a uniquely inspiring rags-to-riches story, who at 26 might be considered a late bloomer among young guns.

And this week Khalid Yousuf... just three months past his 21st birthday... will be in the field at the AbuDhabi HSBC Championship , representing the UAE against the game's top stars. Yousuf is the first Emirati golfer to have achieved a scratch handicap and he received a wild-card entry for this week's tournament.

Faisal al Sheikh, Events Manager of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, called Khalid Yousuf "a star for the future" ...and the prodigious player, who is studying Finance at Dubai's American University, has performed impressively in international tournaments including The Pan Arab Junior Golf Championship in Tunisia, The World Amateur Team Championship and The World Amateur Team Championship in Buenos Aires.  Come Thursday,  you can be sure there'll legions of local fans cheering on the UAE's own Young Gun.

HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship - Lessons with Rory

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Rory Mcilroy is known for his classic swing, jovial style and meteoric rise into golf's upper echelons.

The 21-year-old Ulsterman, whose impish looks belie a steely will, has already chalked up a victory on both the European and the PGA Tour, and was recently part of Europe's winning team at the 2010 Ryder Cup.

As we've been reminded so often of late, golf is a global game, and the talented Mr. Mcilroy, a seasoned world traveler who's strutted his impressive swing in dozens of countries... and on multiple continents... personifies this. He seems to fit in everywhere, and adapt quickly to the cultural nuances of new places.

Now it seems Rory's gone one step further. In anticipation of the upcoming HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship he appears to have been studying more than the desert greens and newly fortified bunkers of the National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Rors, as he's affectionately known, has actually picked up some Arabic, and he demonstrates it in this video:



The clip is actually part of a contest taking place on the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship facebook page: for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the 2011 championship you're invited to comment on the video, stating what you think Rory is saying and how you rate his Arabic skills. Some amusing reactions to the bi-lingual boy wonder have already been registered.

The tournament takes place from January 20th - 23rd. With the stellar field and awesome venue it promises to be ultra-exciting. There'll be lots of compelling content on the Facebook page too... so it's well worth liking.  You can also follow the tournament... and Rory... on Twitter.  Who knows, we may even see him tweeting in Arabic.

(Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images Europe - January 22, 2010)

(Video via the Abu Dhabi Championship Facebook page)

Bunker Boost at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship

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When the world’s top golfers convene at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship next month, they'll be greeted by five unique new bunkers on The National Course.
      
The bunkers, which protect holes 2, 5, 6, 13 and 17,  feature the kind of steep faces and well-defined lips that will require players to adapt their games and "think long and hard about club selection.”

For the first time ever outside of the US, all four reigning Major champions will be in the field, along with six of the world’s top 10 players.   The event has taken place on The National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the past five years,  and a record number of spectators is anticipated at the 2011 sixth edition. ~ To that end the Championship Village has been enhanced and expanded and the spectator experience promises to be better than ever.

Abu Dhabi has become a top tourist destination, and now boasts three world-class, championship-ready golf facilities. In the past, US tourists have been scarce,  however figures recently compiled by "Conde Nast Traveler" magazine for their annual poll of readers indicate a rising number of Americans interested in travel to the Middle East. Tournaments like the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship may encourage these future travelers to see the golf possibilities in the area.