Yas Links, in Abu Dhabi, has become the first golf club in the world to achieve worldclass.golf status, signing up to a portfolio of the world’s premier golf courses, destinations and resorts which will launch in 2018.
Designed by Kyle Phillips and arguably one of the finest examples of links golf anywhere in the world, Yas Links opened for play in 2010, and has been a firm favourite with golfers from around the globe ever since.
Commenting on achieving the accolade of worldclass.golf status, general manager at Yas Links, Howie Roberts said: “I have followed with great interest the plans and aspirations for worldclass.golf, and as its values and ideals match exactly ours, we are delighted to become the first golf club in the world to sign up for membership.
“One of the key attractions for Yas Links, was the fact that worldclass.golf will only feature the world’s elite golf clubs, and will be an ultra-exclusive portfolio of like-minded clubs, which will benefit from the wide exposure that worldclass.golf will be able to deliver,” added Roberts.
Launching next year, worldclass.golf aims to focus specifically on the visitor journey, an area which is particularly close to Roberts’s heart: “When I took over as GM at Yas Links a couple of years ago, one of the first things I changed was the guest journey, as I didn’t think that it ever matched the quality of the course,” he said.
“Maybe because the course was so good, that’s why the guest experience wasn’t there. As a club, we’ve worked really hard over the past year or so to ensure that our visitor experience is now on par with the course… you could say that it’s now world-class.”
The worldclass.golf project is the brainchild of GMé publisher, Michael Lenihan, who said: “I am delighted to welcome Yas Links as a member of worldclass.golf, especially given the fact the entire ethos of the club is one of quality, both on and off the course. Having visited golf clubs all over the world, it amazes me just how much the visitor experience varies from club to club – there doesn’t appear to be a benchmark,” added Lenihan.
“One of the fundamental reasons why I decided to launch worldclass.golf was to ensure that all member clubs met the same exacting standards – across all aspects of their golf operation – so golfers booking a round at their facility, can guarantee that it won’t just be the golf course, but also their ‘experience’, that is truly world-class.”
Yas Links https://www.yaslinks.com/
Worldclass.golf http://www.worldclass.golf/