Volunteering At The DP World Tour Championship: It's Hot, Hot, Very Hot!

I realise that Dubai, a once very small fishing village, has been created in a desert area and as such, one would expect it to be hot! Well yes, it has very much lived upto expectations in the first couple of days that I have been here but what is surprising is that conversations I have had with many of today's golfers, many of whom are Dubai residents, there is little doubt that they all believe that the climate is changing and that it is getting hotter here! That's quite a statement to make when Summer temperatures can reach a near 50C! Phew! But what could temperatures hit in future years?
The normal expectation is that by November, the city should be cooling down but this year, that
downturn in the heat is a little late and today the mercury hit 35C which made it quite unpleasant for all the golfers, young and old, who were walking the course rather than using buggies which is the norm here! I felt for some of them as I sat in my own personal buggy ready to transport them from the 9th Green to the 10th Tee, a distance of some 300 yards. Of course it also made me think that on Thursday through Sunday, I will be walking the very same course for upwards of 4 hours exposed to the hotter than usual desert sun! I'm already preparing by drinking water like a camel and hoping to store it in a similar way but something very strange happened today and we all appear to be suffering the same malaise. The $64,000,000 question of the day was, how can you drink so much water and yet never need to pay a visit to the toilet? I don't wish to enlighten anybody reading about my own personal toilet habits but it is unusual that a man aged, shall we say north of 60, should be able to pay his normal visit to the bathroom at 5am this morning when he woke up and yet not pay the bathroom another visit until he returned to his accommodation 14 hours later!! Is there a Doctor in the house??
Briefly on today's golf, it has been Pro-Am day when the top 60 golfers are partnered with 3 local amateur golfers who pay vast sums of money to enjoy a round of golf with one of the world's best. It's a fun day and it must be both wonderful and yet nerve wracking to take to the fairways with these world stars of their chosen sport. It is, in most cases, played in a great spirit of friendship and camaraderie and for me, it's an opportunity to engage in conversation with these golfing superstars and perhaps learn a little about their respective personalities.
My favourites today were Sheffield born Matthew Fitzpatrick who was surprised to find me asking questions about his younger brother Alex, who trust me, is going to be a future star of golf. He is an astonishing talent and was playing elsewhere in the Pro-Am this morning and Matthew seemed delighted at my knowledge of young Alex.
Justin Rose was totally engaging and we talked about his dad who is no longer with us but would have been so proud of his son's success and the way he represents the game and conducts himself at all times. Most impressive in my eyes and I was sorry that I forgot to get a photo with him. Perhaps an opportunity tomorrow.
Finally, South African born Brandon Grace who on Sunday won a million pounds at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in his home country and who was very engaged when I told him of my own excursions to his country during our winter months.
Enough chatter and time for some photos :