International Pairs has made one of its most important signings to date after finalising a deal for the United Arab Emirates to join the world's biggest competition of its kind for club golfers.
Chris Turlik, who has worked in Dubai for the last 13 years, has been awarded the inaugural licence for the region and will promote International Pairs to members of the Emirates Golf Federation initially.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become synonymous with golf in recent years with the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy regularly competing at tournaments in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The European Tour also switched its end-of-season finale to Dubai last year with Westwood becoming the first winner of the Race to Dubai title, and Turlik is excited at the prospect of launching International Pairs to such a fanatical golfing audience.
Turlik said: "Golf is tremendously popular in the UAE. With excellent weather guaranteed, residents can play all year round as we only have three or four days of rain a year.
"We have some excellent courses which have been designed by some of the best architects in the world and the clubs provide excellent customer service, with practice facilities and clubhouses as good as anywhere in the world.
"The UAE has a quality market, most of which is involved in golf in some way, and launching International Pairs here is a tremendous opportunity."
The region has 15 clubs and 17 courses across four of the emirates - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Kamiah - with an estimated 5,000 golfers in the country.
Turlik, who spent seven years working at Emirates Golf Club and was heavily involved in the staging of the Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Ladies' Masters during that period, plans to hold International Pairs qualifying events at each club later this year - with the region's winners making their debut at the competition's world final in 2011.
And the 38-year-old believes that, such is the interest in golf in the United Arab Emirates and the surrounding area, that the tournament could quickly expand into the Gulf countries and Middle East in the near future.
Turlik added: "Within the gulf, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman all have golf clubs but the potential is there to expand International Pairs and include them later if all goes well. "As for the Middle East, when you start talking about places like Egypt, which has more courses than the Gulf, the potential is endless."
"This is a significant announcement for International Pairs," said Ross Honey, managing director and founder of International Pairs.
"The United Arab Emirates has emerged as one of the leading destinations for golf over the last 40 years, and the appointment of an inaugural licence holder demonstrates the vision we have for the future of the competition on a global scale."
Vietnam, Romania and the Czech Republic has already joined International Pairs in 2010 as the global tournament goes from strength to strength.
More than 40 countries have participated in the competition to date since 1998 while International Pairs has attracted more than 500,000 golfers since its inception including West Indian cricket legend Sir Viv Richards and former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke.
Extensive footage from the International Pairs' World Final Series was screened into around 350 million households in Asia in the two months before Christmas while leading hotel group De Vere, prestigious golf clothing brand Glenmuir and top golf manufacturers Excel have all agreed to sponsor the event in 2010.
For more details on International Pairs and how to enter in 2010, visit their website at www.internationalpairs.com or e-mail info@internationalpairs.com
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Issued by the International Pairs press office. For more details, please contact International Pairs on 01489 878509, Pete Simm on +44 7747 012539, or e-mail admin@internationalpairs.com or simm_6@msn.com
