On Jan. 20, the DP World Tour (European Tour) started its 2022 golf tournament schedule in the UAE with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. During the three-day event, 131 golf players competed for the final prize, 8 million USD, marking the first significant event on the golfing calendar.

Eventually, Thomas Pieters from Belgium survived the tough competition and won the final prize, increasing his DP World ranking to 2 with 1456.2 points.

Subsequently on Jan. 27, the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, the second Rolex Series event of DP World Tour 2022, was held at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai. Founded in 1989, the Dubai Desert Classic was the first European Tour Golf event in the Arabian Peninsula. This year, Victor Hovland claimed his victory by making a birdie in the first playoff hole.

Some NYU Abu Dhabi community members went to the DP World Tour in the UAE this year. Lynnette Huang, Class of 2024, shared her excitement about being a golf tournament volunteer: "[The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship] was my first time volunteering at a world-class golf tournament." Having attended several golf tournaments as a volunteer, she had previously taken up roles such as a static marshal, a mobile marshal and a scorer. A golfer herself, Huang explained why she became a volunteer: "As I start to [get involved] in these tournaments as a volunteer, I realize how much I learned about golf during the process. I [became] more familiar with golf rules.” “As a volunteer, I also have the privilege to watch top players, like Rory Mcllroy and Viktor Hovland, play at a very close distance and observe their beautiful swings and puts," she added.

There are two other ranking tournaments besides the two Rolex Series events in the UAE this year: the Ras Al Khaimah Championship and the Ras Al Khaimah Classic. The RAK Championship ended on Feb. 6 with Nicolai Højgaard finishing on 24-under par and winning the tournament. The RAK Classic is scheduled to end on Feb. 13 with the fourth round still ongoing at the time of writing.

Huang encouraged everyone to try volunteering at the golf match: "Volunteering at golf tournaments is super fun, rewarding and a truly perspective-changing experience! ... It’s just nice to spend your weekend at a beautiful golf course and watch some excellent plays by world-class golfers."

The next DP World Tour golf tournament in the UAE will be the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, in November 2022.