New visitor to this forum

[Chilli]

Hello mate!
Excellent choice mate. I'm not really qualified to advise on the tax implications, but my UK house is rented, on a repayment mortgage, and I pay no tax. Not sure if there is a time out of the country implication on that though.

I am however qualified to answer all questions on golf and beer costs!

Golf will cost between 15,000 a year at the ranches, to...oh, 30,000 at the Emirates? I believe there's a waiting list there. Plenty of other nice courses though. Would you,play each week?

Beer is simple....it's either a geezer called John who will deliver it to you, or a road trip 45 minutes away to a huge off-licence.

Any ideas where you want to live? Lively, in town,or out in the.....sand? Prices are high at the moment, but good deals can be had when agents realise that they can't always set their own, made-up prices. Let me know when you need a Gazebo....long story!

Good luck.

[TNW]

Fats25 said:

TNW said:

I also work for a global company and moved within it from the U.K to Dubai. I took a leave of absence in the U.K (to keep return options open) but am employed and paid on local contract. Best of both worlds

Your U.S boss might not get it as they get taxed by Uncle Sam wherever they are in the world.

Just curious - what do you mean by the bit in bold? Do you mean to give yourself an option to move companies whilst in Dubai?

Also - you are 100% correct re the US implications - they do not have the non-domicile/non-resident options we have. Hence I am not sure he has it 100% correct. I am meeting with HR on Friday, so will clarify.

I am also fortunate that a good mate of mine places ex-pats in Dubai (from UK - he lived in Dubai for years) and he is going to walk me through the options when I have the offer.

No, to come back home. Employment would be effectively frozen in the U.K along with all benefits (pension etc) but able to be resumed if for any reason you wanted to go back. Same as if you wanted to take a year out to travel the world etc. LOAs are pretty common for folks on long term assignments abroad. I'd also ask for resumption of your old role or one of the same grade on return in writing as a condition of taking the LOA if possible.

Edited by TNW on Tuesday 7th January 17:55

[dxbtiger]

Chilli said:

Golf will cost between 15,000 a year at the ranches, to...oh, 30,000 at the Emirates? I believe there's a waiting list there. Plenty of other nice courses though. Would you,play each week?

Year 1 at Emirates is 54k this year

[Chilli]

dxbtiger said:

Year 1 at Emirates is 54k this year

Faaark, really? Mr Bourmain is our sponsor, so praps that's the friends price I was given. Is there still a waiting list?

[Fats25]

Chilli said:

Hello mate!
Golf will cost between 15,000 a year at the ranches, to...oh, 30,000 at the Emirates? I believe there's a waiting list there. Plenty of other nice courses though. Would you,play each week?

Any ideas where you want to live? Lively, in town,or out in the.....sand? Prices are high at the moment, but good deals can be had when agents realise that they can't always set their own, made-up prices. Let me know when you need a Gazebo....long story!

Good luck.

I wondered if you would join the thread - do you have a real job now taking too much out of your surfing time?

How often do I play golf? Every day if I can! Even in the wind and rain if UK I play once a week, in Summer at least 2 or 3 times a week. Will need to continue my golf fix.

We have friends live in Arabian Ranches, so that was somewhere to consider, but i'll be honest have not even looked at the logistics of commuting, or even where my office will be, or where my wifes office is! Budget wise I was looking around the 250k AED price per year for property - only based on a couple of properties I saw online, and my prospective boss did not even flinch when I mentioned this when I spoke to him before.

So Nick - how comes no bike over there? Last time I was there was 15 years ago, so I know things have changed, but I can't imagine not having a road bike, and an Enduro bike over there! Why have you not got involved?

[dxbtiger]

Chilli said:

Faaark, really? Mr Bourmain is our sponsor, so praps that's the friends price I was given. Is there still a waiting list?

Unsure, probably more what/who you know rather than what you are prepared to pay.

I played scratch team against them in November, that figure came direct from the guy I played against.

Strange situation up there, you need to be sat at your PC at 6am the day the tee times get released otherwise you won't get a slot on Majlis at the weekend and yet they can't get enough people to fill a whole day of times for a monthly medal. Lots of casual/corporate members.

Shame, when it is in good nick (which isn't often enough due to the Ladies Masters and Desert Classic) Majlis is still the best layout in the UAE.

[shirt]

54k for gold club membership is mental. you can get a race ready touring car for less than that!

[Fats25]

dxbtiger said:

Strange situation up there, you need to be sat at your PC at 6am the day the tee times get released otherwise you won't get a slot on Majlis at the weekend and yet they can't get enough people to fill a whole day of times for a monthly medal. Lots of casual/corporate members.

I think this is a global thing!

I am up now in UK at 05:00 to ensure I get online at 06:00 to get a booking for 18th Jan....

I know full well when I play that after I have played 9 I won't see anyone teeing off the 1st.

[dxbtiger]

Fats25 said:

I think this is a global thing!

I am up now in UK at 05:00 to ensure I get online at 06:00 to get a booking for 18th Jan....

I know full well when I play that after I have played 9 I won't see anyone teeing off the 1st.

Tee times yes, the medal thing no.

As above, love one of the courses at Emirates but it's a strange member base.

Compare it to their sister club, The Creek, a lot of their better members I know through playing the Amateur order of merit circuit, Emirates don't do that, I didn't know 3/4's of their scratch team.

Have you been here before? If so have you played any of the courses?

Edit - if you are looking to swap school fees for club membership you have a pretty vaild 'networking' argument depending on which line of work you are in

Edited by dxbtiger on Wednesday 8th January 05:30

[Fats25]

dxbtiger said:

Have you been here before? If so have you played any of the courses?

Edit - if you are looking to swap school fees for club membership you have a pretty vaild 'networking' argument depending on which line of work you are in

I have only ever been to Dubai once - and that was 15 years ago.

I did play "golf", but it was a course where you carried your piece of "grass" around with you, and you placed on the floor and hit your ball from there to an artificial green. I believe things have improved since then!

With regards to the networking bit, my proposed job will not have a lot of requirements for it, but I am still going to try it on anyway. The likelihood is that I will get a few opportunities to play the best courses with supplier invites as I do now in the UK, and I will be happy playing my regular golf at a friendly decent course where my 18 handicap won't embarrass anyone!

Alternatively I will have a fairly large budget, and I will need to decide if corporate golf membership is a purchase I need to make for the region .

[dxbtiger]

Fats25 said:

I have only ever been to Dubai once - and that was 15 years ago.

I did play "golf", but it was a course where you carried your piece of "grass" around with you, and you placed on the floor and hit your ball from there to an artificial green. I believe things have improved since then!

With regards to the networking bit, my proposed job will not have a lot of requirements for it, but I am still going to try it on anyway. The likelihood is that I will get a few opportunities to play the best courses with supplier invites as I do now in the UK, and I will be happy playing my regular golf at a friendly decent course where my 18 handicap won't embarrass anyone!

Alternatively I will have a fairly large budget, and I will need to decide if corporate golf membership is a purchase I need to make for the region .

Ahh the Country Club then, has sadly been bulldozed now but yes things have moved on a little since then

I wrote the below synopsis of the courses here for a friend of a friend who was thinking about coming here on a holiday to give you an overview of them all.

Membership wise there won't a cheap option, not in Dubai anyway.

Emirates Golf Club (home of the Desert Classic) has 2 courses.
- Majlis is the Desert Classic course and in my opinion still the best course in Dubai when the condition is good.
- Wadi by Faldo is the second course and isn't great, the front 9 is especially weak, all 18 floodlit

Montogmerie Golf Club
- Good club, not a great course, fairly forgiving off the tee, some really stupid holes, 18 especially. Good social side and great if you live in Springs/Meadows

Al Badia
- Nice 'resort' course, hosted the Challenge Tour final last month. Some stunning backdrops of the Dubai skyline on a lot of holes.

Dubai Creek
- Challenging par 71 set alongside the main natural waterway in the heart of 'old' Dubai. Hosted the desert Classic twice, redesigned by Thomas Bjorn sometime mid 90's. 18 is a brutal finishing hole.

Arabian Ranches
- No lakes, no bunkers (just waste sand), a course that only better players really understand as a good course, one of the least scenic here.

Jumeirah Golf Estates has 2 courses
- Earth course is home to the Race to Dubai finale, very long off the back tees, very well conditioned generally, lots of blind approaches. A slog even if you are playing well
- Fire course is the easier of the tee, not as hard to plot your way round, the course is there in front of you to see

The Els club
- My second favourtie layout and probably the best in terms of overall course and condtion year round. Good approach play is key here, most greens have big run offs all round

Jebel Ali
- Short 9 hole course set in the grounds of a hotel, pretty to look at.

Meydan
- 9 hole course inside a horse racing track. Don't bother with this one, it's crap imo althought it is floodlit.

[Fats25]

dxbtiger said:

Lots of good information on golf!

So are you a member at any of these?

If so - which one, and how much is membership for 7 day membership (I will likely only get to play on weekends)?

[dxbtiger]

Fats25 said:

So are you a member at any of these?

If so - which one, and how much is membership for 7 day membership (I will likely only get to play on weekends)?

No, I am based out of the 9 hole course in Sharjah.

I play a lot of competitions which would render a Dubai membership ridiculously expensive on a per round basis so I pay 5k for a Country member package at Sharjah which gives me reduced green fees, use of range etc.

A few mates are up there, it has good practice facilites, I play Scratch Team for them and the odd medal so it works well. Only 30 mins drive from my house as well although getting home can be a pain in the backside.

In terms of rates in Dubai, the only one I know for sure is Emirates as mentioned earlier.

They will all be 20k plus I think, not sure which do and don't charge a joining fee.

Were money not object I would probably choose the Els now, course is consistently in the best nick year round of all Dubai courses, I like the layout and the clubhouse is lovely now it is finished and open.

I would play as many as you can when you arrive and decide from there, some have a much more active apres golf side than others if that is a deciding factor. Also where you end up living may help you choose.

[shirt]

Most guys at work are members at jumeirah golf estates. Last I heard it was about 24k a year.

[Fats25]

I do hope my wife does not look at this thread - as if she knew golf was the top priority for information I was trying to find out - she will go nuts!

When we moved to our house 6 years ago, I managed to avoid driving past the golf club every viewing we had. That was despite the fact the golf club entrance is a Par 5 away from our front door....... I still pretend that I never even knew it was there!

[dxbtiger]

shirt said:

Most guys at work are members at jumeirah golf estates. Last I heard it was about 24k a year.

Just checked with my mate who works there, yep 24k (or 12k midweek)

No joining fee

[Chilli]

Out of all of them, I would join Badia every day of the week.
(Have you seen the locker-rooms in a non gay kinda way? Very impressive!)

[dxbtiger]

Chilli said:

Out of all of them, I would join Badia every day of the week.
(Have you seen the locker-rooms in a non gay kinda way? Very impressive!)

Yes, Els now very similar without a million Korean members and a much better course!

[Chilli]

Fats25 said:

I wondered if you would join the thread - do you have a real job now taking too much out of your surfing time?

How often do I play golf? Every day if I can! Even in the wind and rain if UK I play once a week, in Summer at least 2 or 3 times a week. Will need to continue my golf fix.

We have friends live in Arabian Ranches, so that was somewhere to consider, but i'll be honest have not even looked at the logistics of commuting, or even where my office will be, or where my wifes office is! Budget wise I was looking around the 250k AED price per year for property - only based on a couple of properties I saw online, and my prospective boss did not even flinch when I mentioned this when I spoke to him before.

So Nick - how comes no bike over there? Last time I was there was 15 years ago, so I know things have changed, but I can't imagine not having a road bike, and an Enduro bike over there! Why have you not got involved?

Hey Buddy,

Yeah, I have a real job now I'm afraid! Still, it's good and generally low stress. I've just set-up a new business too, so that keeps me busy!
The Ranches is nice, although very expensive for what you get. We are just down the road at The Villas. Its out of town a bit and not quite completed yet, but it's only been open for 3 years!
Mate, I've um'd and ah'd for so long,. I went to get my bike licence added to my driving licence (they dont always do it automatically) and then found out I had a 7,800 SALIK penalty,. Killed the mood somewhat, and I left the RTA practically in tears. Not thought about going back really. I would love to, but since the arrival of Chilli jnr, I don't get time to shave let alone have a hobby at the moment. TBH, I'd only get on the track, I wouldn't enjoy riding on the roads here. The autodrome is a bloody brilliant track/facilities and it is 5 minutes from me....maybe I'll get something, but need someone to race around with, and don't know anyone with a sportsbike here.
Ian on here manages a race team and can be often found there on a Friday. I should pop down as I have the boy ion a Friday, and he's getting to that age now where I can look after him ok'ish!

Right, gotta go.

Cheers.

[Fats25]

What is SALIK?