One lucky amateur golfer will win an opportunity to play alongside American superstar Tiger Woods in a Professional-Amateur (ProAm) tournament a day before the start of the Dubai Desert Classic in February 2011.
Dubai Desert Classic organizers are sponsoring the contest, which is open to both men and women amateur golfers holding a valid handicap. Anyone meeting the required maximum handicap limit of 18 for men and 26 for women can register free of charge on the Dubai Desert Classic tournament website.
Organizers say a draw will be held two weeks before the start of the European Tour event to choose the contest winner. That player will join Tiger and two other amateur golfers in the ProAm competition February 9 at the Emirates Golf Club. The amateur contest winner also will receive two season "golf in Dubai" hospitality tickets.
The Desert Classic is holding the contest to increase golf's popularity in Dubai, especially among young people. Organizers hope the marketing promotion will draw more fans at professional events in the Emirate, where spectator galleries are notoriously sparse.
Woods will be playing in the Dubai Desert Classic in February 2011 for the first time in two years. He previously won the tournament in 2008 and 2006.
Tiger is looking to rebound from a winless 2010 season, the worst of his 15-year professional career that saw him drop to second in the PGA's world rankings after 281 weeks as number one. The American golf great missed the first five months of last year's PGA Tour on a self-imposed hiatus from golf to deal with personal issues.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
