Karsten Solheim would have chuckled at the suggestion he did not know what he was doing when he first started tinkering with golf club design.
The man who made Ping a household name for golfers around the world revolutionised the game with his cavity backed putters and irons.
Strangely, this son of a Norwegian shoemaker, whose family emi- grated to the United States in 1913, had barely set foot on a golf course until he was in his early fourties.
An engineer by trade, the late starter began experimenting with club design to help overcome some of his own shortcomings as a golfer.
He realised that if the weight was distributed around the edges of the club head this would effectively increase the size of the sweet spot, making it easier to hit the ball further and more accurately.
Not content with that innovation, Solheim went one step further by inventing a different shaped groove which made his now legendary Ping clubs, a product of the Karsten Manufacturing company he created, superior to anything else on the market.
His "square grooves", as they became known, changed the way golf was played for years, giving players much better control of shots hit from the rough, generating greater spin to eliminate the "flyer" and helping stop the ball quickly on the green.
All that ended, or so we thought, at the start of this year when new regulations appeared to banish square grooves from the professional game.
Then up stepped the world No 2 Phil Mickelson, brandishing a Ping Eye 2 wedge from the 1980s, and suddenly golf has a new controversy which could take Solheim's grooves back into the courtroom 10 years after his death.
Mickelson is taking advantage of a legal loophole which says that pre-1990 Ping wedges are permitted in tournaments, and has upset his fellow professionals. The European No 1 Lee Westwood, who will be using the new V-shaped grooves when he begins his bid to win the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club today, says Mickelson is bending the rules.
Scott McCarron went further, accusing his fellow PGA Tour professional of cheating, before publically apologising to Mickelson on Tuesday night.
"This issue should have been solved by January 1 and unfortunately there is a lot of legal haggling that has to go on before we can actually do something about the rule," said McCarron.
And all this coming quickly on the heels of the Tiger Woods scandal when revelations about his private life shocked the golfing world.
I wonder what Karsten, who gave his name to the Solheim Cup and put millions of dollars back into golf, would make of it all.
I got to know him well during my playing days and remember him best for the excitement he always showed for his latest club design. I stayed with him at his home in Pheonix once and when I left he insisted that his newest putter went with me. But as enthusiastic as he was about his work in golf, and about each of his innovations, Karsten was only interested in the good of the game.
While he won a legal settlement in 1993 after the golfing authorities tried to ban his clubs, he decided that it was in the best interests of the sport to stop making them.
He felt it would be going against the spirit of the game, whose traditions and reputation for honesty, integrity and fair play he respected totally, to exercise his legal right.
Amid all the current talk of loopholes and legal action, Mickelson could save golf a lot of pain and more bad publicity if he followed Solheim's example and put the square grooves away once and for all, particularly as there are few players in the world who can match the skill he has to get up and down without them.
If he doesn't, John Solheim, who runs his father's business and shares his values, may ultimately have the last say by giving the governing bodies permission to ban the pre-1990 wedges.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy, who begins the defence of his Desert Classic title in Dubai today, will be aiming to build on his fine third place start to the season in Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago when he steps back out on to a course he loves after signing a new three-year deal with Jumeirah, his Dubai sponsors.
After going so close to clinching the inaugural Race to Dubai he desperately wants to become a regular winner, following a season when he put his enormous talent on show and showed remarkable consistency.
He finished in the top five 12 times in 25 events and shared third place in the last major of the year, the USPGA Championship, with Westwood, the player who pipped him for the European crown.
With Paul Casey and Westwood likely to be among his biggest challengers in Dubai, it is also good to once again start talking up the victory chances of Robert Karlsson, who aims to become the second back-to-back winner on the European Tour this season after Charl Schwartzel.
After finishing 2008 as Europe's No 1, Karlsson's campaign last year was ruined by an eye injury, and having had my career cut short by a similar problem I felt for him as he struggled. The former British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch never made it back after eye problems and all sorts of negative thoughts must have gone through Karlsson's mind last year, making last week's victory in the Qatar Masters all the sweeter.
Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi champion Martin Kramer will be trying to make it two wins in three weeks as the Desert Swing reaches its climax. The German is getting better all the time and he should not be far away on Sunday.
Former European and US Tour player Philip Parkin (www.philparkin.com) is a member of the TV golf commentary team for the BBC in the UK and Golf Channel in the US.
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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The Cockroach
(Vintage)
Ian McEwan
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
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Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
Why on earth pick Vanuatu? Easy. The South Pacific country has no income tax, wealth tax, capital gains or inheritance tax. And in 2015, when it was hit by Cyclone Pam, it signed an agreement with the EU that gave it some serious passport power.
Cost: A minimum investment of $130,000 for a family of up to four, plus $25,000 in fees.
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Benefits: No tax, no restrictions on dual citizenship, no requirement to visit or reside to retain a passport. Visa-free access to 129 countries.
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
more from Janine di Giovanni
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
THE BIO
Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
First jobs: Co-ordinator with Magrudy Enterprises; HR coordinator at Jumeirah Group
Entrepreneur: Started his own graphic design business
Favourite singer: Avril Lavigne
Favourite travel destination: Germany and Saudi Arabia
Family: Six sisters
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
