Ken Kosak is the top man at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, although he rarely sets foot on the links. The general manager at the home of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship explains how he keeps the club up to par:
About 5.45am
I'm up but trying to get a 2-year-old up is a little bit more challenging. I have two young kids.
About 7.15am
I really make it a point to walk around the golf club first and say good morning to the staff that are on duty. Our tee times start at 6.30 so we have staff coming in at 5.15 to get things ready. I'm certainly one of those managers who believes in management by walking around.
About 8am
I'll spend a couple of hours in the office. We use various statistical models and matrixes in our particular industry, so I'm checking daily revenue reports, signing cheques and annual leave forms, and getting back to not only clients but vendors we may be using.
Lunch
I'll try to sit down and have lunch with members or guests, or catch up with our team to see how they're doing. We have various department heads who manage their respective areas: golf operations; anything related to grass or plants; food and beverage. I'm the guy who puts everything together.
About 12.30pm
A lot of people think I get to play a lot of golf. Unfortunately, that's not the case. We spend a lot of time on staff training. On Sunday, we did two sessions of CPR and first-aid training. There's a session taking place tomorrow, which will relate more towards interpersonal skills and dealing with conflicts, where a guest receives something other than what they ordered, and in terms of making it right for the customer.
2pm
A strategy session on growing business takes place every Wednesday. We're looking for opportunities for food and beverage events: what are we doing for Mother's Day in the US next month? Summertime is coming - are there any promotional rates we may put out in the market? What are we doing to stay competitive from a membership perspective? There is competition in the marketplace now, both with our sister club at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club as well as Yas Links. Strategy sessions get the creative juices flowing.
About 4.30pm
I'll typically try to spin around the course in a cart with our superintendent, just to clear the head and get some fresh air.
Evening
I can be here anywhere from 6pm to 10pm if we have a function taking place or it's a busy evening.
Late evening
Play with the kids: bathtubs and pyjamas and books.
About 11pm
I love to read. James Patterson is one of my favourite authors. I'll read for half an hour to 45 minutes. That's a pretty sure way to get me to go to sleep. One recent night was a late one with the Masters on. That was a 2.00 morning. I couldn't hold out to 3am.
nparmar@thenational.ae
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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THE SPECS
Touareg Highline
Engine: 3.0-litre, V6
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 340hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh239,312
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
