DUBAI, February 25th,2009. golf in DUBAi, the promoters and organisers of the Dubai Desert Classic have announced the DDC tournament dates for 2010 – the 21st Dubai Desert Classic will be held from February 1st – 7th, 2010, at the Majlis course, Emirates Golf Club.

With the exciting and nail-biting finish of the recently concluded 20th anniversary edition of the Classic still fresh in the minds of all those golfing aficionados who watched the day''s proceedings in person and on TV, the announcement of the dates for the next edition is a welcome indication of exciting times ahead in 2010.

"The 20th anniversary edition of the Dubai Desert Classic proved to be a huge success. I see no reason why we can't go one step further in 2010 and give Dubai yet another world-class and record-breaking golf tournament," said Mohammed Buamaim, the Vice Chairman and CEO of golf in DUBAi.

Played over the finest championship course in the region, the Dubai Desert Classic remains one of the favourite events on the calendar for both players and officials alike. As Tiger Woods says, "The Dubai Desert Classic is right up there with the best tournaments - you don't get much better than this."

This year's champion 19-year-old Rory McIIlroy of Northern Ireland earned $ 416,660 (euro 324,261) for his efforts and went on to become the seventh youngest winner in European Tour history. It was McIlroy''s first professional victory in 46 events since turning pro on September 19, 2007, elevating him to 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Shaikh Majed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented the 20th anniversary DDC trophy to Rory McIIroy, who won the tournament after a four-day battle against a field that also included world number two Sergio Garcia, Ryder Cup 2010 Captain Colin Montgomerie, South African superstar Ernie Els and several top European Tour stars.

"As always, we are keen to promote the event worldwide as well as welcome golf fans to the country and I think it is fair to say that there are very few tournaments in the world like the Desert Classic that allow you to get up close to players of this ability," added Buamaim.

"Having many of the world's top ten ranked players on our doorstep underlines Dubai's standing as a world-class tournament venue. We are already flooded with enquiries regarding the tickets information for DDC 2010 from the regular followers of DDC. For all those who are eagerly waiting for the announcements – I would like to assure you that soon we will be releasing the tickets rates too," said Buamaim.

'golf in DUBAI' is backed by DUBAL (Dubai Aluminum Company) as the Main Sponsor and BMW, CNN, Emirates Airline, Emirates NBD, Gulf News, Jumeirah Group, Leisure Corp., MasterCard and OMEGA as partners in its drive to showcase the emirate's vibrant golfing scene to a worldwide audience.

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