Latest News
Whilst the course continues to improve, we must remain vigilant to protecting the fairways and dry spots brought on by the recent spate of warm windy weather. Players support to the 90 degree cart ruling is helping Martin and his team with bringing the course back to our recognised standard. With extra hand watering crews on course each day much of the damage is in higher sloping area’s where it is hard to keep water in place and penetrate the turf’s surface.

Scroll through for a list of results from recent events, and the chance to enter new competitions should you remain in Baku this summer. Wish you all the best for a good week ahead !!!
Course Update – Martin McGavock Course Superintendent
“We are in a period of extreme heat stress at the moment with temperatures that have matched and overtaken Dubai this past weekend. The course has a lot of dry areas as our grass varieties experience heat stress up wards of 32 degrees Celcius. Grass under this stress goes into a defence mode and is easily damaged easily by weight golf carts and hot tyres. We ask that all golfers until further update kindly adhere to the 90 degree rule by keeping on cart paths and driving off at 90 degrees to you ball location to play a shot and directly returning to cart path at 90 degrees”. See below instruction.
In the current weather along with meeting golfer expectations on course, grass survival is high priority, where we work from ‘pin out’ starting with the greens as the most important surface on the course – which are performing very well during this period!
 
“I ask that you kindly assist us by avoiding driving in brown dry looking areas where possible, observe the 90 degree rule and PLEASE REPAIR YOUR PITCHMARKS as we have been experiencing a high volume of unrepaired Pitchmarks for the amount of rounds played on the course. Nobody wants to miss a putt because someone’s unrepaired Pitchmark has diverted their ball”
Azerbaijan International Golf Society (AIGS) – Annual Trophy 
Sunday was the annual AIGS (Azerbaijan International Golf Society) 2018 Annual Trophy which hosted 48 members and society guests. With a somewhat strong summer breeze gents played from the white tees and ladies from the forward green tees in an individual Stableford format. Taking an under par score to make the prize list we congratulate our 2018 champion John Quinn with 40 pts followed closely with runner up Chris Bernardi with 39 pts. Third and Fourth places were determined on a countback against Chris’s 39 pts, with the final awards going to Wade Droney 39 pts back nine 20pts and Ilqar Ahmadov 39 pts with 18pts on his inward nine holes. Martin Docherty AIGS Chairman completed the honours with a 37 pts. total giving him 5th position.  The additional on course prizes were awarded to David Bray for Nearest the Pin on Hole 5, John Quinn Nearest the Pin Hole 10, Alan Ferguson Nearest the Pin Hole 17, and Longest Drive on Hole 18 was won by Daniel Lee.

Other notable awards of the day went to Tofig Afandizade for the most improved society player this past season lowering his handicap from 35 to 27 and Nabi Efendi for the lowest gross score of 81 in the Annual Trophy. The day was rounded off with a wine tasting and some gift supplied by Hillside Wines and a chipping tournament from the garden podium to the 18th green. The accuracy award went to Stuart McLean for winning both rounds, claiming a couple of bottles of Jägermeister!
VOTE FOR THE BEST CLUB IN AZERBAIJAN 
As part of growing the exposure for Azerbaijan as a golf destination we are nominated as a finalist of 2018 World Golf Awards! Your vote matters! Please support us and cast your valuable vote for Dreamland Golf Club!
Re-Play Golf Cart Rental
Given the great weather and playing conditions we see good demand for players wishing to play additional holes after they have completed their morning round. To accommodate this and ensure we have the first tee runs smoothly we ask that players book in with the Golf Shop and hire the cart for a further 9 holes or 18 holes. 
British Open Medal - 22nd July 2018
The stage is set for a great Open Championship in Carnoustie Scotland this week. Don’t miss out on this Sunday’s July Medal Qualifier & annual Open Medal tournament. All our Medal players will have the chance to draw a player name among the players who made this week’s cut with your Net score added to the professional players 72 hole score to determine our winner here in Baku. Be sure to play in The Open Medal and to take advantage of our Open Sweep stake featured in our Academy news below.
Members Trips
Russia Update   – Don’t miss the opportunity to join a Dreamland GC team to play Robert Trend Jones Junior Golf course – Moscow Country Club and Cal Olson golf course – Agalarov Estate on 22.08 – 25.08 of August. Two places still available. Contact Anton Samsonov for more details:  Anton.samsonov@dreamlandgolfclub.com
 
Georgia Trip Update   – We have 7 players registered for a trip to Tbilisi, Georgia on 12 – 15th of October. Still 5 places available to play against Georgian Team on new Tbilisi Hills Golf Course. Please contact Anton Samsonov for further details  Anton.samsonov@dreamlandgolfclub.com
 
Qatar Trip  – Date TBC soon - Doha will soon have a second golf course as Education City Golf Club is set to open towards the end of 2018. Michael Braidwood GM for the new project has visited Baku and participated in our Mercedes Event in May this year. He is keen for us to experience the new course in November as temperatures will be perfect for a game.  We look forward to updating with more news on this visit. 
Saturday 14th of July 2018 – Saturday Roll Up Results 
With a little bit of a wind in sunny Baku – 30 golfers participated in the Saturday-Roll Up. With unbelievable scores of 40 stableford points first and second places had to be counted against their last nine hole points total. With 23 points on the back nine first place went to John Ball who reduced his handicap to 24.7 and 180 AZN prize money. Jason Lenihan was runner up in second place with 19 stableford points on the back nine. Third place with 38 points – Steven Parkes. Two’s Club recorded two great birdies on hole 13, made by Alistair Macduff and Brian Knowles. 
Dreamland Golf Club Members’ 2018 Match-play Championship Sponsored by Valedictorian Putters
We are delighted to see that the Round two club Matchplay ties were almost completed on time except one match is remaining due to rotational leave of players. PLEASE ensure that you make early contact and play your third match before MONDAY 23rd of July as we have provided four weeks time frame for the third round. It’s the responsibility of both players to arrange your match, please feel free to contact reservations to request the e-mail address of your opponent.   reservations@dreamlandgolfclub.com   
 
When booking a tee time for your game, please let us now that you are playing a match play, so our team can prepare scorecards ahead of your game. 
Retail News
Henrik Stenson Eyewear are proud to announce their “Open” competition for a chance to win a pair of the limited edition range of glasses which Henrik will wear at the 147th Open this year. For any purchase of HS Eyewear made in our Dreamland Golf Club Shop your name will go into a draw for a chance to win these exclusive shades. Don’t miss out!!
ACADEMY NEWS
Tournament Ready!
We are delighted to announce that Nabi and Huseyn have arrived safely at Zavidovo PGA National Russia to compete in their first international event. The week marks a huge milestone for the development of Golf in Azerbaijan as both players have progressed through Flames Golf and our own Future Stars training programs.  Conditions are favourable for the event with light winds forecasted, something that Nabi and Huseyn train in weekly! We will be sure to keep you updated of their progress on our social media channels. We would like to thank all our members, corporate partners and players who have contributed to various fund raising opportunities over the last year to make this possible.
The Open Championship Sweepstake
This week sees the return to what is arguably the toughest Open Championship course - Carnoustie. To coincide with this 3rd major of the year we are running another sweepstake at the Academy. With still plenty of the world’s best still in the hat including the likes of Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson & Justin Thomas, come and take a lucky dip. Pick first place and you shall win 250AZN in shop vouchers. Other winning places include:
•    Runner up:
•    Best placed amateur:
•    Best placed European:
•    Best placed Asian:
•    Players making a hole in one:
•    Wooden spoon:
•    Oldest player to make the weekend.
Predicting a winner for The Open is always tricky but my pick for the claret jug this year is Sergio Garcia. Back in 1999 the aptly nicknamed ‘Carnasty’ brought Garcia to tears but in 2007 he tamed the brutal north sea coast links narrowly losing in a playoff to Padraig Harrington.
Summer Camp
Our Academy team were delighted to host the first of our 2018 Kids Summer Golf Camps last week. Under the watchful eye of Elshan Guliyev our Azerbijani coach and Emma Elisova players enjoyed the first two days at Dreamland Golf Club before travelling to the National Golf Club of Azerbaijan in Quba. Activties ranged from golf tuition to multi skilled sports and training sessions to on course competitions and games. Players received medals of achievement of their efforts with many signing up for the next summer camp in August 2018.
For any parents requiring further details for the 13-16 August Summer Camp Dates please contact Emma directly at Academy@dreamlandgolfclub.com
Rule of the week
Sticking with Carnoustie, back in 1999 Jean Van de Velde notoriously visited Barry Burn finishing with a 7 on the 18th. What were the 3 options available to him after hitting his ball into the water hazard?
First Cup
Last Saturday 18 aspiring Azeri golfers participated in Dreamland's ‘First Cup’. For the majority this was their first experience of competition golf on our Championship golf course. Offering support and guidance, many of our more established Azeri members joined the novice golfers in a fun scramble format and produced some fantastic scores. First place went to Iltifat Aghayev, Ramin Mammadov and Nabi Efendi who scored 32.1 net whilst runners up with a net score of 35.9 were Elman Rzayev, Ziya Zamanov, Libada Mammadova and Tural Aliyev. Elnur Mammadov won the Nearest the Pin and Iltifat Aghayev won the Longest Drive prize on the day.
Pre- Owned Clubs For Sale
Please find below the link to our Pre–Owned selection of golf equipment which we have on offer with the Golf Academy Team. Alex, Kamran or Emma are delighted to allow you to trial any of the items at the Driving Range, as you can see many of the leading brands are featured.
Footgolf is now available on a Monday evening from 5pm till 8pm with floodlight play available on our academy Par 3 course. This is a great new initiative to grow awareness in Azerbaijan and to mix the worldwide passion for football into golf course concepts and scoring system. If you have not tried this then we would highly recommend you get along on a Monday evening to try it out. We will certainly look to grow this concept in 2018. The cost is 20azn per person for 18 holes and we will provide the footballs. For more information on Footgolf please contact    academy@dreamlandgolfclub.com
Summer 2018 @HYATT
With Baku getting baked by the Sun, pool your resources, get outdoors and swim into one of the city’s best outdoor swimming spot. Spend this beautiful summer days for you and your lovely ones in our rousing outdoor pool.
Special offer for Mondays and Tuesdays only!
Family Visit
Pay for adults and get kids entrance free 
* 1 kid per adult
Couple Visit
50 AZN per couple 
 
HYATT REGENCY BAKU | Izmir street 1033 | 012 490 1234
JW Marriott - The Best Happy Hours in Town!
Start your evenings at terraces of Fireworks Urban Kitchen and OroNero Bar & Ristorante. Unwind after a long working day in a cool ambiance and relaxing atmosphere and enjoy 50% discount on beverages between 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, 7 days a week.
For reservations: +994 12 499 8888
Dreamland Golf Club | +994 (0) 12 404 7 404 | reservations@dreamlandgolfclub.com |