In a place where vast financial wealth and opulent golfing riches can sometimes distort reality, there’s a straight-talking Scotsman with his feet firmly on the ground.

Stephen Hubner, club manager at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, originally hails from the south side of Glasgow but has spent the past 17 years rising steadily through the ranks of Dubai Golf to lead one of world golf’s most prized assets.

Boasting the Earth Course and Fire Course, Jumeirah Golf Estates is a regular host of those glamorous DP World Tour events and has become a bucket-list golfing destination for many in recent years.

Since being appointed to the role in 2022, his responsibilities have certainly grown but those old principles remain as the demand for high-quality golf in Dubai continues to thrive.

But although he is tasked with ensuring the rich and famous get the full five-star experience from their membership or visit, there remains a humble ethos in making sure the operation runs like clockwork and the enormous disparity between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in Dubai can co-exist with minimal friction.

While his laid-back demeanour promotes that togetherness and team spirit among the staff he constantly refers to as “colleagues”, he’s also not prepared to allow any liberties to be taken by anyone with a misplaced sense of superiority.

Hubner said: “I’m a working class guy from the south side of Glasgow and you see a lot of wealth here but I’m not really a money-driven person so I don’t get blown away by it. I’m more focused on my family, relationships and doing something I enjoy, which is meaningful.

“There are probably some wealthy people who could perhaps do with having a view like that and it would help them.

“We try to give members a really great experience and we have fantastic relationships with so many of them. We play golf with them regularly, have dinner and a drink etc.

“We genuinely have a lovely member demographic and fantastic colleagues, but on those rare occasions when you sometimes see people treating people in the wrong way, we don’t just let it go – we step in.

“If we have to suspend people from the club because of behaviour, we will do it. It is very important that our colleagues know they have the full support of the management team.”

After cutting his playing teeth at Caldwell Golf Club in Renfrewshire, Hubner’s own career progression saw him taken under the wing of Iain Darroch at Eastwood Golf Club before making the most of an unexpected opportunity to branch out.

Hubner said: “I worked with a great guy in Iain Darroch. He helped me learn about the pro shop business but also a lot with golf coaching and guided me in that direction.

“I met a girl (Leigh) and fell in love. She’s an architect and had an opportunity to move to Dubai, so we both came out on a reconnaissance mission in 2005 and both just fell in love with the place.

“She went for a job interview and I was sitting there waiting. But then the owners of the company loved golf and were then asking me all about golf when they were supposed to be interviewing her!

“They took me along to Arabian Ranches Golf Club the next day, I was then given the names of all of the directors of golf, got a few meetings and a few months later in 2006 we moved out.”

A club-fitting position and then quickly a coaching role at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club soon followed which then paved the way for a move into the operations side of golf business with positions as director of golf before assuming the position as club manager at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

But it is providing that same chance for career growth which Hubner is keen to pass on to his staff.

He said: “Having the opportunity to help and watch colleagues grow and develop is a really, really great part of the job. It’s a big family and some of them have been with us at Dubai Golf for 35 years.

“I would say about eight per cent of our colleagues are promoted every year. Sometimes they might move elsewhere but we’re delighted when that happens if they are moving on to successful careers and we’ve played a part in that.

“We put on colleague golf lessons all the time and they can play for free whenever they want when they are off duty, which doesn’t happen at a lot of places.

“I honestly think the key to it is respectfulness and kindness. Some people need a bit of guidance, compassion and to help them come out of their shell and develop.

“If managers can understand that, it’s massive. You want the team to want to work for you and want to do a good job, rather than having to do it because they might get into trouble or lose their job.

“Some managers think they need to be hard, or people need to fear you because you’re the boss. It still surprises me when you hear that, to be honest.”

Annual memberships at the club range from around £5,000 to £8,000 per year, but there are some attractive value options for visitors on a green fee too. You can play the Fire Course for less than £90 off-peak and even the Earth Course in the peak winter period is less than £270.

There are also two-for-one offers available during certain periods of the year and you may well bump into a Ryder Cup star should you be plotting your way around the lush fairways.

Hubner said: “We’ve got 100 people on the waiting list for membership and we have about 1,000 golf members and 3,500 country club members. We have the two beautiful courses – Earth Course (home of the DP World Championship since 2009) and Fire Course.

“We actually hosted two European Tour events – the final two of the season – on two separate courses in consecutive weeks after the Nedbank was cancelled because of COVID.

“A fair amount of preparation goes into hosting an event but to then do it twice in consecutive weeks was pretty challenging, but a great experience.

“We’ve got an amazing academy at the club – the Tommy Fleetwood Academy at our DP World Golf Performance Centre. It’s really been upgraded over the past year or so and Tommy is helping our coaches to develop and is just a lovely guy.

“Back in September, he’s winning the Ryder Cup and the next, he was here playing with us in the members’ Curry Club, which is just our nine-hole roll-up. I often see him out here practicing with his little boy Frankie, which is so nice to see.”

Finding the elusive work-life balance alongside his wife Leigh and their two children – William (11) and Hana (nine) – can be difficult but Hubner has no plans to give up the sunshine of Dubai for a return to his roots.

He said: “I love coming back to the UK and Scotland every summer. We go back to do some cycling and hiking and the kids love it. My parents come out here for three-four weeks at a time, so it works well.

“We all love it here and I don’t envisage going back anytime soon. There have been some opportunities to move to other parts of the region or the world but Dubai feels like home.

“We have come a long way at Jumeirah Golf Estates since I moved here in 2018, but I’m always thinking ‘We have so much to do. I want to do this and I want to do that.’

“It’s pretty busy all of the time. Trying to juggle being present at the club for all of the events, develop and help colleagues and family life is a difficult balance.

“But I still feel as if I’ve got some unfinished business here.”