ABU DHABI // The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship seems set to return to the National Course in 12 months time, despite the growing claims of the capital's two new championship courses.
A definitive decision has yet to be made on the location of the 2013 tournament.
Advanced discussions have taken place to relocate to one of the new courses, at either Yas Links or the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority are keen to showcase the capital's varied appeal by moving the annual golf showpiece to a new venue with a different landscape.
However, the success of this year's tournament, which has attracted significantly larger galleries than ever before - thanks in no small part to the debut appearance of Tiger Woods - has forced a rethink.
"We are still in the decision-making process regarding the venue for next year's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship," Peter German, the tournament director, said in a statement.
"At this stage, [we] are not ruling out any of the emirate's three championship-ready courses.
"Abu Dhabi Golf Club, the tournament's traditional home, deserves tremendous credit for hosting yet another world-class event this week."
The course remains popular with some of the biggest crowd-pullers in the sport. Martin Kaymer says he feels like he is returning "home" when he plays here, not surprisingly given he has won three times around the National Course.
Rory McIlroy, who coincidentally expressed his distaste for links land golf last summer at the British Open, was playing here for a fifth time. "It is a course that suits me," he said.
Tellingly, HSBC, who have sponsored the competition for the past two years, and who played a large role in securing the appearance of Woods, have stated their preference for it to remain at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
The course has hosted all eight tournaments since its inception in 2006, during which time the distinctive Falcon clubhouse has become a significant landmark of the European Tour.
The club also benefits from being on a sizeable plot of land. That allows for both a substantial spectators' village, as well as enough car parking to adequately service the size of crowd created by having Woods, plus six of the world's top 10 players in the field this year.
According to Giles Morgan, the head of sponsorship at HSBC, the repetition created by returning to the same venue is key to consolidating brand awareness.
"It is fantastic to build a brand on a golf course," Morgan said. "The Augusta is the obvious one, with the Masters.
"We cannot say this is Augusta, but if people get into the habit of saying, 'Oh it is the Abu Dhabi event, I remember Kaymer winning last year and I remember his dramatic shot on 18'. It definitely helps a brand to have repetition."
The idea of an annual rotation, such as that which takes place at the British Open, for example, between the courses in Abu Dhabi seems unlikely.
The Dubai Desert Classic, the longest established event to the Middle East, has been played around the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club for all but two years since it was first staged in 1989.
In 2000, the tournament was moved away for aesthetic reasons, with the Dubai Creek and Yacht Club being in the centre of town and thus portraying images of a metropolis rather than a desert expanse as the backdrop to the television images.
The sponsors of the Abu Dhabi tournament say the two competitions they have staged at the National are "as good as anything" they have done.
That includes one of Asia's leading competitions, the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, which they are having to move this year from their preferred Sheshan International Golf Club due to a contractual obligation. No similar obligation exists for Abu Dhabi.
"There is no agenda for having to move," Morgan said. "There is a lot of conjecture and people talking about it.
"For professional golf reasons, meaning what it takes to put on a golf tournament properly that delivers for spectators, television, media. For those, this place works extremely well.
"There may be other courses here, such as Saadiyat and Yas, which may have a very good business case to make, but it needs to be the right case for the tournament.
"We have had good conversations, but I have to say we are delighted with the set up here. It is as good as anything we have ever done."