Naela El Attar, golf department head at the Allegria Golf Club in SODIC’s Club S: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Naela El Attar (LinkedIn). Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Naela El Attar, and I describe myself as a very passionate, competitive person. I enjoy nature and animals very much; these two things have always been a big part of who I am. I also consider myself to be an extremely fortunate person. I found my passion at a young age, and was lucky enough to have the support of my parents, coaches, and the community around me to pursue my dream.

I am the general manager of the Allegria Golf Club, where I am responsible for all facility operations. I oversee a staff of about 75 people, including four managers and employees involved in agronomy and golf operations. I also manage and coordinate weekly and monthly activities — seeing to golf lessons, running a huge golf technology academy, directing weekly tournaments and events, and monitoring daily operations and business as usual. Throughout the day, I tend to our members and golfer guests, seeing to their requests and inquiries. A few days a week, I do course checks: assessing the condition, maintenance, and irrigation of our 158-acre golf course.

The biggest part of my job is communicating to the owners what goes on in the golf industry because most of them are not golf professionals. Their expertise pertains to real estate rather than golf specifically, so they need to have someone on board who understands capital planning. I develop budgets, reports, estimates of revenues and expenses, and capital plans with the owners.

I was introduced to golf when I was just four and a half years old by my dad. I fell in love with the game instantly and knew that I wanted to spend every day on the golf course. I grew up playing junior tournaments at the historic Alexandria Sporting Club, which is more than 100 years old. By six or seven, I knew I wanted to be a golf professional, even though I wasn’t really sure what that entailed. What drew me in was the open space of greenery and the old trees. I was fascinated by the vegetation and the habitat it created for different kinds of birds, lizards, chameleons, and other animals. Nature is a big part of the game.

I'm usually up by 4:35 am in the summer. It's just my biological clock; it gets me up early, even when I try to stay in bed and rest on my days off. In the cold weather, I might try to sleep in, but I’m usually up by 6:00 AM. So I have a pretty early morning routine, which makes me go to bed really early.

I try to be consistent with my morning workout — though to be honest, that doesn’t always work out. I usually do a morning run. My running buddy is my hunting dog — a Hungarian Vizsla. He requires a lot of exercise, so he pushes me to do it. When I'm about to miss a run, he kisses my cheek and is like, “No way. We're gonna go running.” And in summer, I do a lot of lap swimming. I also have a few dumbbells and bands and stuff. So I work out for half an hour / an hour at home because I'm very short on time in the morning. On my days off, I get to read a little bit of Enterprise, which I got into recently.

I learned the hard way that you have to prioritize your body or else you crash. I'm very competitive, like I said, so I can be dragged into working so many hours, and about a year ago I got burnt out. I have to say it's my weak point, and that's what a lot of my family and friends point out.

My day off is Tuesday to balance things out. I work on the weekends, which is our busiest time, so to find balance I sometimes invite my parents to have lunch on Fridays. I think I play golf way less than anyone who doesn't work in golf. It's funny how I'm always on the golf course, but I don't have enough time to play.

I love books on golf or sports psychology. Books of this kind explain the sport and how to endure, be confident, and deal with imperfections — stuff you can apply to real life. Sometimes we tend to think we are dealt some bad cards or our minds drift away to negative thoughts, but sports teach you that you're not going to get the outcome you want if you hold onto that negative outlook. One of the best sports psychologists in golf is called Bob Rotella. And even though his books really revolve around golf, I think anyone would benefit from reading his work, which offers a fun way of explaining how to better yourself without the pressure of reading a psychology book.

The best advice I’ve been given is putting 100% in whatever you choose to do to reach your potential. If I'm passionate about something, it’ll take all of me and that's just how it is. You can be given any advice, but you really end up following the example of those you grow up around. Like I said, I'm so fortunate to have had parents and grandparents who are very passionate and hardworking. Instead of just advising me, they led by example.

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