Fairway to heaven: Five Middle East courses worth dying for

It is a peculiar game if you actually consider that playing a round of golf involves standing for hours and walking for miles with a club in hand, a caddy walking behind you, keeping quiet, looking at the ball, looking at the hole, judging the distance and then you put the ball in and then whoosh!

As you suddenly realize that you’d been holding your breath and begin to breathe again. Give me the rough and tumble of football any day—the adrenaline rush, the screaming, the cheering, and the cursing. Golf, by comparison is a very refined game.

It is a game of intense concentration. It’s a game beloved of CEOs and those in the world of finance such as investment banking, for some reason. I guess they use it to develop business contacts and some claim they actually think cutting-edge business strategies while playing golf. I’ll take their word for it.

What is surprising is the utter devotion that this game commands. Some golfers I know think nothing of getting up at five in the morning on a weekend to go play a round of guess what. I’ve seen men in Scotland playing golf in a cold drizzle kitted out in mackintoshes. Women complain of being golf widows.

However, some women not only enjoy but also indeed excel at the game. Maybe the reason why golf is so popular among high achievers is because it is a game for individuals. No matter how much industry leaders talk about teamwork, at the end of the day, to be a leader is an individual thing and they themselves are mostly terrible at working in teams of equals. The corporate mantra is, teams win (such as Sales) but the CEO leads. And he plays golf.

Across the Western world, golf is not only popular but has been played for centuries. Its history is a bit muddy with everyone from the Romans to the Chinese staking a claim to its origins. It is only natural that Western countries should have the most spectacular and highly acclaimed golf courses in the world. Let’s go off the beaten track for a moment and see what’s happening in the East. Well, in the Middle East, golf is happening.

Golf in the Middle East is not emerging; it has emerged. Take the Emirates Golf Club, host of the European Tour sanctioned Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Omega Dubai Ladies Masters. It offers 36 holes of world-class golf. The Club has two of the city’s finest must-play courses, the Majlis and the Faldo, which is also the only 18-hole course in the region to offer night golf. Both courses combine the natural rolling desert terrain for a serious golfing test.

The signature clubhouse remains the most eye-catching in the region. The Majlis Course has been presented with a number of accolades over its 22 year history, the most recent of which were its 2010 ranking by Golf World magazine as one of the “Top 100 Golf Courses in the World” and its award for “Best Course Middle East” in the Asian Golf Monthly Awards 2010.

The Majlis championship course is a challenging par 72, on a 7,301-yard layout. Designed by Florida-based course architect Karl Litten, the original 18 holes were built in and around the dunes of a beautiful site, donated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum—Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai—on whose instructions the desert flora was maintained in its natural state.

As far as the Faldo is concerned, a natural Wadi (valley) running the length of the course comes in to play without being classified as a hazard. A Faldo’s trademark tees and bunkers are combined with the naturally rugged terrain to create an unusual golfing experience. It is regarded as one of the finest courses in Dubai. One of the world’s leading golf instructors, Peter Cowen has signed a new deal extending his affiliation with The Academy at Emirates Golf Club until the end of 2012.

Peter Cowen coaches some of the best golfers in the world—he is credited with helping Lee Westwood to become the number one golfer in the world in 2010.

Let’s go to Abu Dhabi. The influential Golf Magazine in the United States has named Yas Links in Abu Dhabi among the :”Top 10 New International Golf Courses.” The magazine ranked the course fifth in its international listing and praised the design for its “daunting, dynamic holes along the Arabian Gulf.” The layout, which has already been named the “best golf course in the Middle East,” by Golf Course Architecture magazine, is Kyle Phillip’s first design in the region.

Mr. Phillips didn’t just design the course—he was also responsible for shaping the three-kilometer-long coastline, employing some of the 1.8 million cubic meters of fill dredged from the sea to construct the golf course. He created dramatic links holes and no less than nine seashore greens.

Chris White, General Manager of developer Aldar Properties has said, “Yas Links has been referred to as a ‘game-changer’ for golf in the Middle East, and that is precisely what it is because it takes the entire region to a new level with an exceptional experience and world class quality.”

He has also said, “To be recognized by such a prestigious, global title as Golf Magazine is very humbling, yet we are also certain that our architect, Kyle Phillips, who has been responsible for some of the most outstanding golf courses in the world, has created something very special here at Yas Links.”

Travel to Oman and experience the Muscat Hills golf course. The internationally acclaimed designer, Paul Thomas, of David Thomas Associates, whose portfolio includes La Manga West in Spain, the Seve Ballesteros Golf Club and the Top Players Golf Club in Japan, has designed it.

Muscat Hills’ natural terrain was always destined for golf. Built in its own unique precinct of rugged hills and etched by canyon-like wadis, its rising heights are impressive. to say the least. This 18-hole championship golf course maintains all its natural surroundings—breathtaking scenery that sets Oman apart from any other golf course in the GCC.

The gently undulating green fairways are carefully sculptured into the natural terrain, which requires accurate approach shots into generously sized greens. This natural topography is home to the first green golf course in Oman is an exciting golfing experience designed to test all golfers.

In Qatar, the Doha Golf Club boasts an 18-hole Championship Course, a 9-hole Academy Course, an enormous driving range and putting green, 8 artificial lakes, graceful landscaping and a beautiful clubhouse designed in old traditional Arabic style.

The Championship Course is a tough course from the back tees and offers many strategic and heroic holes where the scratch golfer can test his skills. This unusual 150-hectare site has man-made lakes, which double up as obstacles as well as aesthetic features. There are shrubs and trees and cacti imported from Arizona, which emphasize the rugged surroundings.

The Academy Course is easy. Or, shall we say, less demanding and can be played by beginners, women and those who want to play a quick nine holes. The fairways are larger, the holes are shorter with less hazards and generally the course will allow the not-so-proficient golfer to enjoy the game and the good golfer will have the opportunity to have an enjoyable round.

In Bahrain, The Royal Golf Club is located in the upmarket Riffa Views housing development and is home to Bahrain’s only grass golf course. The course is landscaped to follow the natural rolling desert terrain and harnesses the underlying waters of the Al-Hunayniyah Wadi to create many water hazards, especially on the back-nine, and most especially on the closing four-hole stretch.

Acclaimed as challenging but fair, the course enjoys a natural harmony between desert rough, water and the green fairways. Extensively planted palms and native shrubs flourish over the 160-acre site, attracting all manner of migratory birds and waterfowl.

In your quest for good golf, perhaps you should change direction and look to the east. The Middle East, that is.

(Umita Venkataraman of Al Arabiya can be reached at: [email protected])