Abu Dhabi - A fine place for sandy pars
In the final years of the 20th century, Abu Dhabi watched Dubai steal the world headlines. With oil reserves to last a century or more, it could afford to sit back and gloat as its high-profile neighbour sewed the seeds of its own economic destruction. Then the new millennium dawned and the regional giant flexed its financial muscles.
Saadiyat Beach
Saadiyat Beach
Telephone:
+971 2 557 8001
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Website:
Courses:
7,806yds, par 72
Let there be a fairytale monument to Islam: within seven years, the spectacular Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, with 82 marble domes, four minarets topped with real gold and the world’s largest carpet, dominated the downtown area.
Let there be museums to match the best on the planet: The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a complex of cutting edge building blocks contrived by Canada’s iconic architect, Frank Gehry, rose from the rocks on Saadiyat Island for a 2012 opening. By 2015, it will be joined by the first Louvre outside Paris, a space-ship design by France’s Jean Nouvel, and a sinuous Performing Arts Centre inspired by nature, with windows shaped like leaves.
Let there be golf: The Saadiyat Beach course, designed by Gary Player, opened in February 2010 on a prime site down the road from these monuments to cultural domination. On the 25km drive from the city centre, I saw several roadside advertisements proudly announcing seven hectares of sand. By the time I reached the second hole, I felt I’d seen most of it, but I was wrong. Seven hectares is a hell of a lot of sand.
On several holes, it occupies half the fairway, ready to trap even a slightly errant tee shot; on others, it blocks easy access to the greens, creating pressure on the approach. The fifth hole, a long sweep down to the sea, and the sixth, which runs along the beach, are particularly striking. With difficulty, I resisted the temptation to join the dolphins frolicking in the waves, surely a legitimate addition to a game plan already torpedoed by bunker hell.
I wasn’t lucky enough to spot one of Saadiyat Beach’s most famous residents, the endangered Hawksbill turtle. In an ecologically sensitive area, protecting it has resulted in a new generation of buggies with artificial intelligence. Drive too close to the rough and the GPS prevents further movement until you’ve reversed out of the protected habitat. Exceed the speed limit and it issues reprimands while cutting back to 2km an hour until you’ve served your sentence. As I saw no other golfers during my round, I can’t say how much this might affect slow play.
On the back nine, lagoons conspire with great swathes of sand to create islands of grass, where it is safe – though not always possible – to land your ball. The focus of the handsome clubhouse, another Gehry original, is the Hawksbill restaurant, informal, international and open from 6am, the best time to play golf for much of the year in these parts.
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, managed by Arizona-based Troon Golf, is part of a work in progress, a massive real-estate development with imposing properties in varying stages of completion overlooking the fairways. The centrepiece is the St Regis Hotel due to open in November.
