Sand Golfin'

There aren't many golf courses in KSA.  There were a few grass courses around Jeddah, but they recently closed.  There aren't many locals who take a liking to golf.  Most of the golfers are from somewhere in Europe or the US.  Also, as you would imagine, it costs the golf courses too much to keep the grass alive.  It makes sense that you wouldn't see a golf course anywhere over here.  The only golf course I have seen anywhere around Jeddah is the Desert Lakes Golf Club.  It's located on a barren, sandy plot of land just north of the airport.  I golfed there last week and it was a very unique experience.

Turf mat, your best friend

for the round.

The cost was 180 SR for the golf, 80 SR for club rental, and 80 SR for cart rental.  I think that amounts to around $90 or so, not too bad.  They give you a little square green mat of turf, which you use to hit your ball off of in the fairway or rough.  The sand on the course is more of a fine gravel than sand so your clubs wouldn't be happy if you hit directly off the sand all the time.

Below is the view looking out at the first hole.  As you can see, no trees, no grass, nothing but sand.  There are steaks along the edge of the fairway that mark the line between the fairway and rough.  The "rough" consists of a bunch of mounds of sand.  Hitting into the rough doesn't really affect your shots as much as it would on a normal course.


View overlooking the first hole.


So you hit your ball, pick up your turf buddy, and then do the same thing again until you make it up to the "brown".  Now, this is probably the most unique part about the course.  What would normally be a grassy green is a sandy brown.  The browns are made up of fine sand mixed with oil.  Surprisingly, they roll pretty much the same as a normal green.  The most tricky part about the browns and the course in general is that your ball rolls forever.  Sometimes it seems near impossible to land the ball on the brown without it rolling off the other side.  Some of you will say that it was my terrible golf game that made this so difficult, but I assure you that you would struggle as well.  Next time you're in Jeddah, you can find out for yourself.  Later in the round, when the sun started getting really hot, I could smell the oil coming from the brown.  It was funny to think that they use oil to maintain the course since it is cheaper than water.  There are brooms on the sides of all the browns so you can clean up your tracks after putting.

Rough

 The course was the same length as any other golf course.  I didn't do too bad considering I was playing with rental clubs and it was the first time out this year.  Now I can leave Jeddah saying that I golfed on sand.  Pretty cool.

Speaking of leaving Jeddah, that is exactly what I am doing in about 9 hours from now.  I'll be back in Chicago for at least a few days, weeks, months, not exactly sure how long.  So Scribbles might be taking a break for a while, check back for updates soon!









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