The best Golf Course in the Middle East is? Hint...Abu Dhabi...

Yas Links Abu Dhabi, the new Kyle Phillips designed golf course which debuts at IGTM this week, is the “best course in the Middle East” according to the latest issue of Golf Course Architecture magazine.

 

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The world-class development on Yas Island, home to the Yas Marina Formula One Circuit, venue of the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the spectacular Ferrari World, the world’s largest indoor theme park, has received widespread critical acclaim.
 

It is the first Middle East design for leading course architect Kyle Phillips, creator of World Top 100 Course Kingsbarns, Scotland, as well as the highly rated Verdura Golf & Spa Resort (Sicily), Dundonald (Scotland), and The Grove (London), who has created an extraordinary links overlooking the Arabian Gulf that rides rolling sand hills along three kilometers of coastline, and features nine seashore greens.

Following a recent visit to the site, Golf Course Architecture editor Adam Lawrence, wrote Yas Links is the, “first pure golf course in the Gulf,” and, “it is a golf experience like no other in the region.”
He added: “I am very confident in asserting that Yas Links is the best course in the Middle East by a distance and that it has taken golf in the region to a whole new level.”

In a unique twist, Phillips was able to design not only the golf course, but the coastline along which the course runs. That’s because the channel along the western edge of Yas Island had to be dredged to produce the 1.8 million m3 (cubic metres) of fill used to construct the golf course. The result is a coastline that lends itself perfectly to exciting golf holes, and one that is also benefiting from an approved environmental program that has introduced 130,000 mangrove plants.

Yas Links General Manager, Chris White, said: “Kyle has created a breathtaking golf experience at Yas Links and one that is unique in the Middle East. It is a rolling, heaving golf course, weaving through sand hills and wending its way along the shoreline with views of the Arabian Gulf on all 18 holes.

“It is interesting talking to golfers as they come in from their rounds – you can see the exhilaration and enjoyment in their faces. They know they have played a very special golf course.”

Yas Links is peppered with 119 bunkers, while Paspalum Platinum links grass covers the sand hills and defines the fairways of the 7,414-yard, par-72 course, which has five different tee settings to make the course challenging from the Championship tees, while creating an enjoyable experience for members and visitors.

Yas Links is part of Aldar Properties’ Yas Island development, a global leisure destination. Golf facilities at Yas Links also include a 5,750 m2 (57,000 ft2) luxury clubhouse and world-class, floodlit practice ranges and golf academy.

Some of the world’s top golfers will experience Yas Links for themselves in 2011 when the world’s most prestigious one-day Pro-Am tournament moves to Abu Dhabi.

The Invitational on January 17, 2011, hosted by Abdullah Al Naboodah, will see some of the world’s best European Tour golfers join forces with fifty invited amateurs for a day of great competitive golf.

World No.1 Lee Westwood, reigning US Open Champion Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia and Ross Fisher plus many more are expected to attend.





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Golf video of fan decked by Robert Allenby stray golf shot

This poor golf fan was watching Robert Allenby hit his drive at the Australian Masters when the shot conked him on the head! Watch this golf video and see the dangers of attending a sporting event ;-)

Has European Tour golf won out over the PGA Tour?

In what is considered by some to be a snub to America, Rory McIlroy recently declined PGA Tour membership for the upcoming 2011 season joining Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood as staunch supporters of the European Tour.

“The two best players in the world at the moment are not going to join the US Tour next year,” said McIlroy, number nine in the world. “It's a great time for European golf.”

Both Westwood and McIlroy have voiced concerns about a long PGA Tour schedule with few breaks in between events and the idea that their golf careers should not be solely about money.

The PGA Tour further ostracized Euro Tour golfers recently with its offer of a three-year exemption to the winner of a WGC event in China  only if that golfer is a member of an American Tour!

McIlroy recently said, "The FedEx Cup is only about money and you shouldn't just be going over to play thinking about how much you can make. I needed a break after the USPGA [In August], but had only one week. There is no flexibility in your schedule as the FedEx forces you to appear at those events. I didn't like that.”

Is money even a consideration for the two Euro Tour golfers, now atop the money list, or have they become sated and more interested in enjoying a less grueling schedule? With many of the top competitors now in Europe (seven Euro Tour players won eight 2010 PGA Tour events) and purses growing, it makes sense for many Euro Tour golfers to support their own events.

As a note, career earnings for Lee Westwood to date on the PGA Tour (from Yahoo! Sports) is a staggering $28.5 million dollars. Rory McIlroy's career earnings are a more conservative $8 million to date with $2 million won this year as a result of his win at the Quail Hollow Championship.

I agree with McIlroy that money can't buy happiness, but it can offer a comfortable lifestyle for you and your family! That being said, with the European Tour requirement to compete in thirteen events in 2011 and the PGA Tour needing fifteen events in order to retain a card, both Tours are forcing a choice to be made by the golfers, and more professional golfers are leaning towards the European Tour.

Ian Poulter is torn between keeping his PGA and Euro Tour cards, "I have a house over in the States and my family is well settled over there, but then you can't deny playing two tours is becoming increasingly difficult, especially with the European Tour number you have to play going up."

Graeme McDowell, winner of the 2010 U.S. Open, is expected to join the PGA Tour in 2011 to "give it a go" but has also expressed concern about the FedEx Cup playoff schedule.

"I'd like to try the FedEx[Cup] Playoffs, although I wasn't particularly impressed by the format this year. ... But I certainly do want to go out and play a little bit more golf out there." McDowell attempted to join the PGA Tour after his win at the U.S. Open but didn't qualify, finishing 197th in points.

If the winner of the U.S. Open can't qualify for a PGA Tour card, perhaps that is yet another signal for Europeans to back away from the the tour.

Even Phil Mickelson has decided to play his first event of 2011 out of the States in January at the Abu Dhabi Championship. But, I think for Phil the enticement IS the money and the chance to get out of playing at the five-day Bob Hope event.

Perhaps it's time for the PGA and Euro Tours to join forces, tightening up both entities but maintaining their distinct identities. Golfers seem to want to play in both Tours but are forced to choose one over the other. Instead, oust tournaments without sponsors, give "crybabies" a rest but make all golfers sign on to certain events so that all tournaments have A, B and C-list players covered. European Tour golfers are speaking up, but its up to the PGA Tour to listen.

Maybe my thoughts are a bit too Utopian  ... "kindness and good-nature unite men more effectually and with greater strength than any agreements whatsoever." Sir Thomas More

 
The new and improved PGA European Tour? (credit)


Joining forces does have its considerations: for one thing, it wouldn't be "Us against Them" Anymore. Where would we be without the Ryder Cup?

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