Sahara Kuwait Resort Golf

 

At the heart of Sahara, Kuwait is our stunning 18-hole golf course, built to PGA championship standards. Crafted by Peter Harradine, the designer behind golf courses in Doha and Jabal Ali, this charming and challenging course is 6730 yards long and features three lakes and nearly 5000 trees.

Adding to the course's distinctive character are its 12 holes bounded by the race track of the Hunting and Equestrian Club. This serves not only to add a challenging change in topography, but also offers an excellent view of the horse races. In all, nearly 750,000 m3 of sand was removed to sculpt the undulating contours of a course that engages golfers at every level of consciousness.

I was there in the early morning on a weekday to experience the better golf course (Kuwait has 2) of the country and make it the 9th course I have played in the Middle East.

The Sahara Golf Course reminds me of 2 of my frequent golf haunts in Abu Dhabi and Singapore. Much like the Abu Dhabi City Golf Club because of the similar constraints having a course inside a race track (although Sahara brilliantly has 6 holes outside of the track) and thus making it a short 18 hole course. Images of NSRCC Changi pops into my head when I do round-abouts along the cart paths and seeing golfers tee off in my direction from another tee box that too far away from mine.

Conditions:

On a 22C and dry Sunday morning, I was quite surprised by the general conditions of the course. Fairways were firm and well manicured, but short of the lush and fresh bermuda that I am used to in the Emirates.

The greens were hard and very fast. Wicked contoured greens at half the holes made judging pace and breaks big worries.

Bunkers used coarse sand that were a tad heavy and damp, probably due to the rain the night before - a rarity in the Middle East by the way.

 

Difficulty:

One of the easier courses, and since it is bound by the race track, the Par 70 course was understandably short and straightforward.

The Par 4's played off the blue tees are reasonable in yardage and featured a couple of wicked dog legs, with the flag visible only at the second shot.

The two 520 yard Par 5's incorporated and made full use of the 3 lakes in the course to full advantage.

The Par 3's were the shorter ones and my favourite has to be the 11th Hole playing with a 50 feet drop from 122 yards to a small green.


Green Fee:

Weekdays: 30 Kuwaiti Dinar (130 SGD)
Weekends: 40 Kuwaiti Dinar (180 SGD)


Perks:

A nice club house/restaurant

Proximity from Kuwait City means a 20min drive to bask in the sun and escape from work for the morning.

Recommendation:

If I am stranded in Kuwait and dying for a game, I would probably part with my money for some fun, and maybe once a month. For the same rate, look no further than the Emirates for the insane options of more enjoyable clubs and courses.

 

Conclusion:

7 pars but a 17 over was special, for good and bad reasons.

 

 

 

Abu Dhabi has been waiting for this one to be open to public for the last 1.5 years or so.

Designed by Kyle Philips, the Yas Links is touted as the first links course in the Middle East.

Since its opening at the second quarter of 2010, it became one of the newest golf courses in the Emirates and brings the tally of world class courses in Abu Dhabi to three (the others being the grand old Abu Dhabi Golf Course and the newer Saadiyat Beach Course), though a far cry from the dozen in neighbour Dubai.

I was there over the weekend for my first taste of links golf and expecting to lose a few balls knowing that half of the 18 holes are played just yards off the beach.

Conditions:

The general conditions from tee to green is a shade off the usual conditions I have come to take for granted in the Emirates. Probably because it and its staff are new.

The 6th tee was waterlogged, probably due to the extensive watering of the course in the morning. I could have sworn that parts of some fairways looked like they used cowgrass.

Overall, quite a linksy experience - wide open course with very few date trees in sight, lots of long grass lining the rough, one of the most undulating fairways I have played in, and not much water hazards coming into play (other than the Par 3's)


Difficulty:

A very challenging course for the many elements of the game which I found very interesting.

The terrain of the fairways posed many awkward lies for my second/approach shots on numerous occasions - even with a decent drive onto the fairway, you are always almost hoping that the good drive is rewarded with a decent lie at least.

This course does not encourage shots into the rough. I lost 6 balls for the round in the long grass even though I was sure I knew where it last landed!

Since Yas Links is near the beach, the cross winds that morning was always a factor and made it ever so hard to aim the shots confidently.

What I found really fun was that all the Par 3's are played over the seawater, making playing off the blues very rewarding and picturesque. Add in the wind factor and you would be very happy with a one on!


Green Fee:

Weekdays: 399 AED (155 SGD)
Weekends: 499 AED (190 SGD)


Perks:

Free use of range facilities (grass ranges, bunkers, greens) before/after the game and wonderful showering/shoe/club cleaning facilities, as to the standards with most clubs in UAE. Unlimited Nike range balls.

The restaurant has a fantastic view of the sea.


Recommendation:

Might need to give the club some time for the staff and course to get more matured, and I have no doubt this would be a popular course, even though it is 40km off city center.

My Best Round to DatE!!!!

I play off a handicap of 23.5 but what happened today was just out of this world, by my standards.

I played my usual morning round at the Riyadh Golf Course in Saudi today.

Course Rating - 71.1 Slope - 113 Par -Seventy Three.

I hit a front nine of 43 and a back nine of 41!

That, together with some statistics that I have never ever came close to:

11/14 FIR
8 GIR
9 Pars
1 Birdie
29 Putts

I am still trying to figure out what I have done right or done differently. Other than having Macdonalds for breakfast, and carrying a new 52* VR Wedge (Thank you Andrewgolf again) nothing was different.

I thought I started the day well with a par and a birdie in the first 4 holes. And all of a sudden, everything seemed to click between holes 8 to 17 where the 8 pars came.

Analysing the scorecard now, I noticed some clues:

1) The mid irons were working well today - evident from the 3 GIR's and the 2, 4, 3, 3 scores for the 4 holes.

2) The driver was working well today. The best I had was 6-7 FIR in a normal game. Ken made me realised that a flat down swing sends the ball straighter than my usual over the top swing, which always fades, or slices.

3) My putting was probably the one that I felt very confident with today - evident from the 29 putts made. I usually do 38-40 on the average. That plainly translated to 11 more strokes, which would have been me playing off my handicap on a given day.

4) Looking back, I made 7 one putts today - none of them outrageous 20 footers, and it all makes sense now since I was hitting some good approaches from within 60-80m today. Arrgg the usefulness of the 52* wedge. I use to carry only a PW, a 56* and a 60*. Today I ditched the 60.

5) Another interesting stat is the absence of a 3 putt today.

Now the areas to improve:

1) Comparing the Par 3's, 4's and 5's, I am losing strokes off the Par 4's.
4 Par 3's - even
4 Par 5's (including the Par 6) - 2 over
10 Par 4's - 9 over. Only 2/10 GIR

This is logical because my driver is inconsistent and I lose a lot of distance even with an FIR. The one ball which I hit solidly the whole day yielded 281 yards.

2) With a short drive off the tee, I often stare at the second shot with 150-200 yards - something I am not very comfortable with when the long iron is in my hands.

3) For the 4 double bogeys I had, they were all down to bunker shots and chipping. I recalled wasting 3 shots at the bunker (couldnt get out) and a couple of 2 chips just to get the ball to the green from 40 yards...