Golf is Hot in the Arabian Desert

...Hot on so many levels, as illustrated above by these pix taken in Dubai over the last couple of days! The Dubai Ladies Masters is in full swing and it looks like SUCH FUN!!! Of course Annika's on top of the leader board... she set a course record today...got seven birdies, not a single boggey...that sort of normal Annika stuff. But the thing is... the whole event, the season ender on the Ladies's European tour, seems to have a kind of crazy vibe. So unlike golf as played here in the LPGA tour events. Dubai probably has a good bit to do with that. It's one of the hottest places on earth. Literally and figuratively. An Arab Kingdom that's ultra hip and thoroughly modern, but at the same time extremely conservative and traditional. How can that be, right? But it is. And the event's trophy actually symbolises this balancing act. It's a sleek, shiny sculpture called "Lady in Silver" that portrays a traditional Gulf Arab woman in a version of the burqua that covers the wearer from head to toe and has a metallic gold mask attached. One still sees women wearing them in Dubai and elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf. However, these lady golfers are definitely not covered up, as the midriffs above attest. And that seems to be just fine. Short shorts, little collarless tops, very cool belts. Oh my, some of our US golf curmudgeons are not going to like this at all. Oh well, these girls don't appear to care. In fact, it seems they're having a blast, they had a great Middle Eastern party earlier this week where They feasted on some luscious looking Arabic Food. Some of the girls got henna tattoos, and...they were all entertained by...what else... a Middle Eastern belly dancer. Yes, I definitely like this event and I'll be posting about it in the coming days, highlighting not only the golf, but some some of the interesting player and their scandalous outfits.