The bunkers, which protect holes 2, 5, 6, 13 and 17, feature the kind of steep faces and well-defined lips that will require players to adapt their games and "think long and hard about club selection.”
For the first time ever outside of the US, all four reigning Major champions will be in the field, along with six of the world’s top 10 players. The event has taken place on The National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the past five years, and a record number of spectators is anticipated at the 2011 sixth edition. ~ To that end the Championship Village has been enhanced and expanded and the spectator experience promises to be better than ever.
Abu Dhabi has become a top tourist destination, and now boasts three world-class, championship-ready golf facilities. In the past, US tourists have been scarce, however figures recently compiled by "Conde Nast Traveler" magazine for their annual poll of readers indicate a rising number of Americans interested in travel to the Middle East. Tournaments like the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship may encourage these future travelers to see the golf possibilities in the area.
I hope the TV coverage is good. I think the timing will make it difficult to watch live over here.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest stroke savers is playing well from bunkers and no golfer does this better than Phil Mickelson. I'd be great to see him win in Abu Dhabi.
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ReplyDeletechampionship course peak rate for 18 holes is 745, (is that US dollars ?)
hybrid course peak rate, for 9 championship course holes and 9 garden course holes is 645, (again, i don't know if that is US dollars)
not including airfare, hotel, ground transport, etc etc (and not knowing what currency rate applies), that trip could be quite an expense - no ?
well, i am really trying to like that place, but i guess i was going to come to my NY-centric conclusion no matter what - sorry
after all, it was where i, young and impressionable then, witnessed a visiting sultan from the middle east play winged foot with his entire entourage in tow, and afterwards, he did seem genuinely discouraged when told the place was not for sale
(of course i saw the japanese executives go away equally empty-handed some years later, (they did manage to "own" rockefeller center (actually a mortgage on the buildings not the land) for at least a while, however, they learned that westchester golf courses were a different type of real estate transaction entirely)
but a place that costs what ten or more trips to and multiple rounds on the "old course" would equal just doesn't compute by my old-time math
and no wee dram of scotch allowed ?
fugedaboudit !
frankD
ftliquordale so FLA
PS
ashgolf,
having read and re-read harvey penick, i learned a bigger stroke saver is not to be in the bunker in the first place
I's be inclined to "fugedaboudit" too if that was dollars, but I think (hope) it's dirhams. :o) If so the cost in dollars would actually be 175-200. That's what I heard it cost from some friends who have relatives there. They said that what makes golf in Dubai and Abu Dhabi comparative to here in the US are the resort packages. Once they start marketing those to US golfers more will probably go. It's definitely an interesting part of the world.
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