“Don’t Forget To Brush The Green”

Watching the golf on the television from the Middle East, in the last month, has reaffirmed to me how good a golfing destination the area is. You are guaranteed perfect weather conditions and invariably perfect course conditions also. As well as playing the Middle East swing many of our top professionals use Dubai as a base in the winter months to sharpen up their game.
I have been fortunate enough to play two of the courses that featured on the European Tour in the last three weeks, Abu Dhabi National and the Emirates course in Dubai. However, my most memorable golfing experience in the UAE was at a course that existed before either of these two modern gems.
This was on a sand course that was located in Abu Dhabi close to the international airport. At the course I was given a piece of astro turf to hit the ball off, told that the fairways were roped off and that finally you must “brush the greens” after putting. The greens were of course, heavily oil based and this meant they were the truest putting surfaces in the world. A long brush was beside each green and after you completed the hole you brushed the green to make a smooth surface for the group behind. After you got used to the routine it seemed perfectly natural!