ABU DHABI // To the purists, stepping on to the first tee at Al Ghazal comes as something of a shock. In front of your concrete platform lies 362 yards of sand, some of it treated, the rest left in its natural state, culminating in the slightly raised platform of a "brown" in the distance. Browns are Al Ghazal's answer to greens and the fairways are the areas of treated sand on which buggies are allowed to travel. The carts are prohibited from the "rough" areas of sand in another curious diversion from golf as most people know it.
But if Colin Montgomerie, the moody Scottish professional who is renowned for his surliness on the course, can be converted to sand golf, then so can anyone. Angela Scurr, the manager of the club which has been operating for more than 10 years in the shadow of Abu Dhabi airport, certainly gives a powerful sales pitch and is clearly proud of the unusual product she and her colleagues offer to members and visitors.
She used the example of Montgomerie and his fellow European Tour professionals who played in competitions at Al Ghazal during their build-ups to the 2004 and 2005 Dubai Desert Classics. "I remember looking at Montgomerie's frown as he stood on the first tee perhaps thinking 'what on earth am I doing here?' but he came back later with a big grin on his face telling everybody how much he enjoyed it," she said.
"People who have never played here before are shocked because they can't believe what a good course it is. It has quite a bit of difficulty on it. We have got some really interesting holes. I would say hand on heart that there are no boring holes. "It is as close as you can get to traditional golf on greens. Most of the browns have aprons in front." The browns are a mixture of sand and oil and can be made hard or soft so that your ball bounces at different levels and they have to be brushed extensively every time a group of players have putted out.
Scurr, who plays off a handicap of four and has won numerous tournaments during her time in the Gulf region - she refers to herself as a big fish in a small pool - feels comfortable on either sand or grass. "Once you get used to playing on sand it becomes second nature," she said, determined to dispel my obvious doubts. "It takes a while to get used to because more often than not at the start you hit the mat further than the ball."
The "mat" is the piece of astroturf players are given to improve their lies for fairway shots. wjohnson@thenational.ae