leisure: golf saudi arabia 2012
RAS TANURA SURFSIDE GOLF CLUB
Saudi Aramco Compound
This club was formed in 1944 and is now 65 years old. It is one of five clubs in Saudi Aramco (Dhahran, Udhailiyah, Abqaiq and Yanbu ) that make up the Saudi Aramco Golf Association (SAGA). This course has a practice/driving range and volunteer club members will also provide tuition for young people interested in taking up the game. The course is complemented by a pro shop, which has many golf accessories on offer, from golf balls and gloves to shirts, hats and tees.
JUBAIL WHISPERING SANDS GOLF CLUB
18-hole sand course, Par 72 Ð 6,049 yards This all-sand course is situated only 10 minutes from Jubail Industrial City, in the Eastern Province. Due to the lack of natural grass, artificial turf mats are allowed at any position on the course, except at an official sand trap, which is designated by an emerald green rope. The usual fairway greens are instead 'brownsÕ and made up of a built-up area of mixed sand and oil elevated above the adjoining fairway. The complex is complemented by a driving range and pro shop and the course hosts regular tournaments and has golfing lessons available. Being a desert sand course, golfers are also likely to see camels stroll across the fairways.
Tel: +966 5 396 2132 57
THE HISTORY OF GOLF IN THE GULF YUSUF EDDIWEESH, GENERAL DIRECTOR AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THESAUDI ARABIA GOLF FEDERATION:
"Golf has been played in the Kingdom since the 1940s when Saudi Aramco employees construct- ed their own 18-hole sand course near Dhahran. It would take some 50 years for the course to be transformed into a full-round grass venue complete with lush greeneries and fairways. At present, there are three 18-hole grass golf courses in the Kingdom: Rolling Hills in Dhahran, Riyadh Golf Courses and Dirab Golf in the capital. In addition, there are three 9-hole grass courses, two of which are based in Riyadh (the Arizona Golf Course and a golfing venue at the Intercontinental Hotel) and the Kaust located north of Jeddah. The Kingdom also has nine sand golf courses, two of which are public courses (one in Jeddah and the other in Riyadh) and the rest private. In 1998, the Saudi Golf Committee Ð now the Saudi Arabian Golf Federation Ð was established to govern the sport in Saudi and en- courage youngsters to take up golf.
A growing sport in the Kingdom, golf now regularly attracts 3,000 to 5,000 players to courses across Saudi Arabia. Most golfers are expatriates, leaving between five and eight percent of the golfing popula- tion being locals, some of which play for the Saudi National team, which competes in regional and Pan-Arab golf championships. The Saudis who helped pioneer the sport in the Kingdom began playing golf on the Aramco sand courses. Since then, the General Presidency of Youth Welfare has played an important role in promot- ing the sport throughout Saudi Arabia. A major milestone for Saudi golfing, the Surfside Golf Club in Ras Tanura, celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2004. The club is one of five that make up the Saudi Aramco Golf Association (SAGA). The others are based in Dhahran, Ud- hailiyah, Abqaiq and Yanbu."
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