Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi

Saturday, January 19, 2013 "adventure"

Usually, the only time I have watched golf is if I need noise in the background during a nap, or if I'm hanging out with my Dad and he has a golf tournament on.

I have nothing against golf, just has never interested me. Miniature golf maybe. That's low pressure and can be entertaining.

But I'm Abu Dhabi, right? And committed to trying new things. Seeing things that are here. And now.  And I've never been to a pro golf tournament, ever.

So I get this email from Etihad Airlines, letting me know that if I flash my Etihad Guest member card, I can get in for free.  Hmmm. The cost (no VIP package or that sort of thing) is only 50 Dhirham (calculator / conversion time!). And it's not far from where I'm living.  Why not?!  

I put on my new UV-resistant shirt from REI (I have probably mentioned that the sun is intense here, even in cooler weather) ... definitely a good purchase, because it sure seemed to help. Grabbed a baseball cap (glad I did), and drove on over to the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Side note about driving: I lean toward following my intuition. I had looked at a map before I left the villa, but wasn't 100% sure of the route I decided upon.  At one turn my gut said "this way!", when visually it didn't seem quite right.  Lo and behold, my gut was right, and I found the place. (The map makes it look so easy to find ... hah!)  I had thought about taking a taxi, and if I were to go again I probably would, because I ended up parking down this main street. I'm not a good judge of distance, but let's call it .75 miles. Heck, a little more exercise is good for me. 

Back to golf. I had listened to the radio, and favorites Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were already out of the tournament after yesterday.

I don't know if all pro golf tournaments have fun zones, but this one does. All kinds of games for kids and families, some physical activity and some golf related. One booth featured Abu Dhabi information.  One Emirati gentleman was writing names in Arabic. Here is "Kate" in Arabic:

Falcons are a big thing here, always have been. 

(Another side note: someone told me that the red/white checkered head covering is the "casual" dress; otherwise, you see white.)

If your a golf fan, here are a couple of photos of the scoreboard (done by hand by volunteers), and the course.  Near the holes, volunteers hold up "quite please" and "no cameras please" signs when someone is putting.

After checking out the "fun zone" (other vendors as well, such as Gourmet Abu Dhabi which is in February, magazine "Hello! Middle East", along with food and drink vendors ... alcohol served, as it was definitely an Expat crowd) -- I walked along part of the course.  If you are like me and know nothing of how this works, pairs of golfers start at different times at the 1st hole, and proceed from there. A program tells you who is starting when, and with whom.  I stumbled upon the 18th hole, and players Liang Wen-Chong (China) and Joel Sjoholm (Sweden). Watched them play that through.  I wasn't near one of those volunteers with a "no camera" sign (as you can see from the shot I was a ways back), so took advantage.  Liang is on the left in a yellow shirt, and Joel is in white on the right. Nope, I don't remember their score.

Glad I went. It was a beautiful day out, and something new and different (to me) to explore.  Afterward, treated myself to an outside patio seat at the Souk near the villa, and enjoyed some munchies at the Japanese restaurant.

Oh ... I'm be a little judgmental here and show a photo under the title of "things that are just wrong." Now, I'm just hoping I don't have to apologize to any friends or family that have the same pair:

(If you wore red to the golf tournament on Saturday, you got in free. Hence the woman to his right in all red.)