Playing on the browns

Sand fairways, popular in the UAE, are more challenging than their grassy counterparts.

In a desert climate, where grass is difficult to grow and maintain, it makes sense to create golf courses out of sand.

Sand golf is the same game, rules, skills, frustrations and enjoyment as grass golf, but is played on sand. "We have fairways that are bordered by fairway markers. If a player's ball lands on the fairway, they can place their ball on an Astroturf mat and play the shot. If the ball lands outside the fairway marker, they play it as it lies which can be quite challenging as the sand bordering the fairways can be soft in places," says Dave Gould, Captain, Golf Section, Dubai Country Club.

In sand golf, the greens are called browns. Browns are a mixture of sand and oil, which is rolled to make it smooth and then brushed with large brushes to smooth out any indentations.

"Tee boxes have a mixture of sand and oil and are smaller, otherwise they are similar to regular tees. The only difference between greens and browns is that browns do not have as many pitch marks to play over as they can be smoothed out before putting, the roll of the ball is also true and the browns can be made fast or slow. Most sand course players can adapt to grass fairly easily, but the other way around might take a little longer - it is the mental adaptation to using the Astroturf mat," says Angela Scurr, Golf Secretary, Al Ghazal Golf Club in Abu Dhabi.

Sand courses have always been popular in some parts of the world where maintaining grass is expensive or impossible due to the climate. "Sand golf is very popular with the players, and our membership at the Dubai Country Club is very loyal. Although grass golf is available to all of us and we all play on grass regularly, our home remains the sand course at DCC," says Gould.

Experts say that playing on sand fairways is more challenging than grass fairways as there is virtually no roll once the ball lands on a sand fairway, which does not give players much distance.

The UAE Golf Association (UGA) organises a scratch league every year in the UAE that involves leading players of each club in the region playing as teams. "The Dubai Country Club, together with the Sharjah Wanderers, fields a very strong team in this league. The Dubai Country Club also hosts the longest running golf tournament in the Middle East - the Dubai Mens Open," says Gould.

Most sand courses are easily accessible, there is no waiting for tee times, and it's a great way to start playing golf.

"Camaraderie is also a large factor. A sand player will normally turn up and play with any person, and they play the game for the sake of the game. The Al Ghazal Golf Club held the first World Sand Golf Championships in 2004 and second in 2005, and would love to hold it again, but the increase in European Tour events in the region and tight tour schedule prevent players from playing in this event, which is understandable," says Scurr.