The importance of prime land

Golf courses today are among the most sought-after infrastructure in the world. Their ability to boost an economy, a culture - and even a community's health - has given them importance beyond their boundaries. Friday goes behind the greens to talk to the designers responsible for two of the biggest ongoing golf course projects in the UAE - the Ras Al Khaimah Tower Links and the Dubai Festival City golf course

Legend has it that golf began as a shepherd's seaside pastime, a way to pass the day as the wandering caretakers followed their flocks along the seaside. The origins seem plausible enough: an upturned shepherd's crook as the ancestor of the modern-day golf club, a nearby pebble instead of a perfectly dimpled golf ball, thickets, caves and the sea instead of bunkers, wastes, and other hazards; and open, undulating links land as the original fairways and greens.

Although the game has undergone rapid transformation between the shepherd's game of the past and the high-stakes professional golf played today, some things have remained the same: beautiful surroundings are still the essential element, the aim of the game - to achieve a target within the least number of strokes - remains, albeit with more rules and regulations; and although Man has stepped in where Nature has not provided enough of a challenge, the terrain remains the great equaliser.

In a country like the UAE, where the topography ranges from the inhospitable to the fragile, building distinctive championship courses requires a combination of creativity, vision, skill, local knowledge, money and optimism.

Where most of the country's golf courses have been based in and around the major cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, it is surprising that what is being touted as the most ambitious golf project of recent years in the UAE is taking place in one of its smallest and most low-profile emirates.

And that' only the first surprise. For the Tower Links Golf Club of Ras Al Khaimah is also set to make history in the country - for its design, its history, its location and its potential.