article_snippet: Half a century ago, expat oil workers with an enthusiasm for golf had nowhere in Abu Dhabi to play.
article_snippet: In the baking desert heat, with little or no irrigation possible, the equation was simple: expat oil workers with an enthusiasm for golf either had to adapt to the surroundings or there'd be no golf at all.
article_snippet: Back in 1961, determined British oil workers created a sand course on an atoll known as Das Island, around 100 miles off Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf.
article_snippet: It was the country's first-ever golf club.
article_snippet: As the expat population grew, so did the demand for the game, and in 1971 sand golf moved into Abu Dhabi proper with the opening of a course near the Sea Palace.
article_snippet: But although many sand course players changed surface and took up the more conventional game, several battled on and the 18-hole Al Ghazal sand course was created near Abu Dhabi airport, with the 18-hole Al Ghazal sand course front nine occupying part of an archaeological site, in 1997.
article_snippet: the 18-hole Al Ghazal sand course found a place in the international spotlight when a World Sand Golf Championship, boasting star names including Colin Montgomerie was played in 2004 and 2005 (won by Greg Owen and Thongchai Jaidee,) but the tournament fizzled out as showpiece events went to showpiece grass courses.
article_snippet: In Tripolis blog about the experience of playing sand golf in and near the city.
article_snippet: Recounting David Bachmann, who formerly worked at the Austrian embassy in the city experiences of Tripoli's tattered nine-hole Ghargharesh course, David Bachmann, who formerly worked at the Austrian embassy in the city wrote that it was one for diehards only, "golf fanatics that would come every weekend to play a round on this challenging course.
highlights_snippet: Expat oil workers in Abu Dhabi built sand golf course in 1961 .
  