Course Review - Doha Golf club & TPC Scottsdale

The second leg of the Gulf Swing sees the Doha Golf Club staging the Commercialbank Qatar Masters for the 15th time on the European PGA Tour. Peter Harradine’s 6750m par 72 Championship Course is 150 hectares of lush fairways and greens framed by eight man-made lakes in a landscape that was barren desert scarcely more than a decade and a half ago. To complement the design and aid the transformation, 10,000 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 1300 palm trees were planted, together with 65 giant cacti imported from the Arizona desert. Additionally, this long-hitters paradise offers spectacular views out over the West Bay Lagoon and the turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf.

Throughout the course there are classic risk and reward scenarios where the daring player can go for broke with booming drives. However, get it even slightly wrong sometimes, and the penalty for missing the fairway may be severe, which leaves ample scope for the more cautious approach to be very competitive. Challenging enough for most on a calm day, the course really bares its teeth when the wind blows, easily living up to its championship credentials.

The US PGA Tour caravan makes a stop this week in Greater Phoenix, Arizona where TPC Scottsdale plays host to one of the oldest events on the tour calendar, the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The championship takes place annually in this fast growing part of the north-eastern corner of the Sonoran Desert, known as the Valley of the Sun and boasting a subtropical climate. TPC Scottdale’s Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish designed Stadium Course was purpose built for this tournament in 1986, and the event has been held there since the following year.

A firm fan-favourite over the years, the Phoenix Open has evolved into the world’s largest spectator golf event largely on the back of the gladiatorial setting of the Coliseum-styled par 3 16th hole. Before and after are dramatic and challenging holes, including reachable par 5’s and a driveable par 4. However, the undoubted star of the show is the carnival atmosphere engulfing the 16th hole, where Tiger Woods famously made a hole-in-one in his first full year on the Tour in 1997.

Golfweather Editorial