Caption competition?

Well, sorry, no, this is just too easy: guess “World’s biggest bunker!” or “World’s biggest sand trap!” (depending on which side of the Atlantic your golfing perspective comes from), and you’d be – predictably – spot on.

When I first saw this image in our local paper, it seemed to be described as an episode in the current Abu Dhabi tournament, and this struck me as being one hell of a golf course. Only closer reading revealed that this was a promotional event in which two players were helicoptered out into the dunes (sorry, bunkers) of the Liwa Desert. As reported in the UK’s Daily Mirror:

Luke Donald will have no fears about playing out of the sand at this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship after he successfully tackled the “world’s biggest bunker” – a mammoth dune in the Liwa Desert.
In Liwa, Donald was joined by triple and defending Abu Dhabi champion, Martin Kaymer, as the awe-struck pair stood among 250-foot sand dunes at the entrance to Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) - the world’s largest uninterrupted sand mass.
Donald used the stint in the desert to try out some new clubs ahead of the tournament, which features some of the world’s best players.
Kaymer and Donald headline an Abu Dhabi field that is the strongest ever assembled at a Middle East tournament.

Or, from Today’s Golfer (where the image comes from):

Donald splashes out of world’s biggest sand trap

World number one, Luke Donald, will have no fears about playing out of the sand at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, after the Englishman successfully tackled the world’s biggest ‘bunker’ – a mammoth dune in Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Desert, the world’s largest uninterrupted sand mass.
In Liwa, Donald was joined by triple and defending Abu Dhabi champion, Martin Kaymer, as the awestruck pair stood amongst 250-foot sand dunes at the entrance to Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) - a desert made famous by British explorer Wilfred Thesiger’s 1940’s crossing and immortalised in the timeless book: Arabian Sands.
“Well that was no ordinary sand trap!” said Donald, who became the first player in history to top both the PGA and European PGA money lists last year.
“When you spend the vast majority of your time on the course, it’s easy to forget that Abu Dhabi is surrounded by such an enchanting desert landscape. Truly, I was awestruck at the gigantic enormity of it all.”

Interestingly, if you look closely at the crest of the dune behind Kaymer in the photo, you will see that it is hardly pristine – there are tire tracks across it. This is explained by the following image of an interruption to the photoshoot by local traffic:

This desert is spectacular, and you can see where the idea for this promotion came from (although, at the time of writing, the experience does not seem to have provided either player with a cutting edge or competitive sand wedge in the actual tournament).

[Photos Getty Images, websites linked above, and http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/photo?slug=8addeb5fe5448b221dbd13491442a3b3-getty-137681196] SIGNATURE

Comments

Richard Bready (2012-02-14):

Splendid aerial photo, thanks. The foamy, trabecular patterning is very suggestive. Especially after the others, it makes me want a pint.

Sandglass (2012-02-14):

Richard - until I “met” you through your ever-intriguing and erudite comments on the blog, I always thought that my vocabulary was reasonably good. Once again, I am reminded of its limitations, but much appreciate the expansion - “trabecular” is a wonderful word. Draft Guiness, please.

Originally published at: https://throughthesandglass.typepad.com/through_the_sandglass/2012/01/caption-competition.html