[Golf_Els] Ernie Els and friends launch golf course at Dubai Sports City
2008-01-30 08:33 20
플레이어 버전 설정 ▶
The first sporting facility due to open at the four billion U.S. dollar Dubai Sports City, Ernie Els flew in to the Emirate to launch his own golf course on Monday. Described as a "desert links", 'The Els Club' is 7,538 yards long. The South African world number five has provided the designs for four other courses across the globe, but this is his first in the Middle East. SOUNDBITE (English) "From a designer's point of view, it's great to work in sand. Some of the projects we've done around the world, we haven't had sand to work with too often and when you have sand, you can move the stuff around quite easily - and you can really create golf holes the way you want it." SUPERCAPTION: Ernie Els The club also marks the first time Els has moved away from pure golf design and into hospitality. Support for the 38-year-old came on Monday from a cast of international sports stars, including Rugby World Cup-winning captain John Smit, tennis legend Martina Navratilova and England cricketer Andrew Flintoff. SOUNDBITE (English) "A lot more amateurs are going to play the golf course more than professionals - so we had to take into account the playability of the golf course, for certain type of players. We wanted to make it nice and friendly off the tees which we have done, there's virtually no rough on the golf course." SUPERCAPTION: Ernie Els Dubai Sports City will ultimately include the I.C.C. Cricket Stadium, the I.C.C. Global Cricket Academy, the Manchester United Soccer Schools, the David Lloyd Tennis Academy and the World Hockey Academy. 'The Big Easy's' contribution is complete, though, with the club's officially opening scheduled for March.
(끝)