Greg Norman's Earth Course Isn't Getting Good Reviews
by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 19, 2009 12:36 PM EST
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PrintSince it is apparently Green Is Universal week on the networks of NBC, that means environmental propaganda is shoved down people's throats for a week. Perhaps knowing NBC's plans was why the European Tour hosted its Dubai World Championship at the Earth Course at Jumeriah Estates. It is a resort course, intended to be built into a very rich golf-based community. The course is designed by economist, golfer, winemaker, sailor, divorcee, and architect Greg Norman.
Norman claimed to hear nothing but great things from players about his course. Alastair Tait tells a different story in Golfweek:
Had he talked to others, he might have had some evasive answers from players too polite to tell the truth.
"Awful."
"Not worthy of the season-ending event."
"Boring."
The only guy who loves the course - and the only player Greg Norman talked to? Paddy Harrington. And his opinion doesn't count because he loved Liberty National, too. Which means he'll be getting big design bucks once his playing days are over with that kind of design eye.
The other courses at Jumeriah Estates have since been put on hold. They're named Wind, Water, and Fire. The only thing that they're missing is Heart - the Planeteer that was by far the coolest because he had a monkey sidekick.
via www.turner.com
And that's why players think that Greg Norman's course stinks. It has no heart.
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I guess this is the Euro Tour’s Liberty National. Thrown into play before it was ready.
Most of the negatives I have seen about the course had nothing to do with what’s between the ropes. There were negatives about the unfinished houses and clubhouse, but not much about the course itself. Looking at the bizarre layout, it looks like Norman got stuck with a similar situation to what he got at TPC Sugarloaf where the land for the houses came first and the golf course got the leftovers. (except, of course, that this is a desert and they could do anything they wanted)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
He’s in a weird situation, trying to design a resort course that’ll be used by pros that hate resort courses.
Lib Nat’l is an apt example because that course really isn’t at the point that it can host a championship, but it sure looks pretty.
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by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 19, 2009 1:06 PM EST up reply actions
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