Back on the course

What better way to spend Waitangi Day than to get up bright and early and head to the golf course. The DP World Tour was in Qatar for the weekend and they were playing at Doha Golf Club so I was stoked that I managed to book a couple of 18 hole rounds, and a 9 hole Par 3 course round on my final night at Education City Golf Club.

The course itself had amazing facilities, as you could expect at a big golf course in the Middle East and I headed to the 1st tee after a session on the range and a few puts and chips.

The course has previously been used for the Qatar Masters and it was a long, tough test from the White tees. More bunkers than I have ever experienced on a course and I managed to find most of them on the first day. Walked off the course with a respectable 33 stableford points after thinking my score of 91 was a disaster - just shows how tough the course itself was and how high the slope and course ratings were (139 and 74.4 for any golf nerds out there).

After going back to the hotel for a swim I headed back into the city on the Metro. My first stop was another of Satie's recommendations, the Tropicana 360 bar on the 48th floor of the Dusit Hotel . The views were incredible and I was lucky enough to get a table right next to the glass balustrade, which was not much good for my fear of heights and it took a while before I was able to actually enjoy the views without my legs turning to jelly. The 3 pints I had while hanging out in this awesome roof top bar tasted like nectar from the gods after being in Saudi for a fair few months now and I left the hotel feeling a little bit squiffy truth be told, and headed back to Souq Waqif for dinner at another highly recommended restaurant.

My dinner at Parisa was every bit as good as I was expecting it to be - traditional Persian food in the most intricately decorated restaurant I have ever been in. My starter was a watermelon and feta cheese salad drizzled in honey and crushed pistachios - amazing. Then my main was a braised lamb shank served on dill and saffron rice - again, it was incredible.

After an awesome, long day of golf, beers and food I waddled my way back to the metro and headed back to the hotel. Another awesome day in a great city so far.Читать далее