The Earth is not set in stone

Gary Meenaghan

• Last Updated: November 24. 2009 1:18AM UAE / November 23. 2009 9:18PM GMT

Lee Westwood, the eventual winner, plays from one of the fairways, deemed very wide and easy by some critics. Andrew Redington / Getty Images

DUBAI // As debate rages regarding the difficulty of Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course, Dubai World Championship organisers have said they are willing to make alterations – but only if initiated by course designer Greg Norman.

Lee Westwood, having signed off on Sunday with a course record 64, finishing the European Tour’s final event on 23-under par, understandably had no complaints. “The golf course played really well,” said Europe’s newly-crowned No1.

“I know a lot of people were sceptical before the week started but I think it got better as the week went on, as the greens firmed up. If you hit a good putt, they went in.

“It’s that kind of course where you have to play it strategically and leave yourself in areas where it’s easy to get upanddown in two.”

Not everybody was as impressed. Martin Kaymer, who arrived at Earth last week in contention for the Race to Dubai, felt the fairways were too wide and the rough was not long enough to punish poor play.

Organisers stressed they had no plans to alter the course, but said they would be willing to make changes if the former world No1 Norman made it known he wanted it to be different before next year’s season-ending showcase.

“We were delighted with how the course played over the week and we were very happy with the players’ endorsements of it, particularly that of our new champion Lee Westwood,” said a spokesperson for Leisurecorp.

“There have been no discussions regarding altering the course, although it is not something we would rule out if Greg Norman and our development team indicated that this was something they wanted to explore.”

Norman had said before the tournament got under way that he expected a winning score of between 17-under and 20-under. When quizzed on whether he was surprised that his course would offer such low scoring, he urged people to remember that the course was originally designed for the general public.

“This golf course was built as a residential community,” he said.

“It wasn’t designed specifically for tournament play. I think everybody has got to keep that in perspective. The course will evolve.

“The trees will get fuller and I might shift a few trees more into the play area. But if I do that then 51 weeks of the year the residents who will play here are going to be penalised.”

Ross Fisher, a challenger for the Race to Dubai title before the tournament but who finished 22 strokes behind the leader, and Padraig Harrington both complained of a lack of visibility when looking for the greens. “I think you could be counting on one hand the greens you could actually see for your second shot,” said Fisher.

The South African Louis Oosthuizen said that the course, at 7,675-yards, seemed excessively long.

“It just feels like forever when you play it, because it is so hot. It’s tough,” he said.

gmeenaghan@thenational.ae