By Paul Gueorgieff

From Dubai to Switzerland to California to New Zealand

I was watching golf from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates recently.

The tournament was the Dubai Desert Classic which is played at the Emirates Golf Club.

Almost all the pictures showed stunning backdrops of tall buildings, blue skies with lush green fairways in the foreground.

It got me thinking that the golf courses in the United Arab Emirates would have to be the most glamorous in the world — as long as not too much of the often neighbouring sand wasteland can be seen.

The Dubai Desert Classic comes in the middle of the northern hemisphere winter yet the temperatures were in the mid-20s. In other words, delightful.

It got me thinking of other stunning golf venues.

The first to come to mind was a course in Switzerland. The tournament is the Swiss Open which is held at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf-Club in the Swiss Alps. Television pictures provide spectacular views of the alps and I am always amazed the golf course is covered in snow for a couple of months of the year.

The United States has countless courses which provide amazing pictures for the television cameras and I find it hard to remember them all.

But one that does stand out for me is Pebble Beach in California. It hugs a rugged coastline and provides wide open and spectacular views out to the Pacific Ocean.

From the spectacular to the not so specular. I am always disappointed with the smog-filled grey skies of golf courses in China.

When I was a racing reporter, I once covered a major race meeting in Hong Kong and my hotel accommodation was high up in a building that looked over the harbour.

On about the fourth day, when I opened the curtains in the morning, I noticed all these buildings on the other side of the harbour.

Where did they come from, was my immediate thought.

I had not seen the buildings on the first three days because they had been hidden by the smog. It felt like the buildings had been built the night before and suddenly they could be seen.

The smog-filled skies of places like China always make me feel privileged to be in a place like New Zealand where the only grey in the skies is that of rain clouds.

New Zealand also has stunning backdrops in places like Queenstown, to name just one region. You don’t have to go far in New Zealand to find a golf course with stunning scenery.

I am headed on a golf trip to Whanganui-Taranaki later this month and am already looking forward to playing the likes of the New Plymouth Golf Club.

One of the par threes looks straight out to the Tasman Sea and depending on the wind direction the tee shot can be anything between a short iron and a three wood.

Also on a good day, Mount Taranaki dominates the skyline.

We will also be playing at Wanganui (Belmont Links), Te Ngutu in Hawera, Westown in New Plymouth, Rangitikei and Levin.

I have played Levin before but not the other three. But I know I will not be disappointed because New Zealand itself provides magnificent views.