WELCOME 1 ADAM LAWRENCE The biggest recent story in golf has been the proposed LIV Golf International Series professional tour, fronted by Greg Norman and bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, to the tune of US$400 million. Norman has revealed the initial schedule of eight events across Europe, America and Asia, starting with a US$25 million event at the Centurion Club outside London, which will be, up to that point, the richest purse ever played for in golf. No players have yet committed to the series and given the bad odour that surrounds Phil Mickelson after his ill-judged comments on the whole affair, it remains to be seen how many will, and how many ‘marquee’ names Norman can get to sign on the dotted line. Part of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030 strategy is to diversify the economy away from petrochemicals, with golf now an important part of the country’s development mix, both in terms of leisure assets in new cities for a growing population, as well as a hoped-for golf tourism offer. The Royal Greens course near Jeddah, which has already hosted events on men’s and women’s tours, opened in 2018. Up to sixteen new courses, including designs by the Norman and Nicklaus firms, are expected to follow before the end of this decade – an ambitious target, but not the sort of eyewatering number that marks unattainable strategies. Saudi Arabia has, to put it mildly, a PR problem; as an absolute monarchy, the state there is used to doing what it wants; as the home of Islam’s most sacred sites, it is understandably protective of its religious heritage and has, in the past, been exceedingly private, basically off-limits to non-Muslim tourists. I have been invited to visit the country on a number of occasions and I have decided that Saudi is, as things stand, a step too far for me, as a journalist (not that I think my life would be at risk if I didn’t like their golf courses). But I have been to, and accepted hospitality from, plenty of countries whose human rights record is not all it should be. I am, and remain, conflicted. The Saudi conundrum
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