Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The thrilling climax to the US Masters last weekend was nothing if not timely with the great tournament disappointing an expectant public in the past few years.
The chairman of Augusta National, Billy Payne and his team must take the plaudits as they finally set the course up to deliver the birdie/bogey golf that we all love to watch. In their efforts to toughen up the course in the past five years they also managed to dampen down the excitement of Masters Sunday and the public was beginning to lose interest.
The titanic battle that evolved on the final afternoon last week did a huge amount to extinguish the memory of those lost tournaments and when Angel Cabrera had the Green Jacket finally placed around his broad shoulders as the last man standing, I wasn't the only fan who was left wanting more and slightly disappointed that it was over.
We re-convene at the US Open in June in New York where the Black Course at Bethpage State Park will hopefully produce some more drama.
With the Formula One drivers in town I was looking for a link between the two sports and to my surprise I found that many of the drivers enjoy taking to the links when they find some spare time. I was surprised because I don't think you could find two more different sports than golf and F1, but therein lies the attraction I'm sure.
After the high speed, adrenalin fuelled excitement that is motor sport the participants are looking for some relaxation, and what better way than the peace and quiet of the golf course.
Thinking again, though, there are some similarities in the traits needed to excel in both sports; fitness, concentration and mental resilience to name but three.
Golf is a popular pastime for many professional athletes such as footballers, tennis players and indeed F1 drivers. Of the current crop, drivers such as Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello, Heikki Kovalainen and world champion Lewis Hamilton all enjoy a round when they have time. Golf was probably even more popular amongst the older generation of drivers. Nowadays most of their spare time is spent in the gym!
Former word champions such as Damon Hill, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell are all golfers - indeed, Mansell is a scratch player who even owns his own course at Woodbury Park in Devon.
During the past few years since the inception of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, several drivers visited us at Riffa Golf Club including Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and Hamilton, all sporting varying degrees of golfing prowess!
Grand Prix week is always an exciting time of year no matter if you are visiting the BIC, attending one of the many events around the island or spending some quality time out on the links.
We are looking forward to welcoming some of the guys down to the Royal Golf Club this week - if nothing else, the pace of play should be pretty good!
