18 HOLES
PAR 70
5,960 YARDS / 5,450 METRES
RATING 69
DATE OF OPENING: 1889
1-800-490-0512
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Alexandria & The Mediterranean Sea |
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SPORTING CLUB |
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Little more than a pitching wedge from the Mediterranean and close to Alexandria’s ancient harbour lies one of Egypt’s most venerable golf clubs. Built by the British in the latter years of the 19th century as part of a recreational retreat, its 18 holes are today encircled by Egypt’s second city, a tranquil splash of green amidst the vitality and energy of a city in perpetual motion. |
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The Alexandria Sporting Club course is very much a traditional English-style layout, albeit with palm trees and yearround sunshine – luxuries its builders would not have been used to back home. At less than 6,000 yards, it may lack distance,but the mature trees, small greens and gaping bunkers
guarding greens ensure golfers don’t get off too lightly. Get too close to one of the large trees and you will find your way to the green totally blocked. The trees also provide welcome shade from the sun. The course has four par-3 holes, ranging from 175 to 210 yards, and four par-4s. There are two par-5s, the 13th and 14th, the club’s longest at 580 yards. Each hole has two tee positions. Pick of the holes is the 5th, a 205-yard par-3 which leaves little room to go left or right and leaves you with a difficult return shot for your second if you go beyond the green and find the lurking bunker. |
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Although one of Egypt’s most exclusive institutions, the Alexandria Sporting Club welcomes visiting golfers. For anyone spending time in Alexandria, the chance to play golf on a historic track in a city founded by Alexander the Great and ruled over by the Ptolemies until Cleopatra took her own life after her lover, Mark Anthony, was defeated by Roman emperor Octavian would be too good to pass up. It may be a pleasant walk in the park, but it will not be a walkover. |
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PORTO MARINA EL ALAMEIN |
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18 HOLES PAR 62 4,047 YARDS / 3,701 METRES ARCHITECT: RAYMOND HEARN DATE OF OPENING: 2007 |
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With its new 18-hole golf course, Porto Marina is the first golf destination on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. A blend of executive course and a championship course, Golf Porto Marina provides golfers with an excellent walking course that can be played in three hours or less. The par-62 “Super Executive” course has three tee locations on each hole and offers a mix of 10 par-3s and eight par-4s – ideal for beginners and high handicappers, yet still providing an enjoyable challenge for better golfers who want to improve their medium and short games. |
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Laid out on an arid stretch of coastal desert, the course features three lakes in its landscaped layout as well as several bunkers, native desert areas and 750 specially-planted palm trees. The lakes are now attracting birds and other wildlife. In an eco-friendly move, Sea Dwarf Paspalum turf grass has been used on the course to conserve fresh water because water is at a premium in the harsh desert environment. |
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Paspalum grass thrives on saline and brackish water and this variety, which has a smaller leaf to give a faster putting surface and truer roll, is the first to be planted in Egypt. |
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Alexandria &
The Mediterranean Sea
What to do off-course? |
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Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in about 331BC. The Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria was one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World and once stood by the harbour. The 40-metre-high structure was the tallest on earth, but was destroyed in the Middle Ages. A 15th century fort now stands on its foundations. Among surviving Greek and Roman ruins are the Catacombs of Kom al-Shuqafa and Egypt’s only Roman amphitheatre. Famed for the Library of Alexandria, the ancient world’s largest, the city is now home to the striking, glass-roofed Bibliotheca Alexandrina library, inaugurated in 2003. |
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Former royal palace Montazah, built by the last Khedive of Egypt in 1892, is set in gardens used occasionally for concerts and theatre performances in summer. The former palace of Fatma el-Zahara is now the Royal Jewellery Museum and contains a collection of gems from the 19th century dynasty of Mohamed Ali. While little of ancient Alexandria survives, relics from the period from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD chronicle the city’s heyday in the Graeco-Roman Museum. The Museum of Fine Arts contains a collection of architectural pieces, art and sculptures. |
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The ancient city of Rosetta, 65km east of Alexandria, is famed for being where the Rosetta Stone was discovered. The Rosetta Stone, now housed in the British Museum, was created in 196BC and written in hieroglyphics, another Egyptian script and classical Greek. It was discovered by the French in 1799 and helped unlock the secrets of the previously undecipherable hieroglyphics. Rosetta became the principle port on Egypt’s northern coast following Alexandria’s decline after the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century. It is noted for the Delta-style Ottoman architecture of its restored merchants houses, built with distinctive, moulded bricks. |
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The beautiful sands to the west of Alexandria are becoming beach, sun and water sports destinations. One-time coastal village El Alamein is now a burgeoning resort destination with luxury hotels. The scene of a decisive Allied victory in World War II, there is also a war museum and cemetery. Nearby Porto Marina became an upmarket tourist resort in 2005 and continues to expand. Marsa Matruh is becoming popular for its soft, white beaches, azure seas and rock formations. The Rommel Museum is here. Siwa Oasis, 300km south of Marsa Matruh in the Sahara, can be visited on a tour. |
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