爲什麼要去迪拜打夜場高爾夫

The shadows covered my ball like giant trash bags, and the subtle breaks in the green blended together as if coated in paint. I didn’t care — how could I? I was playing golf at night.

陰影像巨大的垃圾袋籠罩了我的球。這片果嶺上的細小轉折都混在了一起，像刷上了油漆。但我不在乎——在乎又能怎樣？我正在晚上打着高爾夫呢。

For many casual golfers, this would qualify as the Holy Grail. After all, one of the most difficult things about being a golfer is the time required to complete 18 holes, and while finishing a round in about four hours generally inspires feelings of sheer giddiness among players, those emotions are not typically shared by the player’s waiting spouse or family members. A “quick round” on a weekend often occupies at least half of that day’s daylight hours — a reality that can be especially infuriating if, say, a family is on vacation at the time.

對許多休閒高爾夫玩家而言，這就像聖盃(Holy Grail)那麼可望而不可及。畢竟，要成爲一名高爾夫玩家，最困難的一件事莫過於必須在限定的時間內打完全部的18個洞，雖然在四小時左右打完一場高爾夫，一般會讓玩家們高興得暈頭轉向，不過這樣的情感往往不會感染到那些在苦苦守候他們打完高爾夫的愛人或家人。即便週末“速戰速決”地打一場高爾夫，通常也會佔用那個白天一大半的時間，這足以讓一家人都勃然大怒了，如果那時候他們正好在度假的話。

Given that perpetual obstacle, let me offer this suggestion to those golfers who also happen to enjoy spending time with their loved ones: Get yourself to Dubai.

考慮到這個一直都存在的問題，請允許我給那些剛好也喜歡和愛人們待在一起的高爾夫玩家們提供一個建議吧：到迪拜去。

This may seem incongruous; certainly no one would argue that Dubai, a city that sometimes feels as if it is being built one (oversized) Lego at a time, has the golf cachet of Pebble Beach, Calif., or Pinehurst, N.C. But then, where else can you go on a winter jaunt that will allow you to spend a day at the beach or in a bustling array of old-town markets or atop the observation deck of the world’s tallest skyscraper before having an early dinner with the family, putting the kids to bed and then, with tourist responsibilities fully completed, grabbing your clubs and playing 18 holes with a sky full of stars along for the ride?

這話聽起來像是亂扯一氣；當然沒人會說，迪拜這座有時像是用巨型樂高積木一次一塊地搭建起來的城市，能像加州的卵石灘、或北卡羅萊納州的派恩赫斯特(Pinehurst)那樣，是最優秀的高爾夫球場。但轉念一想，你去哪兒做個冬季的短途旅行能讓你像在迪拜一樣，白天去海灘上躺一躺，或在熙熙攘攘的鬧市區逛一逛，或在那座世界最高的摩天大樓的觀景臺上看一看，然後和家人提前吃個晚餐，再把孩子們都哄着上牀睡覺，等到作爲旅行者的責任都圓滿完成後，你再抓起自己的高爾夫球杆，去打一場18個洞的高爾夫球，一路有滿天的繁星陪伴着你呢？

I was in Dubai late last year to report a few stories for The New York Times but, as I teed off on the Faldo Course at the Emirates Golf Club shortly before 8 one night, it did not escape me that I was beginning my round at roughly the same time as my children would be going to sleep back home. It was a liberating feeling and, also, wholly unfamiliar; after all, so many rounds played by so many golfers around the world involve a mental countdown clock, a harried feeling of needing to hustle so as to be done in time for a soccer practice/baseball game/dance recital/trip to Home Depot.

去年下半年，我在迪拜爲《紐約時報》做幾篇報道，有天晚上快到8點鐘的時候，我在阿聯酋高爾夫俱樂部的福爾多球場上揮起了球杆，但我忽然想到，開始打這場高爾夫的時間，也正是我的孩子們要回家睡覺的時間。我立刻有了一種自由自在的感覺，不過也是一種非常陌生的感覺，畢竟，世界各地的許多高爾夫玩家在打高爾夫球時，心裏都在倒計時，總覺得要動作快一點，匆匆忙忙地把球打完，以便能趕上一次足球訓練，或一場棒球比賽，或一次舞蹈表演，又或一次去家得寶(Home Depot)的購物。

This was different. At night, the pace of play is quick but the emotions are gloriously slower and dreamier. Like everything else in Dubai, there is construction all around the course at Emirates, but the whirring of the cranes and the backfiring of the ubiquitous trucks quiet to a hum after dark and the skyline that rises above the course, topped, of course, by the spindly Burj Khalifa, makes golfers feel as if they are tiptoeing (or, really, gliding in electric carts) among a cadre of neon giants.

這種感覺大不一樣。在夜間打球，雖然速度一樣很快，心裏卻一點兒也不急，而且還有一種優哉遊哉的感覺。與迪拜的其他地方一樣，阿聯酋高爾夫球場的周圍也在大興土木，但入夜之後，那些起重機的嗡嗡聲和隨處可見的卡車所發出的噪音都沉寂了下來，而球場上空的城市天際線，還有其中最高的哈利法塔(Burj Khalifa)，會讓那些高爾夫玩家們覺得，他們似乎在踮着腳尖（實際上是乘坐着電動車）穿梭於一羣霓虹巨人之間。

In many ways, a fully floodlit golf course is typical Dubai. There are other places around the world where one can, technically, play golf at night, but these are often tiny tracks, a course of short holes where one might need only a few clubs and an hour’s time to get around. Paying to install bright lights all over a course that can stretch more than 7,000 yards and already requires a pricey maintenance that includes one million gallons of water per day in the heat of the desert summer is both lavish and ostentatious. But then, those are two adjectives that are not used infrequently in these parts.

全燈光照明的高爾夫球場，從各個方面來看都是典型的迪拜特色。世界上還有一些別的地方從技術上說也能在夜間打高爾夫球，但那些地方通常不大，球洞的距離較短，所以你可能只需要幾支球杆和一個小時的時間就能打完一場高爾夫。花錢給一個綿延7000多碼（約6400米）的高爾夫球場裝上明亮的燈光設備不但奢侈而且招搖，這樣一座球場已經需要一筆不菲的維護費用了，其中包括在沙漠中心地帶酷熱難當的夏季，每天都要供應100萬加侖（440萬升）的水。但另一方面，奢侈和招搖本來就是在迪拜常用的形容詞。

From a design standpoint, the Faldo Course itself is not breathtaking; its sister layout at Emirates, the Majlis, is generally regarded as superior and hosts professional events throughout the year. But while one can certainly choose to play either course during the day, the true allure here is obvious: Why wouldn’t the casual golfer find something else to do in the morning — consider this an enthusiastic plug for visiting the local camel racing track, where the action begins at sunrise — while saving the joy (and pain) of golf for evening?

從設計的角度來看，福爾多球場本身並不十分驚人；人們通常認爲福爾多的姐妹球場——阿聯酋的Majlis級別更高，而且那裏一年舉辦多場專業的高爾夫比賽。但是，雖然你在白天可以任意選擇去哪座球場，但真正能誘惑你的地方還是顯而易見的：爲什麼休閒高爾夫玩家早上不能去找點別的事情做——考慮到這時候可以興致勃勃地去看當地的駱駝賽跑，這項活動總是在黎明的時候開始——而把打高爾夫的快樂（與痛苦）都留待晚上呢？

All the perks of playing a luxury club remain the same. On my visit, I enjoyed a tasty dinner in the clubhouse restaurant after arriving at the course and changed my shoes in the plush locker room (complete with sauna and steam room) before warming up at the capacious driving range with a set of rental clubs that were top-of-the-line. There were even birds chirping and flying about, their internal body clocks apparently so altered by the bright lights that dusk and dawn have become malleable concepts.

豪華高爾夫球場提供的福利都是一樣的。我那次去打球的時候，到了球場，在舒適的更衣間（帶桑拿與蒸汽房，一應俱全）裏換了鞋子之後，就在這傢俱樂部的餐廳裏享用了一頓美味的晚餐，再來到寬敞的練習場內，用一套租來的頂級球杆熱了熱身。這裏甚至有小鳥嘰嘰喳喳，飛來飛去，它們的生物鐘顯然已經受到了明亮燈光的干擾，以至於把晨昏當成了一種可控的概念。

Yes, there is some acclimatizing required for night golf: Constantly hitting out of my own (long) shadow took some getting used to, and budding Rory McIlroys who like to analyze every nook and cranny of a green’s tilt will suffer eye strain if they try to identify whether a putt has precisely two inches of break. Tracking the ball’s flight, too, can be a challenge, particularly for shots that fly far from the target line (though that is a problem that is not, shall we say, exclusive to the nighttime). One gentleman I came across recommended switching to a pink ball for greater visibility.

當然，要在夜間打高爾夫，還有一些抵抗水土不服的要求：我總是要在自己（長長的）影子裏打球，這得花些時間來習慣，還有那些剛嶄露頭角、喜歡仔細分析果嶺傾斜處的每個角落與縫隙的羅裏·麥克羅伊(Rory McIlroys)之流，如果要去判斷一次推杆是否絲毫不差地有兩英寸的轉折，他們很快就會產生視覺疲勞。追蹤球的飛行軌跡可能也是個挑戰，尤其是那些打偏了的球（雖然我們說，那個問題並非夜間打高爾夫球所獨有的）。我遇見過的一位紳士曾建議，爲了看得更清楚一些，可以改用粉紅色的球。

Golf, like many sports in the United Arab Emirates, is not a particularly big draw for locals, so the majority of players at Emirates are visitors or expatriates. I played with a Welshman during my visit and as we made our way down the 14th hole sometime after 10 o’clock, we couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

高爾夫正如阿聯酋的許多運動項目一樣，對當地人並不是特別有吸引力，所以這裏大部分的高爾夫玩家都是遊客或移民。我那次去是與一位威爾士人一起打球，到晚上10點鐘時，我們一路打到了第14個球洞，於是都忍不住休息了一會兒。

It was the quietest part of the course, tucked away from the croaks and moans of the construction. There were no other golfers around. No cars alongside. No cellphone buzzing in the cart with a text message asking how much longer we would be.

這裏是這片高爾夫球場中最安靜的地方，遠離了建築施工轟轟隆隆的噪音。周圍再沒有其他的高爾夫玩家了。旁邊也沒有球車。更沒有手機的短信提醒震動——詢問我們還要玩多久。

There was only a willowy tree canopy looming behind the green and us, two golfers playing a daytime sport, chasing our shots toward a flagstick lit up beneath the moon.

這裏只有一棵樹，那稀疏的樹冠籠罩在我們和這片果嶺的後面，兩名高爾夫玩家正在進行一項白天的運動，追逐着我們打出去的球，邁向一根在月光下閃閃發亮的旗杆。

If You Go

如果你去的話

The Emirates Golf Club (Emirates Hills 2, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 971-4-417-9800; dubaigolf­) is about 30 minutes from the Dubai airport and roughly 25 minutes from Jumeirah Beach. Hotel options, of varying prices, are plentiful in the surrounding area. Greens fees for night golf on the Faldo Course are 425 dirhams, about $118, at 3.60 dirhams to the dollar. Fees for rental clubs are 195 dirhams.

阿聯酋高爾夫俱樂部（地址在阿聯酋的迪拜，阿聯酋山2號；971-4-417-9800;）距迪拜機場大約30分鐘，距卓美亞海灘(Jumeirah Beach)約25分鐘。該區域周圍有許多各種價格的酒店可供選擇。福爾多夜間高爾夫球場的費用爲425迪拉姆，按照1美元兌3.6迪拉姆的匯率，約爲118美元（約合人民幣732元）。球杆的租賃費用爲195迪拉姆（約合人民幣335元）。