The Bogey Men Take on Bahrain 🇧🇭
- thebogeymenpod
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
From links golf to desert fairways, pearls to Pro-Am pressure
When we got the call from the DP World Tour and Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority inviting us (and a few of our loyal listeners!) to tee it up in the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship Pro-Am, it was one of those “this is why we started the podcast” moments.
What followed was a week that blended world-class golf, desert adventures, pearl-diving history and a proper taste of Bahraini culture.
The centrepiece of the trip was the Pro-Am at Royal Golf Club. We were lucky enough to share our 18 holes with two DP World Tour stars: Jacob Skov Olesen and Joakim Lagergren.
After a quick warm up on the range and some quick photos with some Tour pros, we made our way to the 10th tee as we started on the back 9.
Jacob set the tone early with pure ball-striking, effortless speed and that calm Scandinavian rhythm. You quickly realise the gap between tour pro and some guy who has “a podcast about golf., but that’s the beauty of a Pro-Am. It’s close enough to see how they golf their ball from the lines they take, the conversations about wind, strategy, and how calm they remain. Jacob was the perfect pro in between shots too, sharing stories from his time as an amateur, including winning the Amateur Championship in Ballyliffin, to cracking jokes at each of our expenses, he played his part perfectly.
Then Joakim stepped in for the second nine and brought that seasoned Tour experience. Watching him flight the ball in desert conditions was a masterclass. Subtle adjustments into the breeze, commitment to numbers, zero panic. It’s clinical, but never rushed.
At the start of the day, the goal was to try win the Pro-Am, but a few holes in that goes by the wayside as you begin to understand days like today are more about the experience: playing Tour pins, Tour setups, and sharing fairways with players who do this for a living.
And bringing a few of our listeners along? That made it for me personally. Gareth who is a big fan of the podcast is also a mate, he's supported what The Bogey Men have been doing from the start. Actually the last time he played a Pro-Am was actually with me, the very first week I decided to go full-time with The Bogey Men 3 years ago at the EuroPro Tour Grand Final in Northern Ireland, save to say we've come a long way!
After seeing the lush rush and treacherous greens of the DP World Tour setup, we experienced something completely different and something that should be a bucket list item for any golfer: desert golf at Awali Golf Club.
Now this is golf in its maddest, most rugged form. Awali golf club is tucked inside Bahrain's oil heartland, dating back to 1937, it's the oldest desert golf course in the Gulf.
There's no grass on the course at all, its all send, everywhere. And the greens, well they're called "browns" and they're made of fine sand mixed with oil to keep the putting surfaces smooth.
Each "brown" has a dedicated sweeper who does exactly that, after each group plays a hole, the sweeper comes in to sweep the "brown" so its ready for the next group to play.
There’s something brilliantly honest about it. No lush framing. No artificial perfection. Just wind, sand, and creativity.
Desert golf forces imagination. You bump-and-run everything. You flight it lower. You accept the odd awkward bounce and if you ever get the chance, you have to try it!
After our golf we were treated to real Bahraini culture with a walk through Manama Souq, which became a bit of a sensory overload in the nicest way as you get hit by spices, textiles, gold shops, Arabic coffee, the sound of traders negotiating in tight alleyways.
But the real historical highlight was in the morning of our third day with the Pearling Path, a UNESCO World Heritage site that tells the story of Bahrain’s pearl-diving past.
Before oil was discovered in the 1930s, pearls were Bahrain’s economic backbone. For centuries, Bahraini divers risked their lives free-diving up to 20 metres and more with nothing but nose clips and rope lines tied to rocks, searching for natural pearls in the Arabian Gulf. There were no oxygen tanks. No modern equipment. Just lung capacity and bravery.
At its peak in the late 19th century, Bahrain was one of the world’s most important natural pearl trading centres. Entire communities depended on it and to this day, Cartier still has a relationship with Bahraini pearl merchants that's spanned over 200 years.
Walking the Pearling Path was a great way to learn more about Bahrain's culture and identity, and as we made our way through the tour I couldn't help but compare and contrast their history to ours in Ireland - the differences and the many similarities.
Our final evening was capped off with one of the more unexpected highlights: horse racing at the Crown Prince's Cup festival at the Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club.
Bahrain’s equestrian roots run deep, if their horse racing industry might still be quite young. The Kingdom has invested heavily in breeding and racing infrastructure, with international runners now regularly competing.
The Crown Prince’s Festival is a fun a social occasion that gave us a nice break away from the golf course and recharged our social batteries.
For me, it was one of those weeks that reminds you why golf is such a powerful vehicle. It takes you places you wouldn’t otherwise go. It introduces you to people and cultures you might never otherwise experience.
From standing on a Tour tee box beside some tour pros, to raking a sand green in 20-something degree desert heat…To learning how pearl divers shaped a nation… This has easily been one of the best golf trips I've ever taken.
Huge thanks to the DP World Tour and Bahrain Tourism for trusting a couple of Irish lads with microphones to tell the story.
We’ll be talking about this one for a while.
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