For the first time

Golf's renowned European Challenge Tournament will be played in Egypt. Mohamed El-Sayed reports on this first-ever development

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The setting might not be Augusta but Egypt's golf courses are becoming more familiar

The Al-Ahram-Jolie Ville European Challenge Tournament is all set to be staged in Egypt for the first time.

At 7.30am on 22 April, the Mövenpick Jolie-Ville Golf Resort in Sharm El-Sheikh will be the site of one of the world's most famous golf tournaments.

The three-day tournament will be held on the Jolie Ville Mövenpick Hotel course; 144 professional golfers have entered.

The European Challenge Tournament season began early this year in Panama and Costa Rica before moving to Zambia and Kenya.

In this edition, the four champions of the last four rounds will take part: Mark Cayeux, winner of the Kenyan round; South African Michael Kirk, winner in Zambia; Alessandro Tadini of Italy, the Costa Rican round winner; and Miguel Fernandez of Argentina, the winner of the Panamanian round. The winners of last year's edition will also participate.

Being the dominant country of the sport in the Arab and African worlds, five Egyptian players were invited to participate: Mohamed Mahrous, Amr Zaki, Amr Abul- Ela, Mohamed Kahoul and Ibrahim Ezzat.

Recognised by the International Golf Federation as one of the challenge tournaments, the results and prize money ($125,000) will be figured into the world rankings.

The idea was the brainchild of Hussein Salem, president of Neama Company for Golf and Tourism Investments. The championship course, which Neama owns, is considered the country's best.

Considering the tournament a major tourist attraction, Minister of Tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui promoted the tournament at the World Tourism and Travel Summit held in Berlin earlier this year.

Egyptian TV will air the tournament worldwide via its satellite channels, the first time Egypt broadcasts a golf tournament. Other TV stations -- Golf Channel (US, Japan), Channel 5 (UK), Eurosport and CNBC (Pan European) -- will also broadcast the event live.

The tournament is being played simultaneously with the national day of South Sinai Governorate. For the occasion, a dazzling three-day folklore festival will be held on the sidelines. Troupes from across the country will take part in the event which will be held under the auspices of the Public Authority for Cultural Palaces.

Though most Egyptians know next to nothing about golf, the history of the game in the country goes back to the end of the 19th century when Egyptians got their first glimpse of the sport as it was being played by the British occupation forces who arrived in the country in 1882.

Some of the Egyptian elites began practising the game in 1935 in the Khedive Sporting Club, now Gezira. In the 1950s the first tournament was held. Golf then virtually disappeared from the Egyptian map, only to re-appear in the 1990s with the advent of a millionaire class of businessmen who sold dozens of residential complexes. Most of the sites had built-in golf courses.

Since then more than $4 billion investments have been channelled into building golf courses and facilities, resulting in around 10 golf courses in Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor and Giza. The game has also drawn more than 2,000 registered players in the country.

The tournament is being held under the auspices of Al-Ahram Establishment, the South Sinai Governorate and the Neama Company for Golf and Tourism Investment.