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.
阴影像巨大的垃圾袋笼罩了我的球。这片果岭上的细小转折都混在了一起，像刷上了油漆。但我不在乎——在乎又能怎样？我正在晚上打着高尔夫呢。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.
对许多休闲高尔夫玩家而言，这就像圣杯(Holy Grail)那么可望而不可及。毕竟，要成为一名高尔夫玩家，最困难的一件事莫过于必须在限定的时间内打完全部的18个洞，虽然在四小时左右打完一场高尔夫，一般会让玩家们高兴得晕头转向，不过这样的情感往往不会感染到那些在苦苦守候他们打完高尔夫的爱人或家人。即便周末“速战速决”地打一场高尔夫，通常也会占用那个白天一大半的时间，这足以让一家人都勃然大怒了，如果那时候他们正好在度假的话。
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.
考虑到这个一直都存在的问题，请允许我给那些刚好也喜欢和爱人们待在一起的高尔夫玩家们提供一个建议吧：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?
这话听起来像是乱扯一气；当然没人会说，迪拜这座有时像是用巨型乐高积木一次一块地搭建起来的城市，能像加州的卵石滩、或北卡罗莱纳州的派恩赫斯特(Pinehurst)那样，是最优秀的高尔夫球场。但转念一想，你去哪儿做个冬季的短途旅行能让你像在迪拜一样，白天去海滩上躺一躺，或在熙熙攘攘的闹市区逛一逛，或在那座世界最高的摩天大楼的观景台上看一看，然后和家人提前吃个晚餐，再把孩子们都哄着上床睡觉，等到作为旅行者的责任都圆满完成后，你再抓起自己的高尔夫球杆，去打一场18个洞的高尔夫球，一路有满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，我在迪拜为《纽约时报》做几篇报道，有天晚上快到8点钟的时候，我在阿联酋高尔夫俱乐部的福尔多球场上挥起了球杆，但我忽然想到，开始打这场高尔夫的时间，也正是我的孩子们要回家睡觉的时间。我立刻有了一种自由自在的感觉，不过也是一种非常陌生的感觉，毕竟，世界各地的许多高尔夫玩家在打高尔夫球时，心里都在倒计时，总觉得要动作快一点，匆匆忙忙地把球打完，以便能赶上一次足球训练，或一场棒球比赛，或一次舞蹈表演，又或一次去家得宝(Home Depot)的购物。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.
这种感觉大不一样。在夜间打球，虽然速度一样很快，心里却一点儿也不急，而且还有一种优哉游哉的感觉。与迪拜的其他地方一样，阿联酋高尔夫球场的周围也在大兴土木，但入夜之后，那些起重机的嗡嗡声和随处可见的卡车所发出的噪音都沉寂了下来，而球场上空的城市天际线，还有其中最高的哈利法塔(Burj Khalifa)，会让那些高尔夫玩家们觉得，他们似乎在踮着脚尖（实际上是乘坐着电动车）穿梭于一群霓虹巨人之间。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.
全灯光照明的高尔夫球场，从各个方面来看都是典型的迪拜特色。世界上还有一些别的地方从技术上说也能在夜间打高尔夫球，但那些地方通常不大，球洞的距离较短，所以你可能只需要几支球杆和一个小时的时间就能打完一场高尔夫。花钱给一个绵延7000多码（约6400米）的高尔夫球场装上明亮的灯光设备不但奢侈而且招摇，这样一座球场已经需要一笔不菲的维护费用了，其中包括在沙漠中心地带酷热难当的夏季，每天都要供应100万加仑（440万升）的水。但另一方面，奢侈和招摇本来就是在迪拜常用的形容词。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?
从设计的角度来看，福尔多球场本身并不十分惊人；人们通常认为福尔多的姐妹球场——阿联酋的Majlis级别更高，而且那里一年举办多场专业的高尔夫比赛。但是，虽然你在白天可以任意选择去哪座球场，但真正能诱惑你的地方还是显而易见的：为什么休闲高尔夫玩家早上不能去找点别的事情做——考虑到这时候可以兴致勃勃地去看当地的骆驼赛跑，这项活动总是在黎明的时候开始——而把打高尔夫的快乐（与痛苦）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.
豪华高尔夫球场提供的福利都是一样的。我那次去打球的时候，到了球场，在舒适的更衣间（带桑拿与蒸汽房，一应俱全）里换了鞋子之后，就在这家俱乐部的餐厅里享用了一顿美味的晚餐，再来到宽敞的练习场内，用一套租来的顶级球杆热了热身。这里甚至有小鸟叽叽喳喳，飞来飞去，它们的生物钟显然已经受到了明亮灯光的干扰，以至于把晨昏当成了一种可控的概念。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.
当然，要在夜间打高尔夫，还有一些抵抗水土不服的要求：我总是要在自己（长长的）影子里打球，这得花些时间来习惯，还有那些刚崭露头角、喜欢仔细分析果岭倾斜处的每个角落与缝隙的罗里·麦克罗伊(Rory McIlroys)之流，如果要去判断一次推杆是否丝毫不差地有两英寸的转折，他们很快就会产生视觉疲劳。追踪球的飞行轨迹可能也是个挑战，尤其是那些打偏了的球（虽然我们说，那个问题并非夜间打高尔夫球所独有的）。我遇见过的一位绅士曾建议，为了看得更清楚一些，可以改用粉红色的球。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.
高尔夫正如阿联酋的许多运动项目一样，对当地人并不是特别有吸引力，所以这里大部分的高尔夫玩家都是游客或移民。我那次去是与一位威尔士人一起打球，到晚上10点钟时，我们一路打到了第14个球洞，于是都忍不住休息了一会儿。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.
这里是这片高尔夫球场中最安静的地方，远离了建筑施工轰轰隆隆的噪音。周围再没有其他的高尔夫玩家了。旁边也没有球车。更没有手机的短信提醒震动——询问我们还要玩多久。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.
这里只有一棵树，那稀疏的树冠笼罩在我们和这片果岭的后面，两名高尔夫玩家正在进行一项白天的运动，追逐着我们打出去的球，迈向一根在月光下闪闪发亮的旗杆。If You Go
如果你去的话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.
阿联酋高尔夫俱乐部（地址在阿联酋的迪拜，阿联酋山2号；971-4-417-9800;）距迪拜机场大约30分钟，距卓美亚海滩(Jumeirah Beach)约25分钟。该区域周围有许多各种价格的酒店可供选择。福尔多夜间高尔夫球场的费用为425迪拉姆，按照1美元兑3.6迪拉姆的汇率，约为118美元（约合人民币732元）。球杆的租赁费用为195迪拉姆（约合人民币335元）。