Courtesy of a lurker, this letter to the editor appeared in Golf Digest, March 1964:
NO MAGIC GOLF CARPET IN BAGHDAD
We thought your readers would enjoy hearing about our golf experiences
in Iraq where my husband is stationed at the University of Baghdad.
The course is located in Mansur City, a suburb of Baghdad and was
built in the center of the Mansur race track. There are nine holes
with 18 different tees for a total of 5,672 yards at a par 70. There
is not a blade of grass on the course. The tees are packed sand, the
fairways are sand, and the greens are called "browns". Putting is
somewhat easier but fairway shots, pitching and chipping are extremely
difficult since there is no bite at all. The rough is exactly that and
is covered with a prickly plant called camel thorn. Green fees for
non-members are 98 cents and caddie fees are 56 cents for 18 holes.
One of the interesting rules on the back of the scorecard reads: "a
ball coming to rest on or near a desert rat hill or a mound of manure
or loose earth stacked for maintenance of the racecourse, or in a
horse's hoof mark or desert rat hole or scrape, or in a hole made by a
bird, may be lifted and dropped without penalty."
Signed,
Suzanne Grove
Baghdad, Iraq