THE caravanserai that is the European Tour has moved on from Abu Dhabi and reached Qatar, said to be the pearl of the United Arab Emirates. This is appropriate because the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, the second tournament of the year, is being played on a pearl of a course.

It is also a tartar of a course. On it, Ernie Els, the defending champion, can equal Bernhard Langer’s record of lasting all four rounds in 69 consecutive tournaments, a run dating back to an event in 2000. The South African might also make a successful defence of the title he won by one stroke from Henrik Stenson in 2005. But a good many of his rivals will be out to stop him, including Vijay Singh, Ian Poulter and Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who were in Abu Dhabi last week, as well as Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Paul McGinley, who were not.

The 7,348-yard course in Abu Dhabi, designed by Peter Harradine, was a test when the wind blew. Only nine of the 120 competitors could score in the 60s to start with, but by the end of the week the players had worked it out to such effect that the winning score was 20 under par.

There will not be any 20-under-par scores here this week — not if the wind blows, as it did last year, when Els’s winning score was 12 under par. This 7,374-yard course, also designed by Harradine, has been strengthened and lengthened. It now requires length, tests accuracy and is prone to winds that sweep sand across the course. Although the highest point above sea level in Qatar is 40 metres, the course appears to fall and rise much more than it really does, helped by a number of elevated tees.

“This is a difficult course,” Singh said. “The bunkers are in play off the tee, which they were not last week, and there is a lot more bunkering on the short holes. The rough is really long, whereas last week we did not have rough and the greens were soft. The only soft thing here is the fairways, which will make it longer. Guys were getting to the 18th with long irons last year. I hit a really good drive, a three-iron, and still had 80 yards to go.”

Clarke flew to Dubai for three days’ practice before arriving here on Monday for more intensive practice. It is his first event of the year and he is trying hard to shed the rust from his game. “I was hoping for this course not to be so difficult as it is,” Clarke said. “The fairways are a lot narrower than I remembered from my last visit and the greens are firmer and quicker. They have added a great deal of length to the par-fours, which makes it significantly more difficult. It is not unfair. It is a great test.”

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, said recently that the distances that balls were travelling last year were not significantly farther than three years ago and therefore restrictions on balls were not necessary. He suggested that courses should defend themselves by narrowing fairways and making the greens firmer. What has happened here in the past year, in other words.

This course could be a template for courses of the future and it is exciting to think about the way some of the world’s best players will try to cope with its challenges.