AKIPRESS.COM - President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has met with American former professional golfer Jack Nicklaus on Thursday to discuss plans to build Turkmenistan's first golf course, U.S. media report.

The firm founded and run by Jack Nicklaus designs and constructs golf courses around the world.

The Karakum desert occupies about 80 percent of the territory of this former Soviet republic, which is ruled by the authoritarian, sport-obsessed president known for sinking in millions of dollars into sports infrastructure.

He famously ordered three ice arenas built in the country where temperatures in summer routinely hit 50 degrees Centigrade