By Matt Smith
Valentino Dixon endured a living hell most of us could not even begin to fathom.

The now 54-year-old had spent more than 27 years in jail convicted of murder — locked up inside one of America’s most brutal maximum security prisons for a crime he didn’t commit, before he was allowed to walk away a free man in 2018, exonerated of any crime after the real perpetrator confessed.

With only a few magazine photos for inspiration — Dixon had written to Golf Digest asking for help, explaining how drawing golf courses had become a needed diversion — he spent his time in Attica prison drawing, perfecting his style over the many, many years with only some pieces of card and a few pencils to create his work. Wonderful, unique depictions of famous courses such as Augusta, Pebble Beach and the Country Club in Brookline emerged over the years — as did some of the most famous courses in Dubai, a city that had found a special place in Dixon’s heart.

While the story of Dixon’s wrongful conviction, and Golf Digest’s part in his eventual release, is absorbing, emotional and well documented, the man who can count Tiger Woods and Barack Obama among fans of his work has finally achieved one of his dreams five years after his walk to freedom — visiting the courses in Dubai that he drew in prison to help him cling on to hope of one day seeing the outside world.

Dixon recently visited Golf Digest Middle East’s offices in Dubai while on a tour to visit those courses that helped him through his darkest times — from the Address Montgomerie and Dubai Creek to Jebel Ali, Emirates Golf Club and Arabian Ranches — and talk about his journey.

“In prison you live in a dream sometimes. You live in your own world,” he told me, his eyes repeatedly drawn to the windows of our 33rd floor office, admiring the towers and the views of the ocean. “And you look for anything that can give you inspiration. Something that can give you hope, something that can invigorate your spirit. And looking at pictures of Dubai during my time, it had to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life, even though I was seeing it through a magazine.

Photo by Mark Mathew

“While I was drawing these other golf courses, I said to myself: ‘I might as well draw the most beautiful place on the planet,’ which is Dubai, in my opinion. This is why I drew these seven pictures of these golf courses right here. And this is why I am here today.”

Developing his style was no easy task given the limited resources he had in prison, but it was a challenge he applied himself to over the years in captivity. 

“There were limitations on was I could use in prison, I was not allowed paint or canvas or brushes, only card, so I turned to coloured pencils,” he said. “The goal was to make the drawings look like paintings — everyone always refers to them as paintings, even after I tell them they are drawings, they say: ‘Oh, that’s a nice painting’ — and to me that is the best compliment I can get because I sometimes spend hundreds of hours drawing one of the golf courses. It takes a lot of time to layer coloured pencils on top of one another to get that ‘paint’ look. It took me about 10 years to develop that style.”

Seeing Dubai for himself was always one of Dixon’s ambitions once he gained his freedom.  

“It wasn’t just the beauty of Dubai that compelled me,” he explained. “I converted to Islam 20 years ago, so I felt a closeness to the country, because of the religion, and also what the golf courses were doing to help my spirit.

“Not only were there the likes of Tiger, it was Jack Nicklaus who said one thing that stuck with me. He compared me to Nelson Mandela. He said I had the same spirit as him — he was friends with him so that was a great compliment.

“Back to Dubai, just look at the character of the buildings. I was just saying that New York City of Los Angeles cannot compare to these buildings. I have never seen anything like it here, and have never seen buildings this tall!

“I would love to draw a massive picture of one of the courses here, you know, like 60×90. I did a 60×90 of the Augusta 12th hole and I would love to do something similar here in Dubai. It may take me a couple of months, 10 hours a day, but I look for that type of challenge. I want to do the type of thing that people have never seen before. 

“I could easily pull out a canvas and paintbrush and do something in 20 hours, but I get a lot of joy out of actually sitting down and drawing one golf course for over 200 hours.

“I am now going to visit some of the golf courses that I actually drew. That would be the ultimate.

“How would that compare from a 6x8m prison cell to sitting one of the golf courses here and actually seeing it in the flesh. I don’t think it could get any better than that.”

While Dixon still has plenty to see and do while in the UAE, he is already planning a return visit for the Dubai Desert Classic next month. 

“That would be a dream come true,” he said.