GOLF ESCAPES

focus on
United Arab Emirates
Dubai and Abu Dhabi offer a very distinctive, world-class experience to the travelling golfer.
It’s never tiresome to see the pictures of
Dubai that were being flashed about
Twitter in the last week of January. Those
‘Then’ and ‘Now’ aerial images of the
host of the Dubai Desert Classic are as
fascinating as they are instructive.
The image of the Emirates Club from 25
years ago, a green oasis among an otherwise
barren desert, compared to the skyscraperdominated
skyline of today was incredible.
In just over two decades, the United Arab
Emirates has gone from a curiosity to a
staple diet. A golf holiday in Dubai has
progressed from being an unlikely adventure
to a destination you simply must consider.
To anyone who hasn’t been, what you get
in the UAE may well seem a step into the
unknown. In actual fact, it is quite easy to
sum up what is on offer; it is luxury, sun,
opulence and world-class golf. It is Belek on
steroids. It is whatever five-star golf resort
you have been to in Iberia jacked up 30 per
cent. It is downtown, bright lights America
lifted to the middle of the Arizona desert.
It is not for everyone, but if you like
everything in life to be sumptuous, Dubai
and Abu Dhabi are for you.
You take a little while to get your bearings
– and if you hire a car, take your wits with
you! – but soon you will get into the rhythm
of life in the UAE.
The American analogy used earlier is a
reference to everything being big: the
motorways, the hotels, the offices (obviously),
the golf courses and the clubhouses.
The UAE doesn’t really do quaint.
It’s all big (even Dubai airport is massive,
and more like a swish hotel, all gleaming
marble and glass panels), but it’s not
daunting. Indeed, something you may not be
aware of is that you can actually take a golf
break in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi –
they’re only 90 minutes apart. If you were
really clever, you’d fly into one, hire a car,
play your golf and fly out of the other.
But most will base themselves in one or
the other – and here is what to expect from
the courses in each.
Lowdown on Dubai
Emirates Golf Club opened in 1988 – the
first grass championship course in the region.
Emirates’ Majlis is ranked in Golf World’s
Top 100 Courses of the World and has been
a fabulous annual host for the Dubai Desert
Classic, won this year by Rory McIlroy and
with a roll call of champions equal to a
Major. It is backed up by the acclaimed
Faldo, whose attractions are enhanced by the
fact it offers unique ‘Night Golf’. They blend
natural desert terrain with strategic design.
The clubhouse at Emirates Golf Club, in
the shape of Bedouin tents, is an icon of golf.
Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club is also
another of Dubai Golf’s premier resorts and
is in the heart of the city. Its location is
remarkable; barely more than a thumping
drive away from the airport and surrounded
by skyscrapers, this creekside venue is also
one of the world’s ‘Top 100’. It offers a
variety of views – over the creek, towards
high-rise buildings or to downtown Dubai.
One of the lavish newer projects in Dubai
quick
guide
Getting there: A seven-hour flight from
London, Manchester and Glasgow with
Etihad, BA, Emirates and Virgin.
Time diference: GMT +4
When to go: Dubai and Abu Dhabi are truly
all-year round destinations, but the best
time to visit is between October and
May when the heat is not quite so
stifling.
78 GOLF ESCAPES 2015