GOLF ESCAPES

Long Haul: UAE
is at Jumeirah Estates. It’s here that the
European Tour’s end-of-season World
Championship is played and it is a fitting site
for such a large event.
The Earth and Fire courses are mightily
impressive, as is the clubhouse and practice
facilities. This is very much a 21st century
operation. It sits next to the huge Jumeirah
residential estate, which is laid out as a series
of ever decreasing circles. Greg Norman was
drafted in to design the courses and they are
notable for the red-bark contrast with the
white-sand bunkers and lush green fairways.
Big budgets, big courses, big-name designer –
you won’t feel undercharged here.
Another superstar designer worked at
neighbouring Dubai Sports City, where
Ernie Els laid out a course with a links look
of fairways lined by wispy rough and sand.
Colin Montgomerie has made his mark
too, at The Montgomerie, a less lavish affair
but a well-constructed course nonetheless.
Jebel Ali resort has lots of fans, not least
the media who enjoy staying here during the
Desert Classic. Al Badia is a championship
course designed by Robert Trent Jones II.
Lowdown on Abu Dhabi
There are six courses in Abu Dhabi but we
will focus on the main three; Saadiyat Beach,
Yas Links and Abu Dhabi GC.
The latter venue is the host of the
The 8th hole on the Majlis.
European Tour’s event and has impressed
since becoming a regular stop for the likes of
Rory et al. This 27-hole championship
course – there is a nine-hole loop that is a
great warm-up – weaves through undulating
terrain punctuated by stands of palms,
ornamental trees and shrubs. Another iconic
clubhouse completes the picture.
Abu Dhabi GC is close to the heart of the
city, but just a few miles back towards Dubai,
The 18th at Yas Links.
are the other two courses, Yas Links and
Saadiyat Beach. You can play all three on
a visit here very easily as there is a mere
35-minute journey at most.
They are located on spits of land that arc
round the top of the city and are linked by a
motorway that sees speeds similar to that of
the nearby Yas Marina F1 circuit!
Yas is a Kyle Phillips design that has the
look of a very authentic links, not only
because of its rumpled, all-sand base
fairways, but also thanks to the Paspalum
grass that runs through tees, fairways and
greens. Eight holes run right along the shore.
Saadiyat Beach is set on a stretch of
environmentally-protected beach on Saadiyat
Island and was laid out by Gary Player.
The sun sets on the iconic
Dubai Creek clubhouse.
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