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The Els, with its huge and fast greens,<br />
is flanked by houses and wispy rough<br />
rather than trees and foliage.<br />
it in Dubai ($20m houses are the norm,<br />
including for the designer, with the<br />
cheapest at $10m). As a result, it has a<br />
nice buzz, with excellent food and drinks<br />
as the residents use it as their local pub.<br />
This members’ club is very well played.<br />
While it is forgiving, with not too<br />
much rough, it does finish with a strong<br />
par 5 that asks you to drive it over water<br />
off the tee; when Colin Montgomerie<br />
opened the course, he took a bit too much<br />
off the corner and didn’t make it over the<br />
water... The other notable hole is the par-3<br />
13th that has an island green (sitting in<br />
one of 14 lakes) in the shape of the UAE.<br />
The Els<br />
The most exacting greens in Dubai await<br />
at this course by the South African icon,<br />
which sits outside the main hub of Dubai<br />
near Jumeirah Estates. You need a good<br />
short game round here, because the greens<br />
are huge and are genuinely four or five<br />
putt territory when they get quick.<br />
There are also lots of run offs that are<br />
so acute you can be hitting almost a threequarter<br />
wedge to get back to the green!<br />
A Troon golf venue, it is laid out on an<br />
undulating topography of wide fairways,<br />
waving wispy rough and very little in the<br />
way of trees and foliage... almost Castle<br />
Stuart-esque. Houses can be tight to the<br />
fairways and there are times you are very<br />
conscious of them. Host of an Asian Tour<br />
event, it was initially very expensive but is<br />
now more in line with what you’d expect.<br />
Arabian Ranches<br />
Another ‘community’ course like The<br />
Montgomerie and The Els, it sits apart<br />
from downtown and is very popular with<br />
the residents and sees a lot of traffic.<br />
It was originally extremely tough, set<br />
down with paspalum grass that bounced<br />
your ball into the rough or the desert a lot<br />
if you missed its fairways.<br />
That has now been cleaned out a lot so<br />
it is not so exacting or time consuming<br />
now. It has a ‘linksy’, flattish look and is<br />
very well priced. Great food too.<br />
Jumeirah (Fire)<br />
Clearly the second course here, not least<br />
because there is plenty of building work<br />
going on as it is part of a huge residential<br />
PLANNING YOUR TRIP<br />
Where to stay<br />
There are lots of play-and-stay<br />
options and of those we were<br />
the most impressed with Jebel<br />
Ali; a great option if you want to<br />
stay out of the hustle and bustle.<br />
However, we stayed at The<br />
Address Dubai Marina, and it<br />
was a predictably opulent and<br />
stylish venue. It is well located<br />
for shops, the marina and<br />
nightlife, and the hotel itself<br />
boasts good restaurants, a<br />
sports bar where every possible<br />
worldwide match seems to be<br />
shown, a large spa and gym,<br />
and chic rooms with cool<br />
touches like an iPad to control<br />
the TV, lights, sound system,<br />
alarm etc. It sits over the other<br />
side of the Sheikh Zayed<br />
highway (that cuts through<br />
Dubai) from Emirates GC, so<br />
players stay here for the DDC.<br />
Getting there<br />
Surprisingly easy... and cheap.<br />
Emirates, arguably the best<br />
1<strong>16</strong><br />
Golf World May 20<strong>16</strong>
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