The Middle East is now home to some of the best golf courses in the world. Whether you're a club golfer or pro, if you want to give the waterproofs a rest, then I can definitely recommend some time in the desert.
I was fortunate enough to play some belting golf courses whilst I was there this February. I played some of them well, and I played some of them like I'd never seen a golf club before, but if it was all good, golf would just be boring, but I'd probably be a lot richer!
JUMEIRAH GOLF ESTATES:
Earth Course
I've played this course a few times now and feel like I'm really starting to get a grasp of how to play it.
It is so different to playing at home in the UK. Huge bunkers both from the tee and surrounding the greens, run offs that leave some really tough up and downs and some very quick sloping greens. You have to hit it in the right areas or it's punishing.
The type of lies that make you feel like giving up golf when you don't play the shot properly.
The type that can make you want to hammer the sh*t out of the buggy with your wedge, or maybe thats just me.
The Race To Dubai Tour Championship always throws out some incredible scoring, and it really is incredible when you see the course that they are playing. To shoot 7 and 8 under here is some going.
It's long at around 7300 yards and punishing if you miss on the wrong side, both off the tee and into the greens. You've got to know where you're going to get it round. It gives you some real opportunities to play aggressive and you can get rewarded, but also ensures that if you don't commit to your shots you're going to shoot high numbers. I love this sort of challenge and if I had the chance to play here everyday, it's a challenge I would never get bored of trying to take on...although I might end up with a few clubs needing to be reshafted.
For the average club golfer, this place would be a tough one and you could end up needing a bucket and spade with the huge bunkers that seem to be in play on every shot. Definitely one to play if you have the chance, but make sure you're on your game.The good news is the beer in the clubhouse is cold!
Off the course, the hospitality is first class and the practice facilities are absolute world class. I'm thinking if I wear a Jumeirah cap, they might give me a property on site and I can retire there. I'm 33 now, it's about that time surely.
AL AIN GOLF & SHOOTING CLUB
About an hour and half outside of Dubai, the Al Ain Golf & Shooting Club was a new one for me. The only information I had about the course was that the front nine had recently been rebuilt and it was in the middle of a horse racing track so to be perfectly honest, I really didn't have high expectations. But one thing about the Middle East is they rarely do things to a low standard.
It was an absolute pleasure to play. It would have been more pleasurable had I not taken about 25 shots on one particular par 3. I was playing as part of a Pro Am event so had 5 rounds in 5 days and - par 3s aside - would have happily played another 5.
Whereas the Earth course could potentially grind you down if you weren't playing to a decent level, Al Ain is the type of place that players of any standard could enjoy and play every day. The fairways are pretty generous as are the greens, but they do have some tricky slopes so you need to be on the correct side of the flags. The greens, and the whole course for that matter were immaculate.
My favourite hole on the golf course has to be the 12th. It has everything. It's not overly long, but long enough to ensure you need to hit at least 3 wood from the tee into a pretty narrow fairway, guarded by bunkers up the right, and if you miss the fairway, the shot into the green is horrible, in a nice way! It's the type of golf hole that looks great, but inside you feel that it is the actual devil, you know the type.
A pebbled waterfall from the right side of the green runs all the way down and across the full width of the green, which is wide but very narrow. Accuracy and distance control is an absolute premium. I love the way it tests all of your ability, a test which on a couple of days, I would comprehensibly fail! I'd definitely recommend a trip to Al Ain Golf Club. Golf in Dubai is definitely at a premium but Al Ain offers some really good deals and great value for money. I'll definitely be returning, and hopefully with more success on the 12th hole!
EMIRATES: MAJLIS COURSE
A course I've always wanted to play is the Majlis course at The Emirates Golf Club...and not just because I wanted one of those iconic pictures from the 8th tee with the jungle of skyscrapers in the backdrop. It's the most famous course in the Middle East, a proper bucket list job. I had walked the course inside the ropes during a practice day at the Desert Classic and it looked like such a class golf course, different from any others in Dubai. As good as the other newer golf courses are, The Majlis has a very established feel to it, with holes more defined by trees, and a premium on finding the fairways. It's not just a case of hit it as hard and as far as you can, followed my mentally losing the plot because you've hit it in every bunker and bush on the golf course. I think if I could choose a course to be a member of, The Emirates would be the one. The facilities are great and there's a really good atmosphere around the place. The stands were still up surrounding the joint 9th and 18th green so perhaps this added to the feel. You could walk up the 18th picturing holing your putt to win the Desert Classic. The fact that the putt is for a solid treble bogey is irrelevant. It is pricey to play here, but as a one off it's well worth it to tick it off the list, and if nothing else, you know you'll go home with a good photo!
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