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Tuesday 06 January 2009 (UAE)  
  
 

Golf and Golf courses in Dubai and UAE

Years ago, playing golf in Dubai and the UAE meant batting a ball through the sand dunes and having a tee mat in your pocket for the initial swipe. Then Emirates Golf Club opened up with their spectacular grassed fairways and hosted the world famous Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament. Move forward into the 21st century and property developers have realised that building golf courses is potentially lucrative, resulting in developments such as the Jumeirah Golf Estates and the Al Badia / Four Seasons Golf Course springing up amongst luxurious villas to make it more pleasant (and expensive) to drive that blasted ball into that stupid little hole with the stick in it. "Dubai Golf City" has yet to be announced but there is a DWC Golf City planned for the Dubai World Central development.

Course fees for a round of 18 holes in Dubai range from about 200 dhs at Jebel Ali Golf Course for a UGA member, to about 1000 dhs at the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club for a visitor. Most fees include the use of a golf cart, and a bucket of balls for the driving range. Cheaper rates are available in the hot hot hot summer although some golf clubs supply fans with the buggies to blow the sweat dripping off your nose into the faces of other passengers. Another option for a cheap round of golf is to play nine holes on one of the par 3 pitch 'n' putt courses (you should get change from 100 dhs). Good fun for the novice, but less satisfying for the experienced golfer. Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah are also destinations for cheaper rounds of golf.

Golf communities in Dubai announced so far include Al Badia / Four Seasons Dubai Festival City, DWC Golf City, Jumeirah Golf Estates, The Lagoons, The Montgomerie Dubai, Tiger Woods Dubai (Al Ruwayya golf course), Victory Heights (Ernie Els "The Dunes").

Golf Clubs in the UAE

Abu Dhabi golf clubs
  • Abu Dhabi Airport Golf Club (ADAGC) - see Al Ghazal Golf Club. Transit passengers can skip off for a quick game between flights.
  • Abu Dhabi Golf Club by Sheraton (a reference to the development, not the location), tel +971-2-5588990. Opened February 2000. Two 18 hole courses - National Course par 72, 7,204 yards, Garden Course par 72, 6,498 yards
  • Abu Dhabi Golf and Equestrian Club, tel+971-2-4455500, email adec@eim.ae. The ADEC golf course is a floodlit 9 hole course, go around twice for an 18-hole, par 70, 6,395-yard round of golf. Was originally a sand course, upgraded to grass fairways. Big hitters can try for a hole in one on the 8th hole (it's 630 yards). Golf Academy includes driving range, chipping and putting areas, cafe and Spike Bar. Other facilities include equestrian riding school, show jumping areas, swimming pool, jacuzzi, and tennis courts.
  • Al Dhafra Golf Links (ADGL), tel +971-2-8771600 - a 2-3 hour drive from Abu Dhabi towards Ruwais. Opened 1988, 9-holes, go around twice for the 18 hole par 68, 5,429 yards experience
  • Al Ghazal Golf Club (AGGC), tel +971-2-5758040. Also called the Al Ghazal Sand Golf Course (the reason will be obvious when you visit).
  • The National Golf Course - one of the courses at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club
  • The Garden Golf Course - one of the courses at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club
  • Umm Al Nar Golf Club / Umm An Nar Golf Course - see Abu Dhabi Golf Club
Al Ain golf clubs
  • Al Ain Golf Club, tel +971-3-7686808, email jmross@emirates.net.ae
  • Palm Sports Resort, tel +971-3-7684888
Dubai golf clubs
  • Al Badia Golf Resort, Dubai Festival City, tel +971-4-6010101, designer Robert Trent Jones II, an 18 hole par 71 golf course outside your villa. Single membership for AED 37,000 in 2008 (does not include villa).
  • Al Ruwaya Golf Course - see Tiger Woods Dubai.
  • Arabian Ranches Golf Club, tel +971-4-3663000, email teetime@arabianranchesgolf.ae
  • Dubai Country Club golf course, tel +971-4-3331155, 2 sand courses - Al Awir course (18 holes, 6,346 yards, par 71), Creek Course (9 holes). Website www.dubaicountryclub.com has no information. First course opened in 1971, closed November 2007?
  • Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, tel +971-4-2956000, +971-4-2956044. Golf Academy, tel +971-4-2054666/7
  • Dubai Golf, tel +971-4-3801919, owner and operator of the Emirates Golf Club and the Dubai Creek Golf Club.
  • Dubal Golf Club (DGC), tel +971-4-8846666. Read that again, it's not Dubai, it's Dubal for Dubai Aluminium. A 9-hole course on the Dubal residential complex. Dubal are also sponsors of the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament.
  • DWC Golf City (Dubai World Central Golf Resort) - two 18-hole golf courses (a desert course and a tropical course), villas, apartments, hotel, and so on. Construction expected to start by end 2008 and completion by end 2010.
  • Dubai Lagoon golf courses - one or three (different figures reported), if the Dubai Lagoon project in Dubai Investment Park ever gets going. Dubai Lagoon is not the same as The Lagoons, a Sama Dubai development.
  • Emirates Golf Club, tel +971-4-3802222, +971-4-3801555 with two 18 hole courses (the Majlis and the Wadi). Golf Academy, tel +971-4-3801999, +971-4-3801752.
  • Four Seasons Golf and Country Club, Dubai Festival City - see Al Badia Golf Resort
  • Hatta Fort Hotel (an hour's drive from Dubai) has a golf driving range.
  • Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa, tel +971-4-8836000
  • Jumeirah Golf Estates, tel +971-4-3759999. Four themed golf courses dotted with villas to use as target practice. Expected opening in 2009, and will host the Dubai World Championship golf tournament. Themes and designers are Fire golf course designed by Greg Norman, Earth golf course designed by Greg Norman, Water golf course designed by Vijay Singh, and Wind golf course designed by Sergio Garcia, Pete Dye and Greg Norman.
  • Nad Al Sheba Golf Club, open 1993, floodlights. Closed June 2007 to make way for the Meydan development.
  • Nakheel Golf, tel +971-4-3658665. Launched in October 2004 but website www.nakheelgolf.com still under construction in October 2008 (a bit like Nakheel developments), and nothing at www.nakheel.ae. Refer Jumeirah Golf Estates for the Nakheel Golf development.
  • The Dunes - see The Els Club
  • The Montgomerie Dubai, tel +971-4-3905600, email info@themontgomerie.ae
  • The Els Club - 18 hole golf course in the Victory Heights development in Dubai Sports City, designed by Ernie Els, open January 2008. Tel +971-4-4251010, email golf@elsclubdubai.com
  • Tiger Woods Dubai, tel +971-4-3662064. An exclusive (very) golf community in Dubai with limited membership (maximum 200 reportedly), developed by Tatweer (part of Dubai Holding). The Al Ruwayyah Golf Course will be designed by Tiger Woods. Residential community will have 22 palaces, 75 mansions and 100 villas costing about AED 70m to 200m each, cough cough, (or to save money, buy a plot of land for AED 30m and park a caravan).
  • Trevor Immelman golf course planned in Dubai?
Ras Al Khaimah golf clubs
  • Al Hamra Golf Club and Resorts, tel +971-7-2447474, email reception@alhamragolf.com. Golf Course designed by Peter Harradine, 18 holes, 7,267 yard, par 72 championship course around a lagoon. Also a 9-hole par 3 Academy Course (each hole 60-110 yards), a 350 yard driving range, putting greens, chipping areas, practice bunkers, and pitching areas. Floodlights for night golf on 9 holes of the main course, and the practice areas. Membership AED 3,500 dhs (individual)
  • Ras Al Khaimah Golf Course - the original RAK golf club in the foothills of the Hajar Mountains. Facilities included trees for shade, portable tee mats, and cold beer (if you brought your own). A "hole" was not an entirely accurate description of what you were aiming for - "target area" would be more appropriate. Hazards included rocks, camels, goats, and bird-spotters. A true expat experience in the 1990s, but superseded by the Tower Links Golf Club which is what most people now mean if they refer to the RAK golf course. You'll need to find an old time resident expat to show you original course.
  • Tower Links Golf Club RAK, tel +971-7-2278553, email gconstable@towerlinks.com. Green greens and fairways in Khouzam, and a pleasant place for dinner and/or a drink even if you don't play golf. Occasional unexpected hazards though - a man was shot in the shoulder in June 2008 while playing a round of golf, according to a report in the Gulf News. Unknown whether the gunshot helped or hindered his golf shot.
Sharjah golf clubs
  • Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club, tel +971-6-5487777
  • Sharjah Wanderers Golf Club, tel +971-6-5586239
This information last updated Tuesday 07-Oct-2008
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