Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Emirates Golf Course, the beginning of golf in the UAE, was inspired by the monarch of Dubai and it opened for play in the late 80’s as the first commercial golf club in the Middle East. The Sheik’s Royal pavilion lies just behind the 8th green and, like the clubhouse, is built in the shape of a Bedouin tent. The course is considered the best layout in the UAE and is the regular venue of the Dubai Desert Classic which attracts some of the finest players in the game. The course has been carved through the desert with narrow slivers of green fairway winding their way through the naturally undulating surfaces of the desert landscape. Special care was taken to preserve the natural desert flora outside of the fairways and numerous patches of indigenous plant life flourish from the irrigation. Tall dunes appear throughout the course and man-made water features combine with the Creek to add to the difficulty of the course. Greens are generally large and fast. The 18th is a memorable hole, with the fairway bending ninety degrees from the tee and a large lake guarding the front of a double green. A birdie here remains an achievement.
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