Bucket list experience:
Weaving its way up and down the coast of Yas Island, Kyle Phillips’ wonderful links design is the best in the UAE because it doesn’t try to be more than the sum of its parts. No fake waterfalls, no outrageous features, just 18 holes of classic golf that finish with three of the very best holes in the region.
Every hole is designed with strategy in mind, with plenty of well bunkered dog legs, multi-tiered greens and fescue (grass) rough that’s ready to grab any stray balls that come its way.
There’s a touch of the Kingsbarns in Scotland about it, until you look up and see the distinctive shape of Ferrari World in the distance. There’s even a nine-hole course with floodlights, for some nighttime golf!
Yas is part of the Troon network of golf courses, which also includes Saadiyat and the famous Abu Dhabi Golf Club. There are good deals to be had with combo tickets for all three. Stay at the salubrious St Regis Saadiyat, 20-minutes away, where you could also play the Saadiyat beachfront course.
The course is open all year round, seven days a week. Summertime (July and August) is unpleasantly hot, so get out early – preferably by 6am. Winter is the most popular time to play, so book your tee times in advance. Midweek is more expensive than weekends.
Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)[19.1 miles]
Palm trees, white sand and cobalt skies come as standard at the St Regis, a dictionary-definition fly-and flop (or fly and tee-off). Saadiyat’s pristine golf course is the first beachfront course in the Arabian Gulf.
Official star rating:
Round-ups that include this experience
Multiple countries
Spectacular landscapes, impeccable fairways and greens, brilliantly-designed holes and plenty of golfing folklore – we asked golf expert and journalist Fionn Davenport to recommend his top 30 golf courses from around the world.
