Just last week, I was sitting in a bar with an American friend of mine when Dubai came up in conversation.
“What’s the deal with Dubai?” he asked. “Everyone I know in Europe talks about going there or moving there. What’s the deal?”
The deal is pretty simple. Dubai is a seven-hour (or less) flight from virtually every European capital city. It’s also the gateway to the rest of the world when travelling from Europe – often the stopover en route to Asia, Africa or Australasia.
Also, there’s golf. Good golf.
It’s been less than 40 years since Dubai first started developing golf courses. The Emirates Golf Club, recognisable from its surrounding skyline and history with the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic, was the first, built in 1988. The area is now home to 20 courses, and yet, as I found out, there’s still demand for more.
I flew from Scotland to Dubai in March to see the newest addition: Al Zorah Golf Club. The course is about 30 minutes north of downtown Dubai, near Ajman.
It was a funny invite to receive, as I had actually played the course seven years ago. I was on holiday with my wife when a friend, who lives in Dubai, texted me asking if I wanted to play a course that had just opened. The reason for the confusion in timing becomes clear once you arrive – Al Zorah isn’t simply a golf course; it’s a development. And a huge one at that.
Here’s a look at Al Zorah in 2018:
The course was built by Nicklaus Design and opened in 2015, the first new course in the area in more than six years. But it’s just one piece of the larger Al Zorah project, which includes hotels, residences, beaches, retail, dining, a yacht club, and not one, not two, but three marinas along a mile of beachfront.
When I first played it in 2018, there was a course, a temporary clubhouse and plenty of ambition. Coming back this year, it’s hard to describe the scale of what’s there now.
As I arrived at the golf club on the first morning, I was met by the newly opened, $US40 million clubhouse. Outside, it looks like it could be a museum of modern art or perhaps a high-end hotel. Step inside, and it’s as first-class as it gets in golf: High ceilings, open-plan surroundings, amenities and comfort all around with views across the course and the skyline of both Ajman and Dubai.
But I was there for the golf – so it was off to the range.
As I launched balls toward the enormous UAE flag on the horizon, I was struck by the dense, low-lying forest surrounding the course. Austin, the head of Al Zorah Golf Club and my host, quickly pointed out they were mangrove trees – native to the region. In fact, Al Zorah is home to 100 hectares of protected mangrove forest, which is nearly 200 football fields of trees.
Fun fact: mangroves capture four times more carbon than typical forests and produce 70 percent more oxygen.
It’s impossible to play Al Zorah and not be drawn into the surroundings. The mangroves line many of the holes and form several natural lagoons that rise and fall with the tides.
As for the course itself, it can stretch up to 7,200 yards (6,600 metres), weaving back and forth across mostly flat terrain. The variety of angles and hole directions makes for an engaging challenge – and we had a decent (though not quite Scottish!) wind during our first loop.
The front nine plays inland and loops back to the clubhouse with a long, tough ninth hole. The green is set below the striking clubhouse and guarded by bunkers – the perfect spot to derail a good start. I fell victim to the deepest of them.
General manager (and fellow Scot) Philip Henderson assured me I wasn’t the first. He explained that the bunkers at Al Zorah are made from crushed marble, offering a unique visual contrast and firm texture that many UAE courses are now known for.
Despite my scorecard, I enjoyed a “revitalising” berry smoothie at the turn and headed to the back nine.
Holes 10 and 11 play near the clubhouse before turning towards the coast. The second nine offers a terrific mix of hole shapes and green designs – with a particularly memorable stretch from the 15th hole onward.
Duelling par 3s at 15 and 17 play to the same area from different angles, while the 16th, just 330 yards, looks tame on the scorecard but is deceptively tricky off the tee. The mangroves pinch in tightly, and even without a driver in your hand, the shot demands full attention.
The course closes, as many courses in the UAE do, with a par 5 back to the clubhouse. Again the mangroves encroach on the fairway right at the distance you want to push a drive to in order to take on the green and salvage whatever score you can before heading inside. The green is bordered by the outside area of the clubhouse on one side and the mangrove forest to the other.
I was pleased to manage a closing birdie and inform my player partners of Adam Scott’s yearbook quote, “If all else fails, birdie the last.” It certainly made lunch in the clubhouse taste better – as the cliché goes.
I spent another day at Al Zorah and played the course again the next day, with the club professional, Charlie Dell. A good sign of the course was that I enjoyed it even more the second time around, albeit in less wind and better informed on where to play off the tee and how to avoid the large bunkers that protect nearly all 18 greens.
Development at Al Zorah is nearly complete. The new clubhouse is open and busy with local and visiting golfers. The marinas, retail and residential development are nearly complete and the Oberoi Hotel, which we stayed in, situated five minutes mins from the course, is built for relaxation and calm. Both needed after a round of golf in the sun.
Stay-and-play packages at the Oberoi start at just $US150 ($A235) per person, which is outstanding value in my opinion.
I’ve been to Dubai several times now, most times to play golf. Al Zorah is different from the rest. It’s only 30 minutes from the city but the surrounds, and calm nature it provides, isn’t what you’d expect from Dubai. No course is the UAE can truly be natural, the land after all is essentially desert. However, Al Zorah has achieved something that not a lot in this region have. It feels natural and is, legitimately, eco-friendly. I applaud them.
Everyone I spoke to in Dubai spoke of the buzz around golf in the area and the need for more courses to address the demand for locals and visitors. I have no doubt Al Zorah will provide those players with a new, different and challenging layout to enjoy.
