Apart from its emergence as one of the commercial powerhouses of the Middle East, Dubai is also the world’s fastest growing golf resort. Peter Milligan looks back at the origins of the game in the Emirate and forward to what could be the most audacious tournament ever staged

Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club

Two decades ago, Dubai was just a small dot on the golfing radar. But following a relentless period of development and investment, the Emirate has transformed itself into one of the world’s most important golf destinations.

The Race to Dubai has replaced the Order of Merit in much the same way that the FedEx Cup has done on the PGA Tour, and with a prize fund of $10 million to be split among 60 qualifiers along with a bonus pool that will deliver the same sum across the top-15, the money on offer is not surprisingly attracting some of the biggest names to play on the European Tour International Schedule.

The field for the season-ending Dubai World Championship in November, destined by some way to become the world’s richest single tournament, is sure to be one of the strongest in European Tour history. And why not? After all, come Sunday afternoon someone could be standing over a putt worth over $3.5m.

Jumeirah’s Earth Course is ready to host the inaugural Dubai World Championship in November

The host course for the tournament will be the Earth course on the new Jumeirah Golf Estates development.

The Greg Norman design is inspired by some of the great parkland courses in Europe and North America, and has utilized the natural landscape to create one of Dubai’s more challenging tests of golf. Trees and bunkers guide the player round while at the same time defining the ideal line, which naturally has to take into account the meandering, and occasionally daunting, water hazards that feature on almost every hole.

“Earth’s dramatic natural elevations and a myriad of trees will demand a well thought-out approach from the tee,” comments Norman. “I think the entire course has a great balance, but the finish [holes 15 to 18] will really stand out… I expect it to be considered one of the most challenging and exciting miles of golf.”

The last four holes have all been designed as risk-and-reward opportunities, which should be ideal when the time comes for Earth to host the tournament.

Jumeirah Golf Estates has three other courses attached to it, named Fire, Water and Wind in continuation of the elemental theme.

Fire, also designed by Norman, is visually spectacular—the long copper-colored grass in the rough providing a stark contrast to the lush green of the fairways and greens. Thousands of trees have been put in to emphasize the course’s variety in terms of length, direction and elevation, while strong bunkering on the fairways ensures that placement of the drive is of paramount importance.

Vijay Singh’s Water is currently under construction and will be characterized, as the name suggests, by large expanses of H2O. These hazards will accommodate conservative players, while giving aggressive golfers a high risk-reward balance.

Wind is currently being co-designed by Sergio Garcia with Greg Norman and Pete Dye, and aims to evoke golf’s roots with a Scottish links-style course where the terrain and elements act in harmony to present the golfer with the age-old requirement of having to adapt on a daily basis to the conditions. With construction due to start in 2010, Wind promises to pose a unique challenge to golfers of every skill-level, with the tight fairways cushioned between rolling dunes to allow little room for error.

The four courses are all attached to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, voted ‘Best Resort Hotel in the World’ by readers of Business Traveller magazine from 2001-2008. It offers golfers the ultimate in five-star luxury and prides itself on providing extravagance every day for its guests.

Golf in Dubai has been booming for a while now, and the Emirates Golf Club has traditionally been Dubai’s premier club. It is host to the country’s other European Tour event, the Dubai Desert Classic which is usually staged in January and has been a regular staging post on Tiger Woods’ schedule in recent years.

Remarkably, given the scale and scope of the game’s development in Dubai since, when its Majlis Course opened in 1988 it was the first 18 holes built in the Middle East on grass.

Recently named in the top 100 courses in the world by Golf Digest magazine, the Majlis has developed a worthy international reputation as a testing layout for even the best golfers. It features hundreds of indigenous species of flora and fauna, beautifully complemented by meandering fairways and seven fresh and saltwater lakes.

This impressive layout is topped off strikingly by the clubhouse, which resembles a cluster of Bedouin tents and is one of Dubai’s most distinctive landmarks.

The other elder statesman of golf in the region is the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, which opened in 1993. Along with a golf course that re-opened in 2006 after an extensive redesign by Thomas Bjorn, the Ryder Cup player from Denmark and the chairman of the European Tour’s tournament committee, a Hyatt hotel, 92 luxury villas and a 120-berth marina have also sprung up.

“The recent development at the Creek has turned out exactly the way we wanted it to,” says Bjorn, a part-time resident of Dubai. “It’s one of those golf courses that you will certainly remember once you’ve played it, and the four or five holes that are on the creek itself are very special. With a great hotel going up, the Creek has become a whole destination in itself.”

Both courses are near to the Park Hyatt hotel, which is a luxury waterfront retreat offering some tranquility while still being just minutes from the vibrant city center.

The relaxing atmosphere is perfect for unwinding after a hard day’s golf, and the hotel offers some stunning views across the water.

Since the turn of the Millennium, Dubai’s golf portfolio has been boosted by the addition of The Montgomerie (designed by the eight-times European No 1 himself in collaboration with Desmond Muirhead), the Desert Course at Arabian Ranches (an extremely long Ian Baker-Finch design) and the Al Badia course on the banks of Dubai Creek, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones and forms part of the new Dubai Festival City.

What could turn out to be Dubai’s most impressive development of all, though, is Dubailand, a holiday destination of astonishing dimensions that will ultimately incorporate the ambitiously-conceived Dubai Sports City.

When completed, this $2 billion development will be the world’s biggest purpose-built sports community and consist of a series of stadiums and academies built around a luxury, gated community.

The first completed facility in Dubai Sports City is the Els Club, featuring the Dunes course, which was designed by South African three-time major winner Ernie Els.

The Els Club at Victory Heights

The course stretches to 7,538 yards, has four sets of tees and is a links-style layout set on undulating slopes of native desert vegetation.

The Els Club was inaugurated in January 2008 and is destined to be the fulcrum of the luxury golf residential community, Victory Heights.

Dubai is also soon to provide a home to the first golf course ever designed by Tiger Woods. The 7,800-yard Al Ruwaya is due to open this September in the mammoth Dubailand tourism and leisure development, and will have a multiplicity of residences and hotels attached to it. The residences will provide buyers with the opportunity to design their own luxury villas or mansions, or choose from some of the templates already on offer. The idea behind the venture is to create a luxury community built around a superb golf course that will give its residents and guests an enriching experience both on and off the course.

All in all, Dubai is certainly making its mark on the world of golf, and its influence can only get stronger. Every year new developments are introduced into the pipeline and by 2030 there is no telling how big the place will have become as a golf destination. One thing is certain about Dubai, though—the last 20 years have been just the first chapter in what is likely to be an enduring golfing history.