How Can I Play Abu Dhabi Golf Club?

Abu Dhabi Golf Club was designed by Peter Harradine in 1998 and opened to the public in 2000. 

Set on 162 hectares, there are two courses at the site – The National, which is the traditional home of the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship (and, in 2023, the inaugural Hero Cup), and The Garden, a floodlit par 36 nine-hole course.

Harradine was also called upon to implement some changes in time for the 10th anniversary of The National's hosting of the DP World Tour (then European Tour) event in 2015 and, today, the course, which is considered one of the best in the Middle East, offers a tricky but fair challenge. On it, players navigate lush fairways set among palms, with lakes on nine holes providing plenty of forced carries. Meanwhile, there is strategic bunkering around its generous greens.

Standout holes include the par-4 sixth, with water on either side of the fairway as you approach the green. Further on, the par-3 12th offers players another tricky challenge, as they play over water towards a green guarded by bunkers at the back and a wall beyond. 

The 18th offers a suitably memorable conclusion to the round. It’s a 567-yard dogleg right par-5 with a sizeable lake to the right of the fairway and bunkers to negotiate on the way to the green, all with a backdrop of the imposing clubhouse - one of the most recognisable and iconic features of the venue thanks to its distinctive and memorable falcon shape.

The course is open to the public, and there are stay-and-play options at the Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa, with those interested invited to email the club for details. You can also book a tee time online, with prices from around AED785 (approximately £175 or $210). Meanwhile, several memberships are also available, with an individual premium membership costing AED36775 (around £8,200 or $10,000).