Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Abu Dhabi

As part of one of our regular golfing trips away we decided to try out Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi. This course is often ranked inside the top 10 in the Middle East. Not an easy feat to achieve so we were looking forward to this.

Accuracy-is-key.-With-numerous-fairway-bunkers-including-all-up-along-the-sides-it-is-easy-to-miss-the-green-stuff.
Accuracy is key. With numerous fairway bunkers including all up along the sides it is easy to miss the green stuff.

Due to having an early tee time, we arrived at the course to a blanket of fog. Unfortunately this apparently happens sometimes due to the climate in the Middle East. We had a delay to the tee-time of three hours and due to this it was a shotgun start. However, no fault to the course or the organizers and they were always on hand with updates for us.

Eventually the fog lifted, and we set off on our merry way after many hours of practice on the range!

 

Course layout

Saadiyat naturally has, being in the desert, an abundance of sand! There are bunkers on a lot of the fairways and running up the sides of the fairways. Big bunkers! Huge bunkers! Off the fairways is a mixture of sand and fescue type grass. While it is mostly easy to find a ball in this, on a few occasions I didn’t! If you do find it, it is not so hard to hit out of.

Missing-the-fairway-puts-you-in-possible-deep-trouble-with-wiry-rough
Missing the fairway puts you in possible deep trouble with wiry rough

Regarding the holes, the layout is not amazing but not bad either. It is certainly not up there with some other courses in the region for memorable holes, but it does have some nice ones. One of the problems we encountered was confusion over the tees. We were playing off the blues but in some places they were moved up to the whites, or back to the golds. In some occasions it made a long hole even longer.

The-view-from-some-of-the-tees-is-daunting-trying-to-plan-how-to-avoid-all-the-bunkers
The view from some of the tees is daunting trying to plan how to avoid all the bunkers

One of the par 5’s it was possible to hit into the water short of the green with a good drive. I didn’t hit my tee shot properly here and only had a 6-iron left into the green over a lake. If I had connected with my drive it was in the water which would have been extremely punishing!

There is not a lot of water to contend with on the course. Which is always a plus for amateurs, and to be fair once you are pretty straight off the tee there was not a lot of trouble. Except for those aforementioned bunkers everywhere! It’s not the most challenging or tactical course I’ve played but it can be enjoyable.

On-most-of-the-fairways-there-is-no-bailout-to-either-side.-To-be-on-grass-you-need-to-be-straight-down-the-middle
On most of the fairways there is no bailout to either side. To be on grass you need to be straight down the middle.

 

Course condition

The condition was of course perfect. The tee boxes and fairways were nicely cut. The greens ran smooth and true. They were nice to chip onto and putt on. The bunkers were in good condition. The entire course was in very good shape.

Once-you-hit-the-fairways-they-are-beautiful-to-play-from
Once you hit the fairways they are beautiful to play from

 

Facilities

Saadiyat had good facilities. The driving range was nice and not just a monotonous field like some can be. The practice area for the short game had good greens and some interesting bunkers.

The clubhouse had a bar and restaurant and the breakfast wasn’t bad. The one thing that they could perhaps have done was give free coffee especially with the price you pay. It’s a small thing but it wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.

The inside of the clubhouse has old golf bags and clubs hanging on the walls. It’s nice to spend some time going around looking at these. It makes you wonder how people would play now if they tried these old clubs!

For the buggies they were all equipped with GPS. This makes it a lot easier when wondering about your next yardage. It helps to speed up play too. Though go off the fairways too much and you end up taking the drive of shame back to the fairway!

Price

The price for Saadiyat is pricey. It cost us $260 for a game. Would you ever consider paying that in your home country? I don’t think so! However, this is the Middle East, and golf is extremely expensive here on the famous courses.

For the price you get as much time on the range as you want included. This was good as we had so much time to spend there!

 

Course location

The course is located on Saadiyat Island. This is about a 30 minute drive from the airport. It is right on the edge of Abu Dhabi and there are no other islands between it and the sea unlike some of the other courses around.

For the location on Google Maps click here.

 

Conclusion

Saadiyat in general is a nice course. Would it be my top course in Abu Dhabi? No, unfortunately not. For memorable holes it doesn’t quite do enough for me to say it is one of the ‘must play’ courses in the Middle East.

When all is said and done, I think the most memorable part of Saadiyat was the gazelle that were present on the course. Putting their lives in danger every time they lifted their heads when we were teeing off.

A-Thompsons-gazelle-looks-over-the-course-on-a-foggy-morning
A Thompsons gazelle looks over the course on a foggy morning

While it is still a nice course to play, its one of those courses that you would go to if your first choices were booked out. For the price you expect a lot more out of a course. I’m not disappointed in Saadiyat, and I’m glad I played it, but I think I was expecting more out of it.

 

Contact Details for Saadiyat Beach Golf Club

Website: Click here
Telephone: +971 2 499 8100
Email: info@sbgolfclub.ae

 

For other courses in the UAE please click here!