Abu Dhabi Golf Club

About the club

The National course is the main evidence of the interest in golf in Abu Dhabi, where the game has developed more slowly than in neighboring Emirates such as Dubai. Indeed, in Abu Dhabi as elsewhere in the Middle East, the popularity of Western sports in general as much reflects a desire to demonstrate openness to European and American culture as it does the intention to produce star athletes. Peter Harradine, known for work in nearby Doha and Ras al Khamaiah, constructed out of bare desert a course at the center of a residential development. Harradine sculpted gentle relief onto the flat plain and ringed the water hazards with stone walls in a nod to native Arabic construction. The Abu Dhabi Championship attracts a distinguished field as part of the European Tour, but the course remains playable for anyone with a sensible tee selection.