Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Course

Abu Dhabi's golf scene punches well above its weight for a desert city, and the Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa course is a polished example of what the emirate has built over the past two decades. Designed by Peter Harradine and opened around 2010, the layout occupies a notably green corridor amid the urban fabric, the kind of vivid contrast between manicured turf and the surrounding desert environment that defines Gulf golf at its most theatrical. The course wraps around the resort's grounds, making it simultaneously a destination for hotel guests and a serious test for local members.

Playing here means contending with the particular demands of golf in the Arabian Peninsula — heat that shapes every tee-time decision, occasional wind off the Gulf, and the visual drama of lush fairways carved from arid terrain. The bentgrass and Bermuda surfaces are kept in immaculate condition, as expected at a property of this tier.

For visitors to the UAE capital, the course offers a more intimate, resort-centric alternative to the high-profile Abu Dhabi Golf Club nearby, which hosts the European Tour's Abu Dhabi Championship. Less famous, but well worth a round.