The Els Golf Course

Few courses announce their ambitions quite as directly as this one. Designed by Ernie Els and his design firm, the course opened at Dubai Sports City in 2008 as the centerpiece of an ambitious mixed-use development built largely on reclaimed desert. Els brought in a layout that rewards strategic thinking over raw power — wide fairways give a welcoming first impression, but the bunkering, water features, and undulating greens demand real course management to score well.

Dubai Sports City itself sits in the newer southwestern quarter of the emirate, well removed from the waterfront towers but surrounded by stadiums, academies, and sports facilities that give the area a distinct, purposeful energy. The climate means golf is genuinely comfortable from October through April, with summer rounds best left to the heat-hardened. The broader Dubai golf scene is well-resourced and internationally minded, drawing a mix of touring professionals, ambitious residents, and visiting players from across Europe and Asia.

The Els Club, as it is also known, has hosted Asian Tour events and established itself as one of the more serious tests among Dubai's growing portfolio of courses — a layout with genuine character rather than just spectacle.