Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth)

Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth)

Nearby Courses

1103 miles away

Dreamland

1473 miles away

Korineum

1505 miles away

Aphrodite Hills

Well known as the home to the DP World Tour Championship, it is everything you would expect from a big-budget championship course.

This Greg Norman design at this European Tour Properties venue categorically looks the part; undulating fairways punctuated by white-sand bunkers and framed by deep-red ochre borders and mature trees and shrubs.

But it is also a beast at times and is not overly forgiving. There are blind shots, it is a long way round, and you are often hitting to flag on elevated greens beyond enormous bunkers. It is a step up in difficulty compared to the Majlis, with more penal clover-shaped bunkers (that you often can’t see over the top of), quite a lot of slope in the greens and evil run offs around them. Many will absolutely relish the challenge though, especially a strong finish that sees the last four holes play alongside or over water.

The 18th sees a meandering creek run the full length of the hole, splitting the fairway in two. A plaque marks the spot where Henrik Stenson hit an imperious 3-wood to win the 2013 event here; we can only look on and shake our heads.

Highlights include the 13th, like a sun-kissed version of the same hole at Muirfield, while the 15th is akin to Chart Hills in terms of bewildering bunkering.

Then the 17th is the notoriously noisy hole in the Race to Dubai finale, with a raucous stand to the left of the island green. Finally, the practice facilities here – part of the ETPI – are without peer.