For your bucket list: Ayla, Jordan
The first thing you notice as you arrive in your shuttle from the hotel is the distinctive clubhouse.
It is small and characterful, in contrast to so many brash and pointlessly vast Middle East clubhouses. To best describe its appearance I would suggest that Fred Flintstone could have lived here, which is entirely apt given the course is surrounded by yet more stunning mountains.
Anyway, it’s a fun introduction to Ayla, and is a portent of things to come on the course.
Norman designed it in 2016 and it is not entirely typical of most of his other work, which can often seem stringent to the casual player.
That is often especially the case off the tee, with the Australian perhaps forgetting his ability to drive the ball with consistent brilliance isn’t shared by all of us.
Here, though, he and his design team have presented wide fairways and beyond the short grass are sandy areas where you will never lose your ball unless you find a clump of the marram-like grass that can survive this intense heat.
There is a decent amount of water too, but rarely are you sweating over where to try to place your ball off the tee.
The challenge instead is on second shots as well as on and around the green. And in this often breezy coastal location, the challenge on the long shots naturally increases significantly when the wind picks up.
The bunkering is not excessively heavy but often penal if you find sand; for all but the most skilled bunker players, finding the fairway traps is at least half a shot gone while the greenside equivalents require deft touch.
The 1st, a mid-length par 5, is one of the notably well-bunkered holes, and after a pretty short hole over a centre bunker to an amphitheatre green – not the last of those at Ayla – come three par 4s that illustrate the variety of the course.
While the 3rd encourages you to think of a run at a birdie putt – it’s 353 yards off the whites to a small ‘infinity’ green – with the mountains glowering behind, the 4th is all but 400 yards off the same tees and asks different questions if your approach, which is to a benched, elevated green.
Then comes another different but strong par 4 to a smaller, flatter green which has unforgiving run-offs around it. The mountain range is possibly at its most breathtaking behind this green.
That brings you to the toughest and probably the best of the short holes. The 6th plays slightly downhill but that is where the assistance ends; water lurks left and front-left and even if you find the target the green is so huge that three putts are a threat for even the usually sure-handed.
There are two short holes on both nines, with the 12th played alongside the hotel – and more importantly a stream with bunkers right and left – while the 16th is a strong par 3 in something of a mirror image of the 6th.
The front nine, 100 yards longer than the inward half, ends as it started with a par 5. This one plays into the north-south prevailing wind as it snakes alongside a ditch towards an amphitheatre green, where the bail out to the right leaves a very awkward chip from a steep bank with a tree likely blocking your path.
The 5s coming home comprise the 13th, which has what seems the most narrow fairway on the course and a tempting approach to a green tucked on the left over sandy waste, and the gettable downhill, beautifully-bunkered 17th.
The 11th, along a narrow fairway to a green beyond a ditch, vies with the 18th for the title of toughest par 4 on the course – the 8th is another candidate – but the holes that stick most strongly in my memory are the two sportier two-shotters in the middle of the nine.
You can really attack the 328-yard 14th, 270 off the whites, which has a bunker on the right but whose small infinity green is waiting to be peppered with a wedge. And then you can have a crack at getting close to the next, with trouble awaiting on the right but where a fade at the left edge of the green will keep you safe.
Two good scores are entirely possible there and a tidy scorecard throughout is within the grasp of all – as ‘resort’ golf surely ought to be.
The journey back to Amman looks less appetising. In fact it looks downright tedious, with no Wonder of the World to entertain you. But then you are told another world-famous landmark, the Dead Sea, can be easily snapped up on the journey back.
Casually sightseeing a world-famous landmark on the journey back to the airport nicely sums up the brilliantly crazy nature of a golf break in Jordan.
Golf in Jordan: Travel essentials
The journey: Well, there are easier destinations to get to, no doubt. Istanbul is a popular route into Amman, via the likes of Manchester or Birmingham with Turkish Airlines. There are some tremendous prices to be snapped up if you book ahead. The direct option is via Royal Jordanian out of Heathrow. You can expect to pay £350 and above for the flight into Amman. You can also fly into Aqaba with EasyJet direct from Gatwick
Where to stay: The Hyatt Regency in Ayla is the perfect base for the southern part of the trip, a sparkling new hotel with good amenities and a really cool bar ‘Vista’, where you can’t help but have maybe one or two drinks too many. There are also nice extras like free yoga and fast wifi that you never have to log back into. In Wadi I stayed at Captain’s Camp and in Petra at Sunset Hotel, which offered great value. Alqatal hotel is perfect for a low-cost Amman airport stay.
Off the course: As detailed in the main article, this is the strength of the trip. It’s a toss up between Wadi Rum and Petra as to what is the most memorable day; just make sure you do both and decide for yourself. Definitely try to have an afternoon in Amman and call in at the Dead Sea for a picture opportunity. Otherwise, you can take a boat trip and snorkel in the Aqaba waters or horse ride in the desert.
When to go: A big advantage of this trip is Jordan’s climate, which you’d expect to be excellent as a Middle Eastern country. But as well as being warm all year round and with negligible rain, there is much less humidity here than in the United Arab Emirates. It is a great option in our winter and if you definitely want to be sunbathing when not playing or exploring, wait til March or make November the latest you go.
Area guide: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Area guide: Marrakesh, Morocco
Area guide: Cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria
Chris Bertram
Chris Bertram is a specialist in all things golf courses.
He was born and brought up in Dumfriesshire and has been a sports journalist since 1996, initially as a junior writer with National Club Golfer magazine.
Chris then spent four years writing about football and rugby union for the Press Association but returned to be Editor and then Publisher of NCG.
He has been freelance since 2010 and spends the majority of his time playing golf and writing about the world’s finest golf courses.
