With the landmark launch of their 18-hole course redesign, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is the perfect location to become your new favourite warm-weather golfing getawayAdvertising Feature
When it comes to selecting the right destination for your golfing breakaway, it can be hard to know if you’ve made the right decision. Golf trips are particularly difficult to organise due to the amount of needs that often require catering to, and there’s inevitably a compromise that has to be made.
You might fall in love with a particular hotel but leave yourself surrounded by golf courses that leave more than a little to be desired, whether in quality of agronomy or in challenge for the player.
Equally, some of the most interesting choices of courses throughout the world struggle to offer true luxury when it comes to local lodgings, often leaving your party travelling for too long between where you wish to play and want to stay.
And it’s not just finding an enjoyable location that offers that single convenience. You also need accessible entertainment for the whole party, whether it’s services for a younger family to ensure children are happy and amused for the whole trip, or a selection of dining and leisure facilities for the adults who can be just as difficult to deal with if not given as sufficient options to occupy them.
A must-play icon of the Middle East
Luckily, there are still a few such hidden gems in the world that are able to cater to all of these desires, offering the perfect blend of quality in every aspect of the aforementioned challenges.
Opened in March of 2010, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club was the first beachfront golf course to feature on the coastline of the Arabian Gulf. Designed with the direct influence of the legendary Gary Player, a grand slam winner of all four professional Majors, the Club was quickly established as one of the most premier sites in the UAE for the dedicated golfer who wants to experience the best the region has to offer.
The 18-hole championship course found on Saadiyat Island is a stunning addition to the Viya Golf crown, which also boasts both Yas Links and Yas Acres in its impressive collection of golf destinations.
Saadiyat Beach stands on its own two feet, however, even amongst these jewels, having earned the titles of ‘Best Course in the UAE,’ and ‘Best Course in Abu Dhabi,’ in 2015 and 2019, respectively. On top of this, the Club was recognised as the first Audubon-Certified Cooperative Sanctuary in the Middle East, proof of it’s high level of commitment to protecting the local environment; indeed, the site is home to a thriving community of mountain gazelles as well as a wide variety of domestic and migratory birds.
The course itself is truly spectacular, offering a fair but inviting challenge to every level of golfer you could bring here. Starting from the tee selection, players can chose from five sets of tee boxes that range from 5,209 yards with the nearest Reds to over 7,800 yards from the Blacks, enough to scare all but the biggest hitters in the game!
Located only 10 kilometres from downtown Abu Dhabi, and winding its way through some of the most spectacular and luxurious 5-star hotels the gulf has to offer, the layout contains a mixture of precise lakes and calculated bunkers for the golfer’s pleasure of both playing and viewing.
Amongst the wildlife, luxury, and challenge, visitors will also be treated to jaw-dropping views across the Gulf as they play, with the holes of Saadiyat running directly adjacent to the beachfront that bears the same name, in an iconic yet understated blend of manmade design and natural beauty.
Innovating the timeless
While Viya Golf could well have contentedly left the already highly-rated Saadiyat Beach GC where it was and maintained a healthy relationship with its existing clientele, the company has shown it has a commitment to improving and innovating with every aspect of their visitor’s experience, just as you find the city of Abu Dhabi itself doing.
2025 has seen the relaunch of Saadiyat Beach Golf Club’s prestigious back nine, following a nothing-held-back renovation of the location by Nicklaus Design.
With the architectural assistance of yet another grand slam winner’s team, the course has seen no stone remain unturned in the pursuit of golfing perfection.
Collaborating with the original planners at Gary Player Design to ensure the new detailing stays within the original styling and vision, Nicklaus’ group have reimagined bunkering, added an abundance of new water features, as well as adjusting tee positions and green complexes to ensure a fresh feeling even for veterans of Middle Eastern golf.
To add the final cherry to this delicious cake, the par-3 14th has been completely rebuilt to an all-new specification, improving upon what many consider to already have been one of the most sublime short holes in the region.
It’s not just the on-course setup that Saadiyat Beach seeks to innovate with, either. As the host of the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open and the UAE Challenge, and home to one of the most testing practice facilities available for honing your game, the Golf Club is building a forward-thinking and sustainable future for itself and its guests beyond just the immediate.
More than just Golf
While we know that the main event for a golfer is, of course, the quality of play, we started this article bemoaning the difficult of finding that without some level of compromise and it would only be fair to tell you why Saadiyat is the destination you simply must have at the top of your list for your next getaway.
The previously discussed hotel and beachside resorts dotted across the island provide entertainment for both the golfing party as well as family and partners, with a globally-selected array of dining opportunities, turquoise waters lapping onto white-gold beaches, and entertainment throughout the day and evening for the youngest members of your group.
The highlight, however, of Saadiyat Beach, outside the on-course play, is in its proximity to renowned Yas Island.
A noted and celebrated hub of Abu Dhabi, Yas Island offers some of the city’s best venues for food, fun, and relaxation across every age category. Spend the day amongst the amusements of the Worlds of Ferrari or Warner Bros, before finding a more secluded spot in restaurants such as Paradiso or The WB Director’s Club.
You can even spend a late night admiring the Super-Yachts berthed here, as you wander along the waterfront of Yas Marina. Get your timing right, and you could even take in one of Abu Dhabi’s exciting races on the Grand Prix circuit, including the finishing event of the Formula One season, where the championship winner will be officially crowned.
And remember, all of this comes with the guarantee of year-round sunshine for a satisfying warm-weather break even while Europe sits in the peak of its windy, wintery conditions.
So make your next getaway the pleasure of the lifetime, with one of the most complete and relaxing experiences available to the modern golfer.
You can find out more about the course and club by clicking here, or explore travel options with Viya Golf and their exclusive partners through this link.
