Looking for a new golf “experience” that includes manicured courses, beaches, unrivaled opulence and diverse nightlife heading into 2026?
Look no further than the United Arab Emirates, for years ranked in the top 10 in the world when it comes to riches thanks to a thriving oil industry.
Most of the golf travelers to the Persian Gulf region come from France, Germany, England and other nearby European nations, but Dubai International Airport is the busiest international hub, which allows for easier access than other golf destinations for those heading overseas from the United States.
The UAE now has more than two dozen golf courses, of which 13 are located in Dubai – a 90-minute drive from the nation’s capital, Abu Dhabi.
Among other things, Dubai is home to the tallest building in the world, which rockets 2,722 feet (163 floors) out of the desert floor into the blue skies.
“When you drive into Dubai it looks like those shots from the Wizard of Oz, it looks like the Emerald City in the distance when you’re following the Yellow Brick Road,” says former golf journalist Steve Elling, who left the United States in 2013 for two years to cover golf and other sports in the UAE. “It just pops up out of nothing and it’s completely vertical. Yeah. It’s insane.”
Dan Wooters helps promote UAE golf through Golf Marketing Services, an agency which was hired in 2023 by Dubai Golf to raise awareness of the destination’s world-class resorts.
“Dubai has kind of been the flag holder for golf in the Middle East and now places like Saudi Arabia are trying to copy its model,” Wooters says. “If you look at the history of the area and obviously the politics and the rules around certain ways of life in the Middle East, Dubai is kind of like this enclave of freedom where the golf courses and the resorts can appeal to the world traveler and let them really do what they want to do when they’re there. That has been a huge highlight and why it has grown in popularity. It has turned into a kind of an off-the-beaten-path type of place to go to for golf travelers.”
The country has received its share of golf publicity over the years with the Race to Dubai, a season-long competition on the DP World Tour that crowns the year’s top professional golf. Rory McIlroy won in 2025 and now has seven titles.
“Rory has been a big advocate; he has a home there, and his success has kind of helped Dubai,” Wooters says. “His first professional win was in Dubai. It’s funny, the first thing you see when you walk into his home is that trophy on display from his first professional win in Dubai.”
Just last weekend, the Dubai Invitational as part of the DP World Tour was staged at Dubai Creek Resort, while the upcoming Hero Dubai Desert Classic has a $9 million purse this weekend at Emirates Golf Club, a location famous for pros teeing off with the impressive Dubai “futuristic” skyline as a striking backdrop.
In all, the DP Tour hosts four events in the UAE over a three-month period, further highlighting a growing golf presence there.
“The Middle East as a whole is pouring just a massive amount of money into the game,” Wooters says. “There are more courses being built that are more resort specific. It’s just an exciting time for that area when it comes to golf tourism.”
And while golf isn’t exactly a sport a ton of locals have embraced, there is substantial growth and access as more courses open.
“I believe there is a good chance a local golfer plays on the DP World Tour or PGA Tour with the next few years from the UAE, and the game is growing enough locally that the Middle East should start producing serious talent on a regular basis,” says GMS CEO Chris May.
“It’s kind of unlike anywhere else with maybe the exception of Las Vegas where the desert meets the city,” Wooters says. “However, with Dubai, what’s going on around you is not quite like what’s going on in Las Vegas. There’s a lot of different cultures, and there are a ton of different things you can get into as far as the local scene and the local traditions and customs. But it is so much bigger than Vegas, like a New York City or London.”
And if you can imagine it in terms of entertainment off the course, the UAE likely has it in spades.
“I mean they even have indoor snow skiing,” Elling says. “They have all these crazy tourist things, so it’s very similar to families going to Disney, where the mom and the kids may go to the theme park and the dad goes and plays golf. There are all these golf courses in Orlando here for the same reason like Dubai.”
Golf on some of the best layouts costs $300-$500 in season, which runs November-April. Summer months (June-September) are extremely hot but offer budget pricing.
While there are no mountains and the land is mostly flat desert, many of the course designs are similar to that of United States layouts in a state like Florida.
“You can build whatever you want if you’ve got enough bulldozers and enough money,” Elling says. “So they go in and stick all these trees in and ground, even hardwood trees that are certainly not indigenous.”
Wooters calls the UAE a “beacon” for golf in the Middle East.
“There is an interesting history in the Middle East with workers’ rights and certain customs that might not be deemed too favorable with the Western market,” Wooters says. “However, they’ve had a blank canvas in Dubai. They don’t have the rules of like a Saudi Arabia or even like a Kuwait or Iraq, so golf has kind of been a solid vessel to showcase the area. It just seems like it’s something that’s going to continue to pull more people from outside of the Middle East to travel there and enjoy the game.”