Best Courses in the Middle East and North Africa – 10-1

Michlifen, Ifrane.

What are the best golf courses in the Middle East and North Africa? The Golf World Top 100 panel ranks and rates the finest designs in the UAE, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan.

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We’ve reached the Top 10 of our inaugural Middle East and North Africa golf courses ranking. Head over to our ‘How we did it’ for more information on the criteria we used to rank these extraordinary courses, our scoring system and the judging panel.

Please do feed back where you feel we’re right and, more likely, where you think we’ve gone wrong. We’d love to hear from you via email, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

And, once you’ve enjoyed this ranking, please do take a look at some of our others – from the best courses in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Spain, Portugal, Europe and the USA, to GB&I’s best links, the most fun courses to play and the finest resorts in Europe and the World, we’ve got it covered.

Golf World Top 100 Courses in the Middle East and North Africa: 10-1

10. Mazagan Beach

El Jadida, Morocco

Design 29 Setting 13 Memorability 13 Playability 8 Consistency 7 Presentation 8 Total 78

Located near El Jadida on Morocco’s Atlantic coast and opened in 2010, this Gary Player design has a ‘look’ of a links course and is a proper test at well over 7,000 yards and with coastal breezes to contend with. Towards the end of the front nine the pulse raises as the holes play alongside the coast.

9. Emirates (Majlis)

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Design 29 Setting 13 Memorability 13 Playability 7 Consistency 7 Presentation 9 Total 78

The panel felt the Dubai Desert Classic host lacked a touch of nuance to be higher. It’s a great test and a memorable experience with its famous backdrop, as well as interest in the slick, revamped greens. Shows its best face at the 4th, a subtle par 3, the 12th – with a great, bunkerless green – and the 17th. 

8. Al Zorah

Ajman, United Arab Emirates

Design 31 Setting 12 Memorability 12 Playability 8 Consistency 7 Presentation 9 Total 79

Set among mangroves, so has a rare tidal element. While the tide is in, you often hit over water from floating tees. It usually isn’t though, so it is less intimidating and Insta-worthy. Some really good stretches, notably the 6th-9th and 13th-16th. Gary Player track in small emirate of Ajman is in terrific nick.

7. Michlifen

Ifrane, Morocco

Design 31 Setting 12 Memorability 12 Playability 7 Consistency 8 Presentation 9 Total 79

A Jack Nicklaus design overlooking the Atlas Mountains from a position within the stunning Ifrane National Park. Significant elevation change is a notable feature of a challenging, entertaining course. Rock outcrops, ravines, lakes and contoured greens characterise this modern classic.

6. Els Club

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Design 32 Setting 11 Memorability 11 Playability 8 Consistency 8 Presentation 10 Total 80

Playing firm and fast sets Els Club apart from target courses in Dubai. Short grass around the greens adds to the difficulty and fun.  Loses a mark for setting as a result of some holes surrounded by houses, but the use of the desert areas is more imaginative than other Dubai courses. Peerless conditioning.

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5. Royal Dar Es Salam (Red)

Rabat, Morocco

Design 33 Setting 12 Memorability 12 Playability 6 Consistency 9 Presentation 8 Total 80

Robert Trent Jones’ masterpiece is set in a cork oak forest and mixes the technical expertise of the famous architect with a tranquil setting of trees, flowers and water. Restored by Coore-Crenshaw associate James Duncan, fifth is the least the Trophee Hassan host deserves. Tough, but brilliant.

4. Trump Dubai

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Design 33 Setting 11 Memorability 12 Playability 9 Consistency 8 Presentation 8 Total 81

Trump Dubai gets mixed reviews – including among our panel – and we can’t help but feel that might be something to do with its owner, because this is a wonderful course in our opinion. 

It’s a close second behind Yas in Middle East terms for some, as a result of green complexes that are firm, fast and have huge interest in them. The depression in the middle of the 7th is a particular highlight. Their requirement for you to be under the hole dictates strategy a lot, and celebrated architect Gil Hanse also gives a lot of options off the tee so the course gets better with each play.

The highlight is arguably the driveable, bunkerless par-4 12th – one of the most simple yet strategic holes you’ll find. It epitomised the benefit of width and angles beautifully, as is Hanse’s style.

3. Royal Palace of Agadir

Agadir, Morocco

Design 33 Setting 13 Memorability 13 Playability 7 Consistency 8 Presentation 9 Total 83

One of the world’s most exclusive clubs, but fortunately we have enough experience of it to be confident about how we rank it.

It is the King of Morocco’s personal course and as such invitations to play it are negligible – although the European Tour was a regular visitor in the 2010s.

Laid out by Cabell Robinson under the Robert Trent Jones umbrella, it combines a gorgeous seaside setting with interesting architecture and predictably flawless conditioning.

2. Al Mouj

Muscat, Oman

Design 32 Setting 15 Mem’lity 14 Playability 8 Consistency 8 Presentation 8 Total 85

So, so close at the top. Al Mouj would have been a worthy No.1 and if Yas had not improved its presentation of late, it would have snatched top spot. This is our favourite work by Greg Norman, who made fine use of a wonderful Gulf-side site to create hole after memorable hole.

It pips Yas for setting, and rarely do you go for long with hitting towards, alongside or over the edge of the water. That is very rare in the Middle East and sets Al Mouj apart from pretty much anywhere else.

A contender for our World Top 100, it is beautifully presented and Oman has a course to be exceptionally proud of. 

1. Yas Links

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Design 34 Setting 14 Memorability 14 Playability 8 Consistency 8 Presentation 8 Total 86

Our inaugural Middle East and North Africa No.1 is, perhaps, no surprise, given it is in our World Top 100. It had strong competition, as the marks illustrate, but Yas’ combination of a breathtaking location on the edge of the Arabian Gulf and the nous of master craftsman Kyle Phillips make this an outstanding, bucket list course.

Its name and its look suggest a links experience, but it is ‘links like’ rather than the type of thing we experience on our coasts. You aren’t going to find fescue grass in this climate, so you can’t run the ball as much as you would at Elie, Aberdovey or Deal. Nevertheless, Yas has the superb shaping, greens and bunkering that Phillips is known for at the likes of Kingsbarns and California Club, and with sand-capped fairways and a regular breeze it is a treat to play.

There’s a really high-class finish, with 15-18 a tough climax, especially into the wind. It now has the Abu Dhabi Championship and the television images of this exhilarating seaside course will be a game-changer in terms of perceptions of golf in this part of the world. Now managed by Troon Golf, who are exceptionally strong in the Middle East, Yas has improved its conditioning in the past two years to match the quality of the course.

“I wanted to create a little piece of Scotland in the Gulf and I’m delighted with how it has turned out and developed down the years,” says Phillips. We wholeheartedly agree.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Bertram is the Golf World Top 100 Editor.

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 before joining Golf World and Today’s Golfer as Senior Production Editor.

He has been freelance since 2010 and when he is not playing and writing about the world’s finest golf courses, he works for BBC Sport.

A keen all-round sportsman, Chris plays off 11 – which could be a little better if it wasn’t for hilariously poor lag putting which has to be seen to be believed.