18-hole Gary Player links style signature course designed in a classic ‘figure of eight’ with over a third of the course having views of the Saadiyat coastline.
Yardage
Player tees - 7784 yds
Gold tees - 7268 yds
Blue tees - 6733 yds
White tees - 5992 yds
Red tees - 5290 yds
Par
72
Visitors
The facilities are open to club members as well as guests from nearby hotels on a pay-and-play basis, making it the only facility of this nature in the Middle East.
Saadiyat Beach was named 'Best Golf Course' at the 2010 Arabian Property Awards (full story here).
Green Fees
Unknown
Course Designer
Gary Player - February 2010.
The Middle-East's first beachfront golf course and the first of two championship golf courses planned for Saadiyat Island
Location
North west of Saadiyat Island (Island of Happiness), the 27 square kilometre island offshore Abu Dhabi city which is being transformed into a world-class tourism, culture and residential destination.
Facilities
• Clubhouse offering sweeping Gulf and beach views / Restaurant / Functions / Terrace
• Driving range with full lighting and golf academy
• Golf shop
The course, designed as an eventual contender for the annual European Tour-backed Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, is at the core of the Saadiyat Beach district of the 27 square kilometre natural island which has a wealth of bird and marine life. Beach/links in style, it includes 3 lakes and 60 bunkers.
Grass species employed:
Greens - Mini Verde Ultra Dwarf Bermuda (Cynodon spp)
Tees - Mini Verde Ultra Dwarf Bermuda (Cynodon spp)
Fairway/rough - Tifway 419 Bermuda grass, (Cynodondactylon)
Rough/native area - Sand drop seed (Sporobolus cryptandrus)
The Saadiyat Beach Golf Course is to be enrolled in the Audubon International Awards certification scheme which recognises courses that protect the environment, conserve natural resources, provide wildlife habitats and are governed by high standards of environmental management.
74 year old Gary Player gives a clinic to Abu Dhabi junior golfers at Saadiyat Beach
"We've added a fairway bunker to the driving range - nowhere else in the world, not even at Augusta, can you practise hitting bunker shots down the fairway and Saadiyat will have that...
"With Saadiyat Island also being home to the world's largest cluster of renowned cultural institutions, such as Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Louvre Abu Dhabi, a major new international destination is on the verge of taking the world by storm. Take my word for it, not many people around the world may be talking about Abu Dhabi now but in ten years time they'll be coming here, not just talking about it" Gary Player
Venue for the Saadiyat Beach Classic hosted by Gary Player, Jan. 2010 and 2011.
Player tees - 7784 yds
