The Wadi Course is the second course at Emirates Golf Club (the first being the Majlis which hosts the Dubai Desert Classic every year) and re-opened in October 2006 following extensive remodelling work by the Faldo Design Group. The club is conveniently located just 20 minutes away from the hotels and resorts of Jumeirah Beach. We stayed at the Mina A' Salam which, as you can see, is really rather nice (not cheap though!)

Anyone who has played a Faldo-designed course before will know that the six-time major champ likes his bunkers. The Wadi Course is no different. The bunkers here are vast, numerous and a little different than the traditional style of trap. In fact, the fairway waste areas look like they've been carved out of the course by a drunk wielding an extra sharp pair of scissors. This is not meant as a criticism at all, because they're certainly interesting to look at (and play out of), but their irregular shapes take a bit of getting used to. The greenside bunkers are relatively deep and feature extensive mounding.

Play movie.....

Bunkers aside, there's no doubt that Faldo has toughened up the course considerably. From the blue tee the layout measures a mean 6,900 yards so, unless you're firing on all cylinders with your driver, it might make sense to swallow your pride and play from the whites which come in at a far more manageable 6,139 yards. The Arabic word wadi means a dry river bed which only contains water during times of heavy rain. Whether or not Faldo realized this or not is uncertain, but one thing is for sure: his 'wadi' is full of water. The wet stuff makes an appearance on the vast majority of holes, and it is very much in play meaning higher handicappers could well struggle.

The Wadi's setting, while pleasant, is not quite as appealing as the Majlis with Dubai's radpidly expanding skyscraper-dominated skyline making an appearance on several holes. The surrealness of the course continues as you drive around in your cart. This is the first place we've played that has traffic lights for cart driving golfers.

Very good, almost excellent. Will no doubt improve once the course matures a little.

You can hire caddies and walk or you can take the cheaper option and hire ultra-modern and sophisticated golf carts which you can drive on the fairway. Each golf cart features GPS which is just as well because there aren't too many yardage markers on the course. Having said that, we're not sure how accurate these GPS carts are, but you can get a yardage book from the pro shop if you don't trust the things. We only say that because we lined two carts together from the same spot on the course and they both gave different yardages.......quite a few yards off in actual fact - would make a difference if we were really good players.

It's good, but not as great as we were hoping. There are some very interesting holes - #13 and #14 are particularly memorable - but we prefer the Majlis Course and the very playable Dubai Creek. Definitely worth playing if you have the time, but if you're in Dubai on a short break then there are better options.
Birdie 12/06