Since 2009, the DP World Tour has concluded each season with the DP World Tour Championship, and Dubai’s Earth Course has been its host throughout.
Unlike many other courses, which begin hosting high-profile tournaments within a few years of opening, the inaugural DP World Tour Championship (then named the Dubai World Championship) marked the Earth Course’s debut, meaning that, as the players teed it up in that first year, they weren’t familiar with the course.
The course had been completed considerably earlier than its big-stage debut. Indeed, it was fully grassed in April 2008, while in January 2009, several players were invited to experience the final four holes. However, to leave time to allow it to mature and maximise the “wow” factor at its great unveiling, it would be another nine months before the Tour’s best players finally got to experience it.
As players worked their way around the Greg Norman-designed course, they may have found some characteristics typical of many other PGA Tour and DP World Tour (then called the European Tour) courses. That’s because Norman took inspiration from the great parkland courses of the USA and Europe for the design despite its desert surroundings.
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The course has over 100 bunkers scattered over its 7,706-yard length, while there is rolling terrain and plenty of water to negotiate. However, it is the final four holes – described by Norman as “the most difficult mile in golf” – where the course comes into its own.
The par-4 15th is deceptively difficult, with seven bunkers, including across the fairway. That can easily lead to indecision off the tee – go for the green or lay up? While the 15th is tricky, it is the quartet’s most straightforward. The 16th is a 486-yard par four with a pond to the right and beyond the tiered green. Next, the par-3 17th features an island green guarded by four bunkers.
The signature hole, though, is saved until last – a par-5 651-yard beast with bunkers to the left of the fairway and a stream further on that continues until it meanders around the left-hand side of the green. Players aiming right to avoid the stream must also be mindful of the sizeable bunker guarding the green on that side.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Earth Course – and its sister course, Fire, also designed by Norman – are open to the public. You can book tee times online, with green fees of around 1,135AED (£260 or $308).
There are also several membership packages,…
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