Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club is the city-centre alternative to the big clubs out along Sheikh Zayed Road. It sits on the Deira bank of the Creek, the waterway that built Dubai, and its clubhouse is shaped like the sails of a dhow, so you will have seen it on postcards before you see the first tee. The course opened in 1993, hosted the Dubai Desert Classic in 1999 and 2000, and has staged the DP World Tour’s Dubai Invitational since 2024. Dubai International is about ten minutes away, which makes this the easiest round in the emirate to fit around a flight.
Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club green fees and tee times.
Visitors can play every day, but book ahead, especially from November to March. The club is run by Dubai Golf, which sends visitors to its free Viya app for tee times, and the Creek page on dubaigolf.com carries a visitor booking link; Golfscape also lists Dubai Creek times. Dubai Golf does not publish a fixed rate card for the Creek, so the price only appears when you search a date, and it moves with the season and the day of the week. Bring a handicap certificate from your home club: where2golf lists the limits as 28 for men and 36 for women. At busy times the club can run 8am and 1pm shotgun starts instead of a normal tee sheet, so check the start format when you book.
The round, in perspective.
Karl Litten laid out the original course, and Golfshake dates the redesign led by the Danish tour player Thomas Bjorn, working with European Golf Design, to 2004; where2golf credits that work mainly to the front nine. It is a par 71 of 6,967 yards as listed by Golfscape, while where2golf gives 6,857 from the back tees, so length is less of a test than water. The 6th is played from a floating tee, with a lake squeezing the fairway from the left. The 13th is a par 5 to an island green you reach by footbridge, and the short 14th carries water to a green beside an island with the club’s name planted in flowers. The finish is the reason people come back: the short par-4 17th and the longer 18th both run beside the Creek, which lines the whole left side of the last.
Know before you go.
Handicap
Certificate required; 28 men, 36 women (as listed by where2golf)
Booking
Dubai Golf’s Viya app, dubaigolf.com or Golfscape
Starts
8am and 1pm shotguns at busy times
Short course
Floodlit nine-hole par-3 course
Make the trip work.
Because the airport is so close, the Creek suits an arrival afternoon or a last morning before a late flight, with clubs going straight back in the taxi. The nine-hole par-3 course is floodlit, which makes it the evening option for a non-golfer who wants to try a few holes. Plan the full 18 for the morning: the Creek can push a breeze across the closing holes later in the day. If your dates fall in mid-January in an Invitational year, check visitor access before you book, because the tournament takes over the course for its week.
The club is in Port Saeed, on the Deira side of the Creek between Al Garhoud Bridge and the Business Bay end of the city. Golfshake puts Dubai International (DXB) about ten minutes away. From Dubai Marina or Palm Jumeirah allow 30 to 45 minutes on Sheikh Zayed Road, more at rush hour. Al Maktoum (DWC) is on the far side of the city and rarely the better choice for this course.
Park Hyatt Dubai shares the Dubai Creek Resort with the golf club, so the first tee is a short stroll from your room. The resort’s marina has 121 berths, as listed by Golfshake, and the club’s own restaurants are a short walk away. If you would rather be near the beach, stay in Jumeirah or Dubai Marina and treat the Creek as a day trip. Deira and Bur Dubai hotels are cheaper and put you near the souks.
Make a trip of it.
Emirates Golf Club, home of the Desert Classic, and Jumeirah Golf Estates, where the DP World Tour season ends, are both about half an hour south-west and make a three-course Dubai week. Dubai Hills Golf Club sits in between. Off the course, cross the Creek by abra, the wooden water taxi, to the Al Fahidi quarter and the textile souk, or walk the Deira spice and gold souks a few minutes from the club.
Find your season.
Play from October to April, with November to March the busiest and coolest. Summer days pass 40°C and tee sheets shrink to early mornings. The Dubai Invitational was first played here in January 2024, and the 2026 edition ran from 15 to 18 January, with three pro-am days for 60 tour players and 60 amateurs before a professionals-only final round.
Yes. where2golf lists visitors as welcome on weekdays and weekends, booked through Dubai Golf’s Viya app or the dubaigolf.com booking link, or through Golfscape. You need a handicap certificate, and at peak times the club may use shotgun starts at 8am and 1pm rather than individual tee times.
How far is Dubai Creek golf course from the airport?
It is on the Deira side of the Creek, around ten minutes by taxi from Dubai International (DXB), which is why golfers with a late departure often play it on their final morning.
Who won the Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek?
Tommy Fleetwood won the first Dubai Invitational in January 2024 by one shot from Rory McIlroy. Khaleej Times reported that the 2026 edition, from 15 to 18 January at the Creek, had a 60-pro, 60-amateur field and a US$2.75 million purse.
Is there night golf at Dubai Creek?
The nine-hole par-3 course and the practice facilities are floodlit, so you can play short holes after dark. The 18-hole championship course is not listed as floodlit, so book full rounds in daylight.
Last checked 11 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
