Saadiyat Beach Golf Club was the Arabian Gulf’s first beachfront course when Gary Player’s design opened in 2010, and in 2025 it reopened with a reworked back nine. The setting is unlike anything in Dubai: white sand, restored native dunes, the Gulf along one edge and more than 250 free-roaming gazelles across the property. It is the Middle East’s first Audubon Certified Cooperative Sanctuary and hosted the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open, Abu Dhabi’s first Ladies European Tour event. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a few minutes away, so golf and culture share the same island.
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club green fees and tee times.
Viya Golf manages Saadiyat alongside Yas Links, and visitors book through Viya: the Viya Golf Holidays website for direct online booking, or the Viya app, where prices are shown by date and rewards build up. General and group questions go to the club office at golfoffice.sbgc@viyagolf.com. No rate card is published, so compare a few dates and times before you commit; Viya also sells Saadiyat stays with golf through its Golf Holiday packages. The official course pages do not set a handicap limit, and the course carries five sets of tees, from black (75.8 rating) down to red (68.6), so mixed-ability groups are well served.
The round, in perspective.
Player’s firm routed the course around Saadiyat’s beach hotels, and it can stretch beyond 7,800 yards from the back (a 75.8 rating and 136 slope from the black tees). The back nine has just changed. Nicklaus Design, working with Gary Player Design, moved the 13th green forward by 80 metres, built a short new par-3 14th over a fresh dune to an elevated saddle green, and removed the old beachfront 17th. The driveable 10th, known as the Mousetrap, has had its pot bunkers dug deep again, and a red-sand bunker, Player’s original nod to Africa, is back behind the 18th green. Greens are Mini Verde Bermuda and fairways paspalum, and the turf footprint has been cut back to its original lines.
Make the trip work.
The new 14th is the shortest hole on the course but plays into the prevailing wind, so club up. Card yourself from the gold (73.3) or blue (71.1) tees unless you play off single figures. Hawksbill, the clubhouse restaurant, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and runs a Sunday roast from AED 90. The Viya Golf Performance Institute offers lessons with PGA professionals if you want a session first. Keep a separate day for Yas Links so you play both of Viya’s championship courses without rushing.
Zayed International Airport (AUH) is roughly 35 km away, usually 30–40 minutes by taxi along the Sheikh Khalifa Highway (E12), which also links Saadiyat with Yas Island. From Dubai Marina, allow around 90 minutes by road. Abu Dhabi taxis are metered and plentiful, and most Saadiyat hotels can arrange a car to the clubhouse.
Saadiyat Beach’s resorts sit around the course and along the sand. The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Rotana and Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island are all close by, keeping the first tee a few minutes away. Staying here also puts the Saadiyat Cultural District on your doorstep. For a longer golf week, Yas Island’s hotels sit beside Yas Links and the Formula 1 circuit, around half an hour from Saadiyat.
Make a trip of it.
Yas Links, Kyle Phillips’ links-style course on Yas Island, is the essential second round, and its floodlit nine-hole par-3 academy course takes tee times until 8.30pm. Dubai’s Emirates Golf Club and Jumeirah Golf Estates are within about 90 minutes for a two-city trip. Off the course, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is in the Cultural District next door, and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is worth a cool early morning.
Find your season.
November to March is the main season. After the back nine reopened, the final quarter of 2025 was the busiest in the club’s history, so book winter weekends early. From June to September heat pushes play to dawn; Saadiyat has no floodlights, so use the lit par-3 course at Yas Links for evening golf.
Yes. Visitors book through Viya Golf, either on the Viya Golf Holidays website or in the Viya app. Memberships are sold too, but you do not need one for a single round.
Is the Saadiyat back nine open after the redesign?
Yes. The reworked back nine reopened in 2025 and the full 18 has been in play since. Changes include a new par-3 14th, a 13th green moved 80 metres forward, a realigned 17th and 18th set 20 metres back from the boundary, and restored dune areas.
How far is Saadiyat Beach Golf Club from Yas Links?
Around 25–30 minutes by road along the Sheikh Khalifa Highway. Both are run by Viya Golf, so you can book the pair through one app, and Yas Links adds a floodlit par-3 course for an evening round.
Will I see wildlife at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club?
Very likely. More than 250 free-roaming gazelles live on the course, along with migratory birds. It was the Middle East’s first Audubon Certified Cooperative Sanctuary, and the 2025 work replanted dunes with the original seed mix.
Last checked 4 October 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.
