Yas Links puts a golf round into an Abu Dhabi escape. The Kyle Phillips-designed course offers a waterfront setting on Yas Island, with the city’s hotels and attractions providing plenty of ways to fill the rest of a trip.
Yas Links green fees and tee times.
Tee times are booked online or through the Viya Golf app, which runs Yas Links, or by contacting the club directly. Visitors are welcome on any day. Green fees are not published as a rate card on the club website; prices appear when you search for a time, and they vary by season, day and time, with lower twilight and summer rates. The 9-hole Academy course books separately. The clubhouse has a gym and pool, and the club sells memberships for residents.
The round, in perspective.
Kyle Phillips, the architect of Kingsbarns, designed Yas Links as the first true links course in the Middle East. It runs along the western shore of Yas Island, with the Arabian Gulf beside a number of holes, and it was shaped to play firm, with rolling fairways and room for run-up approaches. It ranks in Golf Digest’s world top 100. Yas Links hosted the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2022 and has staged the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship since. Wind off the Gulf is usually lighter in the morning.
Make the trip work.
Book early morning in the warmer months and allow time on the floodlit range, which uses Toptracer technology. The Tommy Fleetwood Academy offers lessons. If the main course is booked or you have only a couple of hours, the Academy course runs from 7am to a last tee time of 8.30pm.
Zayed International Airport, Abu Dhabi’s main airport, is about ten minutes by road. Central Abu Dhabi is roughly 25 minutes away, and Dubai is a little over an hour on the E11 motorway. Taxis are plentiful and cheap.
Yas Island has a cluster of hotels within a few minutes of the course, including W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island, built over the Formula 1 circuit, and Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island on the beach. Saadiyat Island, about 20 minutes away, offers beach resorts and the city’s museums. Both work well for a few days of golf with sightseeing.
Make a trip of it.
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, a Gary Player course by the sea, is the obvious second round, and Abu Dhabi Golf Club offers a parkland contrast. On Yas Island itself, Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld and the Yas Marina Circuit are minutes away. The Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque are worth half a day each.
Find your season.
October to April is the sensible window, with daytime temperatures in the mid-20s °C in mid-winter. From June to September heat and humidity are extreme. The 2026 Abu Dhabi Championship is scheduled for 5–8 November at Yas Links, so expect the course to close around those dates.
Yes. Yas Links is open to visitors every day. Book a tee time online or through the Viya Golf app, or contact the club. Rates are set by season and time of day.
What is the Academy course at Yas Links?
A fully floodlit nine-hole par-3 course, also designed by Kyle Phillips, with holes of 83 to 185 yards and small greens. Tee times run daily from 7am to 8.30pm.
How far is Yas Links from Abu Dhabi airport?
About ten minutes by road from Zayed International Airport. That makes it easy to play on an arrival or departure day.
When is the Abu Dhabi Championship at Yas Links?
The DP World Tour event has moved from January to November. The 2026 edition is scheduled for 5–8 November, and Aaron Rai won the November 2025 event after a play-off with Tommy Fleetwood. Expect the course to be unavailable around tournament week.
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.
