Saudi Arabia

There are more than a dozen courses in Saudi, some are sand based layouts with browns instead of greens, but there are eight grassed courses which include: Safaa (a 9-hole layout for city residents and their guests) and Royal Greens (opened in November 2017) near Jeddah, Rolling Hills (built for Aramco employees) in Dahran, Arizona (a 9-hole community-based course) and Dirab in Riyadh. Not too far from the capital are two other 18-hole facilities called Riyadh Golf Courses and Nofa Golf Resorts. In November 2020, Golf Saudi revealed ambitious plans to build between 16 and 23 new golf courses and host at least four professional tournaments by 2030. The Crown Prince’s commitment to golf extends beyond course building to possibly including golf within the school curriculum. The Kingdom’s golfing future is bright. Construction on Greg Norman’s new Wadi Safar course outside Riyadh began in 2020, with bulk earthworks completed two years later. Final shaping then took place, along with the introduction of an irrigation system and the installation of cart paths. Grassing was scheduled for completion by the middle of 2023, with the course due to open soon after. Our Middle East rankings were last updated in March 2021.