Although Golf and Horse Racing have nothing in common – and we mean literally nothing; one you watch horses run around a track at breakneck speed and the other you hit a ball into a hole whilst trying to enjoy a leisurely walk – they can combine to make for a perfect holiday.
Of course, there are many big races punters love attending around the world and luckily, plenty are located within easy reach of some superb golf courses. That’s certainly the case as far as the world famous Dubai World Cup, hosted at Meydan Racecourse.
The Dubai World Cup routinely produces one of the strongest racecards on the racing calendar.
The Dubai World Cup is one of the standout events on the racing calendar, attracting the best horses from all around the world and subsequently boasting an extremely strong racecard year after year. Until it was surpassed by the Pegasus World Cup, the Dubai World Cup was in fact the world’s richest horse race and as a spectacle; there are few events that can match it anywhere else on the planet, with mile-long Meydan Grandstand housing up to 80,000 avid racing fans!
The Meydan Racetrack is among the biggest, and most state-of-the-art racing complexes in the world.
Like racing in Dubai, golf in the region has been very much on the rise since the early 1990s, so if the sound of a few days of adrenaline fuelled fun at Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse appeals, you’ll be pleased to here there are plenty of world class golf courses within a furlong or two from the track.
Situated just under 30 minutes from Meydan, the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club, dubbed “The Desert Miracle”, was the first all-grass course to appear in the Middle East and since the host of the European Tour’s Dubai Desert started blazing a trail for golf in the UAE, countless others have followed.
The Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club is home to the Dubai Desert Classic, previously won by the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Dubai Creek sits on the far side of the body of water of the same name, just 20 minutes from the track, while The Els Club, Arabian Ranches and the Jumeirah Golf Estates, host of the season ending DP World Tour championships on the European Tour, are all further south towards Emirates Golf Club, and all within a relatively short drive of Meydan.
Fear not…if you choose to tee it up at Jumeirah Golf Estates and the Earth Course, host of the DP World Tour Championships, you can spare your blushes and tee off from more forward tees, avoiding the 7,600+ yard test from the championship tees!
In fact, if you want to go all the way when it comes to combining racing and golf on your Dubai holiday; there’s nothing better than a few holes at The Track. This 9 hole course sits within touching distance of the Mayden Racecourse and it’s floodlit too, allowing you to play a few holes right amongst the electric atmosphere of the world’s almost-richest horse race!
The Track sits within a stone’s throw of Meydan Racecourse and even when the sun’s gone down, floodlights allow golfers to play long into the evening.
If golf and racing are high up on your hobbie list, the Dubai World Cup with golf on the side will be right up your alley! And that’s not where the fun ends in Dubai either…
Perfect sandy beaches, the tallest building in the world, theme parks, amazing restaurants and some of the world’s best shopping are all part and parcel of holiday to Dubai too, ensuring time away from the course, whether that’s the golf or racecourse, will be equally as memorable too.
