The Sand Golf Club in Al Ain was the first golf club to be set up here – but there’s no grass: all the ‘greens’ are brown: they’re covered in sand.
You walk around with a square of astroturf and whack your balls from there.
To get there you travel due east from the Hilton Hotel, out of Al Ain, and past the Danat Hotel (previously called the Intercontinental Hotel).
Travel about a kilometre until you see the Falcon Centre on your right at a roundabout. Go to the next roundabout and turn right.
This view is what you’ll see immediately on your left…
Notice the banked ‘walls’ in front of it – and the gap centre right of the photo which you drive to in order to get to its car park.
You need to get this as the first visit I made to this place was in the dead of night in winter to see the local covers band called Desert Groove. I had found vague directions to this place online and drove right past the entrance. Luckily I ‘phoned a friend’ who gave me clear directions (thanks Romney!). Another mate of mine was supposed to meet me there. He drove for 30 minutes from his home to get here, couldn’t find it, gave up and went home! So I got there on my own and thankfully found some other people at the concert who I knew.
Anyway, here’s the outside of the clubhouse…
And here’s 2 views of the inside…
This is a shot of the greens…
At the opposite side of Al Ain, on the west side of the town, is the Palm Resort with an impressive ‘green as green’ golf club which my golf-playing friends frequent.