Max PankratovDesert golf and tropical golf are genuinely different trips. Dubai golf holidays mean manicured courses carved from sand, floodlit night rounds, and green fees that have moved sharply in two years. Thailand and Vietnam sit at the other end: lower cost, caddie-mandatory tropical courses, and a season calendar that runs opposite Dubai’s.
This guide covers what matters for anyone planning golf holidays in Dubai or across the wider region: the courses worth playing, current costs in local currency and USD, when to go, and how to stay connected across three countries without juggling three SIM cards.
Dubai: desert golf at its best
Green fees across Dubai have moved more in two years than in the prior decade. Average rates rose roughly a third in 2024 and a further 46% in 2025, according to Golfscape data. A November round on the championship course at Trump International recently ran about AED 3,500 (approximately $950).
Dubai Golf’s CEO attributes the increase to operating costs rather than opportunism:
- Irrigation now runs up to AED 5 million (approximately $1.36 million) per 18-hole course annually, since it’s no longer government-subsidized.
- Fertilizer costs are up 45%.
- Paint costs are up 60%.
- An order of 500 golf carts costs around $5 million.
Supply hasn’t kept pace with any of this. The last new course to open was Dubai Hills in 2018 (2019 by some accounts). A new layout is planned for Dubai South in 2026, with another at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Meanwhile the emirate has roughly 20,000 active golfers excluding tourists, and some courses host 60,000 rounds a year. Golfscape’s own CEO expects prices to double again.
Best golf courses in Dubai
Three Dubai courses sit on the DP World Tour: Dubai Creek, the Majlis at Emirates Golf Club, and Jumeirah Golf Estates.
- The Majlis: a Karl Litten design at 7,301 yards, opened 1988 as the first 18-hole grass course in the Middle East, hosts the Desert Classic.
- The Faldo course: redesigned by Nick Faldo in 2006, fully floodlit, the only championship course in Dubai playable at night.
- The Earth Course (Jumeirah Golf Estates): a Greg Norman design over 7,700 yards from the back tees, home to the DP World Tour Championship, held right here in Dubai each November.
- Trump International: 7,300 yards, par 71, a Gil Hanse design inside Damac Hills, with no trees, one water hazard, and sandy waste areas instead of rough.
Other courses worth naming among the best golf courses in Dubai: Al Zorah in Ajman (Nicklaus Design, opened 2015, Troon-managed, 25 minutes from DXB), Arabian Ranches (Ian Baker-Finch with Nicklaus Design, 2004, though only 120 of its 247 acres are irrigated), and Dubai Creek (1993, plus a 9-hole par 3, minutes from the airport). The Els Club hosts the Asian Tour’s International Series.
On course count: Dubai Golf’s own CEO cites 13 courses in the emirate, while other sources put the wider UAE at 22 golf clubs, 14 of them in Dubai. The gap likely comes down to counting clubs versus counting individual courses, worth knowing if you see conflicting numbers elsewhere. Current green fees:
| Tier | Peak (Oct–Apr) | Off-season (May–Sep) |
|---|---|---|
| Tournament venues | AED 900–1,500+ ($245–$410+) | Majlis flat AED 660 ($180); JGE Earth AED 475 ($130) weekday / AED 580 ($158) weekend |
| Second tier (Montgomerie, Els, Faldo) | AED 700–1,100 ($190–$300) | AED 350–600 ($95–$163) |
| Value | Arabian Ranches from AED 145 ($39) | N/A |
The Majlis peak fee is quoted anywhere from roughly AED 995 ($271) to over AED 1,100 ($300) depending on the source, and Dubai Golf now gates live rates behind its Viya app. Treat any published figure as a range, not a fixed price, and confirm before booking.
Summer flat rates recently seen at Trump: AED 600 ($163) weekday, AED 800 ($218) weekend, with night golf and 9 holes at AED 275 ($75). At Jumeirah Golf Estates the fee includes a shared cart and an hour of range access.
There’s a maximum handicap of 28 for men and 36 for women. One detail most guides miss: the Majlis runs a walking-only, no-carts policy in deep winter, from 8 December to 9 February in the current cycle.
Dubai golf resorts & stay-and-play options
For Dubai golf resorts, Address Montgomerie is the purest version: a boutique hotel of around 21 rooms sitting directly on the Montgomerie course in Emirates Hills. The 200-acre layout has 14 lakes, 81 bunkers, and a 13th hole shaped like the UAE from above.
Park Hyatt Dubai has 223 rooms with direct access to Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, five minutes from the airport. JA The Resort runs a Peter Harradine course from 1998 with a saltwater lake in play on five holes. The course is listed as both par 35 and par 36 across different sources, including the resort’s own pages, so confirm the current scorecard before you book.
Among Dubai golf getaway packages, operators build 7-night, 4-round itineraries around Vida Emirates Hills, Radisson Damac Hills, and Millennium Place Dubai Marina, playing Dubai Hills, Trump, Emirates, and the Els Club.
When to go & Dubai golf holidays costs
January averages about 24°C (75°F) by day and 14°C (57°F) at night. July and August peak around 41°C (106°F) with nights near 30°C (86°F). October to April is the real playing window, with early-morning or twilight tee times and floodlit courses making the shoulder months survivable. A typical Dubai golf trip budget:
| Package | Cost (GBP) | Cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Flights + 4 nights B&B + 3 rounds | From £895 | ~$1,135 |
| Budget package | From £465 | ~$590 |
| 5 nights, 3 rounds | From £579 | ~$735 |
| Green fees, per round | £80–£200+ | ~$102–$254+ |
Tournament weeks are worth planning around rather than into:
- Dubai Invitational, Dubai Creek, 15–18 January 2026.
- Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates GC, 22–25 January 2026, $9m prize fund.
- DP World Tour Championship, Earth Course, 12–15 November 2026.
Since this guide is for players, not spectators, the angle is simple: these weeks close courses for preparation and push hotel rates up. Either build a trip around watching, or avoid these exact dates if you just want tee times.
Thailand: tropical golf on a budget
Around 200 courses are actively operating and bookable in Thailand, with wider counts putting the nationwide total at 230–250. Of these, 120–150 are genuinely set up for international visitors. Bangkok has 50-plus courses, Pattaya about 30, Hua Hin 12-plus, Chiang Mai 12-plus, and Phuket and Phang Nga around 10 each.
Best golf courses in Thailand
In Bangkok, indicative 2026 weekday rates before caddie and cart:
| Course | Rate (THB) | Rate (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Riverdale | ~2,700 | ~$76 |
| Green Valley (Don Mueang) | ~2,000 | ~$56 |
| Krung Kavee (Don Mueang) | ~1,600 | ~$45 |
| Pinehurst (Don Mueang) | ~1,700 | ~$48 |
| Subhapruek | ~1,500 | ~$42 |
| Royal Golf (Suvarnabhumi) | ~3,500 | ~$98 |
| Thai Country Club | 4,500 (5,500 wknd) | ~$126 (~$154) |
| Alpine | 5,400 (7,400 wknd) | ~$151 (~$207) |
| Nikanti | 5,500 (6,500 wknd) | ~$154 (~$182) |
| Siam Country Club Bangkok | 6,500 all-in (7,500 wknd) | ~$182 (~$210) |
Hua Hin has the cleanest published pricing of any Thai golf region, valid for the 2025/26 high season:
| Course | 18-hole green fee (THB) | USD equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Black Mountain | 4,400 | ~$123 |
| Pineapple Valley | 4,400 | ~$123 |
| Majestic Creek | 2,550 | ~$71 |
| Springfield Royal | 2,400 | ~$67 |
| Palm Hills | 1,950 | ~$55 |
| Sea Pines | 1,800 | ~$50 |
| Lake View | 1,600 | ~$45 |
| Royal Hua Hin | 1,450 | ~$41 |
Carts run an extra 600–750 THB (~$17–$21), and caddies are mandatory with a 400–500 THB (~$11–$14) tip suggested. Hua Hin sits 220km from Bangkok, about three hours by private transfer.
Two courses anchor the region. Black Mountain, a 2007 Phil Ryan design, ranks 59th in Golf Digest’s World Top 100 and hosted the True Thailand Classic on the European Tour in 2015 and 2016. Royal Hua Hin, established in 1924 to a design by Scottish railway engineer A.O. Robins, is a par-72 layout next to the town’s railway station.
In Phuket, premium courses run 2,400–5,000 THB (~$67–$140):
- Red Mountain: 4,300 THB (~$120)
- Blue Canyon: 4,300 THB (~$120)
- Laguna (priciest): 5,000 THB (~$140)
- Mission Hills (Nicklaus design): 3,680 THB (~$103)
- Phuket Country Club: 2,400 THB (~$67)
These sit comfortably among the best golf courses in Thailand for anyone based on the island rather than Bangkok or Hua Hin. Unlike most of the country, Phuket carries no weekend surcharge, a genuinely useful planning detail. Red Mountain and Loch Palm sit ten minutes apart under the same management, pairing naturally into one day.
Caddies are mandatory at virtually all Thai courses: a 300–500 THB (~$8–$14) club fee, plus a 200–300 THB (~$6–$8) tip standard, more for an exceptional round. Collared shirts are required everywhere, and denim is out.
Thailand golf holidays: cost & season
November to February is the ideal season across most of the country, at 25–32°C (77–90°F), the window most Thailand golf holidays operators build packages around. March to May hits 38–40°C (100–104°F), which pushes tee times to 6–7am. May to October brings afternoon storms with clear mornings, lower fees, and quieter courses.
| Package | Cost (local) | Cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 5-day Bangkok, 3 rounds | From A$1,095 | ~$710 |
| 7-day Bangkok, 4 rounds | From A$1,685 | ~$1,095 |
| Hua Hin, 7 nights, 4 rounds, twin share | ~THB 27,000 | ~$755 |
| Hua Hin, 7 nights, 5 rounds, per person | From THB 24,400 | ~$683 |
Vietnam: Asia’s rising golf destination
Vietnam has gone from around 30 courses in 2010 to nearly 100 today, designed in part by Norman, Faldo, Nicklaus, and Robert Trent Jones Jr. The country has won Asia’s Best Golf Destination at the World Golf Awards nine years running through 2025. Golf tourism revenue passed $1 billion in 2025, roughly 8–10% of total tourism revenue.
Danang prices run weekday, all-in with shared cart and personal caddie:
| Course | Weekday (VND) | USD | Weekend (VND) | USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRG Legend Danang | 3.9m | ~$156 | 5.2m | ~$208 |
| Ba Na Hills | 3.95m | ~$158 | 5m | ~$200 |
| Laguna Golf Lang Co | 2.5m | ~$100 | 3.1m | ~$124 |
| Hoiana Shores | 7.5m | ~$300 | N/A | N/A |
Add a customary 300,000–500,000 VND (~$12–$20) tip. Total spend per round including extras lands around 4.5m–9m VND, roughly $180–$360. Cheaper entry points exist too: twilight golf at Montgomerie Links from VND 750,000 (~$30), or a Laguna stay-and-play at $140 per person including a round, a night, and airport shuttle.
The strongest differentiator for Vietnam golf holidays is timing. Central Vietnam runs on an inverted calendar. Dry season runs roughly February through August. October and November bring the Northeast Monsoon and sharply reduced playability, with October historically the wettest month.
That’s exactly when Dubai and Thailand are at their best, which makes Vietnam more of a shoulder-season answer than a head-to-head competitor for the same weeks. If you’re building a multi-stop trip that also includes the Maybank Championship in nearby Malaysia, the timing works in your favor for exactly this reason.
Momentum is real. Ba Na Hills marks its tenth anniversary in 2026 with five consecutive World Golf Awards for Asia’s Best Golf Course, and runs night golf under floodlights every Wednesday and Friday.
Da Nang recorded 7.74 million overnight visitors in the first five months of 2026, up 20.9% year on year, with international arrivals up 23.6%, numbers that track closely with the broader rise in Vietnam golf holidays bookings across the region.
Planning a golf trip to the Middle East or Asia
A few practical basics before booking a multi-country trip:
- Thailand’s Digital Arrival Card has been mandatory for all foreign nationals since 1 May 2025, filed no more than 72 hours before arrival, regardless of visa status.
- Vietnam requires a digital arrival card at Tan Son Nhat since 15 April 2026, plus a strict six-month passport validity rule from 1 March 2026. E-visas now run up to 90 days, single or multiple entry.
- Thailand’s visa-free duration has been in flux: a 60-day exemption still applied as of mid-2026, with a revision to 30 days for most countries pending official publication. Check current rules before booking.
- If your trip continues past this region, golf holidays further afield in Australia or Portugal, follow different visa and season logic entirely.
- If Dubai, Thailand, and Vietnam feel like too much ground for one trip, planning a broader golf trip across fewer destinations is often the more relaxed itinerary.
Staying connected in Dubai, Thailand & Vietnam
Three countries, three networks, and in Dubai’s case, a genuine connectivity quirk worth knowing before you land. WhatsApp voice and video calling remains blocked across all seven emirates under UAE telecom policy as of mid-2026, since WhatsApp has never obtained a local VoIP license.
Messaging works fine. Calls don’t. Hotel WiFi follows the same filtering, though Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet generally work as expected. Worth being honest here: roaming or a foreign eSIM isn’t a reliable workaround for the calling block, since the restriction often applies to roaming connections too, not just local ones.
What data gets used for in Dubai is course logistics, not calls:
- Tee-time booking through Dubai Golf’s Viya app.
- Taxi apps.
- GPS rangefinders.
- Course navigation.
All of this works fine over data, regardless of the VoIP restriction.
In Thailand and Vietnam, the calculation is different. Airport tourist SIMs in Thailand run about ฿300–450 (~$8–$13) for 8–15 days, and travel eSIMs elsewhere in the region run roughly $5–20 for 5–20GB.
For anyone combining Thailand and Vietnam on one trip, a single regional eSIM is the real argument over juggling two local SIM cards at two different airports. Caddie tips are cash in both countries, worth remembering since it’s one thing an eSIM won’t solve.
For staying connected during your golf package in Dubai or Thailand without the airport-counter routine, Yesim covers each of these countries individually or as part of a broader regional plan.
The bottom line
Dubai, Thailand, and Vietnam solve different problems for a golf trip. Dubai buys prestige courses and near-guaranteed weather, at a price that’s climbed fast enough to notice: green fees up roughly 76% combined over 2024 and 2025 alone.
Thailand buys volume and value, with more bookable courses than anywhere else in the region and pricing that’s published and predictable, often under $150 a round even at well-known clubs. Vietnam buys momentum and an inverted calendar that fills the exact weeks when the other two are at their most expensive and crowded.
Vika Laki
Yesim Team