Al Mouj Golf
GREG NORMAN (2012) • PAR 72 • YARDS 7,300 • TOTAL SCORE 65.00
EDDIE PEPPERELL calls it the “best course I’ve played in the Middle East”. The popular Englishman’s compatriot Chris Wood has been bowled over by the European Tour venue too. “It’s a bit of a mix between a links and a desert course. The design is really good and there are so many players saying the same things. It’s in perfect condition and the practice facilities are awesome.”
We can only concur with the highprofile assessment of Greg Norman’s Muscat gem which continues its giddy rise up the rankings. Just a 70-minute flight from Dubai, the 7342-yard, 18-hole championship course is Oman’s first links, a rugged, windswept brute of a layout which is as strategically challenging as it is beautiful. The outward nine features a pair of particularly memorable par 3s, the first to a partial island green, while any par on the 9th with its intimidating over-water tee shot and approach to a green guarded by the Gulf of Oman is to be celebrated.
The excitement level – and shot-making examination – ratchet up on the homeward nine, particularly at the par-3 11th hole which plays directly out to sea, and at the 12th and 13th holes, a par-5 and par-3 combo that play adjacent to the coast and require as much to clever course management as they do pure ball striking. Then there’s the 18th, as picturesque – and daunting – a closing hole as you’ll anywhere in the region, a hole where every shot risks ending up wet.
Hugging a pristine two-kilometre stretch of Indian Ocean coastline and with the stunning Hajjar mountain range as it’s inshore backdrop, you’ll travel a long way to find a finer stay and play. There’s even a floodlit par-3 9-holer to get you in the mood. But don’t take our word for it. Listen to Pepperell, not a player prone to hyperbole. “It’s a must-play if you are ever in Oman.”