Royal Greens

Saudia Arabia is making a concerted effort to get into golf as a country and to become established as a golf destination. Royal Greens is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. It impressed our panel with its strategic design, consistent interest and emphasis on course management. So, off the tee you have to think about club selection and where you want the ball to go. Approach shots into greens also have to be thought through as a miss on the wrong side can cost you dearly. The greens have movement, which the panel love. It's the sort of course where you would walk away from it and in 30 days still remember half a dozen holes in detail; here, that would be the likes of the 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th. It's often windy here and that makes it challenging, significantly so if the greens are running beyond 11 on the stimpmeter. As the turf in this relatively new course keeps improving, this could make a run into our Middle East top 10.