"The 678-yard hole is a genuine three-shot par 5 for almost everyone, so plan club selection accordingly. Desert heat makes early tee times the better play outside winter months."

When Peter Harradine's layout opened in 2007 it was the first grass golf course in Al Ain, the UAE's garden city, and it began life unusually: nine holes threaded inside the equestrian centre's horse racing track. By 2010 it had grown into a full 18-hole championship course, and the front nine was rebuilt and reopened in late 2016. Today it plays as a par 70 of 6,764 yards through palm-lined fairways, with water touching a dozen holes and the desert pressing in at the edges. Its calling card is the 10th, at 678 yards the longest hole in the UAE, and its floodlit back nine, which lets golf carry on into the cool of the evening — a real gift in a place where summer days top 40°C.

Golfers visiting Abu Dhabi or Dubai who want something different from the coastal resort courses — an inland oasis-city round, with the novelty of night golf under floodlights in the desert.

The 10th is the headline: 678 yards, the UAE's longest hole, demanding a drive down the left away from fairway bunkers and then a nervy approach over water guarding the front-right of the green.

Water on 12 holes sounds scary, but forward tees shorten the course considerably, and the floodlit nine-hole par-3 Academy Course next door is a genuinely gentle place to learn before tackling the big course.

The club is part of an integrated sports complex with Olympic-standard equestrian and shooting facilities, about 10km from Al Ain airport and within sight of Jebel Hafeet.

The 678-yard 10th is a fun simulator test in its own right, and the flat, water-lined desert-parkland layout translates cleanly to the screen.

Open to visitors with booked tee times; October to April is prime season, while summer brings reduced rates and evening play on the floodlit holes.