Courses in Saudi Arabia, Royal Greens Golf & Country Club golf course
Ranked · 6 courses · updated 2026

The Best Golf Courses in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has gone from oil and sand browns to the host nation of professional tournament golf in barely a decade. The headline act is Royal Greens on the Red Sea, but Riyadh and the Eastern Province hold the working courses where the game took root. Here are the six we rate most highly, ranked.

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By the GolfForKings editorial desk · How we rank · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, via Google

How we chose them

Golf in Saudi Arabia is young as a visitor proposition but no longer thin. The story begins in the Eastern Province, where Aramco expats laid out sand and oil browns near Dhahran in the 1940s, and it arrives at Royal Greens, the European Golf Design course at King Abdullah Economic City that brought the first professional men's and women's events the kingdom had ever staged. That course is the clear number one, and the reason most travelling golfers come.

Beyond it, the picture is one of solid grass courses rather than rivals to Royal Greens. Riyadh holds the bulk of them, from the Golf Saudi era restoration of Riyadh Golf Club to the long established Dirab and Palms, while the Eastern Province keeps the game's local roots at Dhahran. We weighed design quality, conditioning, championship pedigree and how rewarding the round is for a visitor, and we checked every designer and date we could at the time of writing. The verdicts and the order are ours. If you want a Saudi or wider Gulf trip costed and arranged, that is what our concierge does.

The ranking

01

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club

European Golf Design · King Abdullah Economic City · par 72

The best course in the kingdom by a distance and one of the finest in the Middle East, a European Golf Design layout on the Red Sea coast at King Abdullah Economic City, north of Jeddah. The par 72 championship course runs to a little over 6,900 yards through manicured fairways, wadis and lakes, with the sea as the backdrop. It hosted the country's first professional men's and women's tournaments and remains its flagship, with a clubhouse and practice facilities to match anything in the region. The one essential round on a Saudi golf trip.

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02

Riyadh Golf Club

Riyadh · restored under Golf Saudi

The capital's leading course, restored to excellent condition under Golf Saudi management and now a host venue for professional tournament golf in Riyadh. A short drive from the city centre, it offers a full grass championship test with lakes and mature planting, floodlit for cooler evening rounds in the hotter months. For business travellers and those basing a trip in the capital, it is the most convenient quality golf in the kingdom and a clear step up from the older Riyadh courses around it.

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03

Dirab Golf and Country Club

established 1994 · expanded to 18 holes 1998 · Riyadh

The first green grass golf course in Saudi Arabia, opened in 1994 and extended to a full eighteen holes in 1998, set in the hills about forty minutes south of Riyadh. A mature, well established parkland layout with rocky escarpments framing several holes, it has long been the home of the game in the capital and remains a friendly, characterful round. It is a fixture of any Riyadh golf list for its history as much as its golf, and a worthwhile pairing with Riyadh Golf Club on a city trip.

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04

Nofa Golf Resort

near Riyadh · resort parkland

A green oasis of a resort course set among the lakes and grassland of the Nofa estate west of Riyadh, where the desert gives way to irrigated parkland and a wildlife reserve. The setting is the draw, a lush, watered layout that feels a world away from the surrounding desert, attached to a resort that makes an easy overnight escape from the capital. It rounds out the Riyadh options for golfers who want a resort round and a change of scene rather than a tournament test.

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05

Palms Golf Club

established 1992 · Riyadh

One of the pioneers of Saudi golf, established in 1992 and originally developed alongside an Intercontinental hotel in Riyadh, the Palms gave the capital its first taste of resort golf. A flat, palm lined parkland course that suits a relaxed round, it carries genuine historic weight in the kingdom's golf story and remains a convenient city option. It earns its place on the list for that heritage and for keeping the game alive in Riyadh through the years before the recent boom.

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06

Rolling Hills Golf Club

Dhahran · Eastern Province

An Eastern Province course at Dhahran, the region where golf in Saudi Arabia first took root among the Aramco community, now a grass layout for the resident and visiting golfers of the oil heartland. It is a solid, unpretentious parkland test rather than a destination course, but it anchors a top list by representing the part of the country where the game has the deepest history. A natural round for anyone whose trip runs through the Eastern Province or on toward Bahrain.

Plan a Saudi golf trip

Designers and dates verified June 2026 where available. Tee times, dress codes and visitor access in Saudi Arabia should be arranged in advance; always confirm availability and green fees directly before booking. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Check tee time availability.

Play the best of Saudi Arabia

Tell us whether you want the Red Sea championship course, a Riyadh city trip or a wider Gulf tour, and roughly when. One concierge arranges the tee times, access and base and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.

Saudi Arabia golf questions

What is the best golf course in Saudi Arabia?

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club at King Abdullah Economic City is the best course in Saudi Arabia. A European Golf Design layout on the Red Sea coast, it hosted the kingdom's first professional men's and women's tournaments and remains the country's flagship championship venue.

Can tourists play golf in Saudi Arabia?

Yes. Saudi Arabia now issues tourist visas, and the leading courses, led by Royal Greens, welcome visiting golfers. Tee times and dress codes are best arranged in advance, and conditions are most comfortable from October to April. Always confirm access and fees directly before booking.

Where should I base a Saudi golf trip?

The Red Sea coast at King Abdullah Economic City and Jeddah is the choice for Royal Greens, the country's standout course. Riyadh suits a city based trip combining golf with business, with Riyadh Golf Club, Dirab and the Palms all close by. The Eastern Province around Dhahran links naturally to a wider Gulf tour.

When is the best time to play golf in Saudi Arabia?

October to April is the season, with daytime temperatures comfortable for golf and the worst of the summer heat past. Midsummer is extreme across the kingdom, so most visitors play in the cooler months, and several courses offer floodlit evening rounds in the warmer shoulder weeks.

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course designers and dates verified June 2026 where available. Last reviewed June 2026.