Playing the stunning Al Hamra Course and host to this week’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship

Arriving at the clubhouse we were warmly greeted by Craeg Deery, then marketing manager of club.

Looking around the clubhouse proper, and like I seem to do on each occasions I enter ar at a new golf club for the first time, I found myself admiring photographs, golfing artifacts or club member achievements. Catching my eye was four rows of two photographs and slap in the middle was a great face shot of Tiger Woods.

As well, I thought to myself Al Hamra must also be very member-friendly as there were notices of upcoming Christmas and New Year activities. Another sign of this ‘atmosphere’ was on the practice range that is also used for rugby, football, and hurling. Hurling?  Yes, there is a strong contingent of Irish living in Ras Al Khaimah and working as teachers. We were informed by Craeg they like their golf at Al Hamra as much they love their hurling.

After a superb brunch, we made our way to the practice range for a short warm-up session and then the excitement of making our way to the first tee.

Al Hamra was designed by Peter Harradine and opened for play in 2007.

The township of Al Hamra, meaning ‘red rock’ in English, is located along the shores of the Arabian Sea, with the central feature of the course being a somewhat square-shaped tidal lagoon feature with four interconnecting lakes. The central lagoon leads directly into the Arabian Sea. It means that the water is affected by the tides, and if you needed any reminder of this, there’s the sight of oysters, yes oysters, growing on the rocks along the tidal line.

A feature of a Harradine-designed course is that it’s often characterized by a series of feature lakes and water is also key at Al Hamra coming into play, as it does on 11 holes and nowhere more obvious than down the entire right side of the 18^th.

Al Hamra boasts four tees with the course playing 7,325-yards off the Black tees while there is the usual mix of four par-5s, four par-3s, and 10 par-4s.

Harradine presents the golfer with a relatively soft introduction, with the 337-yard first hole, presenting an early birdie opportunity for accomplished players. It’s not all plain sailing as there are bunkers left and right guarding the green, while there’s water at the back of the green waiting to catch anything long.

At 543-yards, the third hole is the second-longest of the four par-5s, and as pointed out, all the trouble down the right, so the wise option is to stay left. The first of the par-3s is the 133-yard fourth hole.

You now cross a resort entrance roadway to play holes six to 17.

The par-3 seventh is a nice hole that at first presents the sight of plenty of sand, but at a closer look it’s a generous green and with Harradine, once again, presenting a par-3 that doesn’t need to be 200-yards long to present a challenge.

You’ll notice in the left distance a former defensive watchtower and I’m told one of only two remaining that were built over 100-years-ago on the sand dunes of Al Jahzira, a village renowned for fishing, pearl diving, and boat building, and with the near 12-meter-high towers watching over the community’s water wells and protected the settlement from attack in the early days of the emirate.

There are definite birdie chances at the fourth hole, and the dog-leg right fifth hole, ranked 18 and 16 respectively, before crossing the roadway to play holes six to 17.

In the distance, you can see a former defensive watchtower, one of only two remaining built over 100-years-ago on the sand dunes of Al Jahzira, a village renowned for fishing, pearl diving, and boat building, and the near 12-meter-high towers watch over the community’s water wells and protected the settlement from attack in the early days of the emirate.

Not that you’ll need any watching-over playing Al Hamra.

The 10^th is a great Harradine designed risk-and-reward hole, with water all the way down the left side, giving longer players the opportunity to find the green in two, but needing to clear the water that cuts through the fairway just shy of the putting surface. For us mere mortals, however, it’s a lay-up just shy of the water and a 9-iron or wedge into the green.

Probably, my favourite Al Hamra hole is the par-3 11th. A much-photographed hole that you play over the water, and with the dramatic backdrop of five ‘Royal Breeze’ apartment buildings overlooking the crescent-like hole. The green is guarded by a dozen palm trees, standing like sentries on the right-side and all the way around the back of the hole.

If you’ve threaded your way safely through those four holes – nine, 10, 11 and 12 – then the par-4 13^th and par-5 14^th, and ranked No. 15 and 17 respectively, present good birdie opportunities.  Dave did this with a great birdie on 14 and up-staging both Eoin and me by landing his second shot to just a few feet and inside both of us.

Make sure in crossing the small road behind the 14^th to stop at the ‘Milk Bar’ where you’re greeted by Sudda.  He’s very engaging and a great ambassador for the club.