Top 10 Driving Ranges in Dubai

Dubai practises at night. From May onwards, the only sensible time to hit balls is after sunset, and the city is unusually well set up for it — most serious ranges are fully floodlit and several stay open past 11 pm.

The ranking

1. 01Emirates Golf Club range — grass tees, target greens, tournament-quality balls. The benchmark.
2. 02Jumeirah Golf Estates academy — best coaching infrastructure and short-game area in the city.
3. 03Topgolf Dubai — not serious practice, but the best place to bring people who do not play golf yet.
4. 04The Els Club / Butch Harmon School of Golf — the strongest instruction lineage in the region.
5. 05Dubai Creek range — central, floodlit, well priced and open late.
6. 06Trump International practice facility — excellent bunker and chipping complex.
7. 07Arabian Ranches range — relaxed, good value, family-friendly.
8. 08Dubai Hills academy — modern bays with launch monitor options.
9. 09Al Badia range — quiet, underused and consistently good value.
10. 10Peter Cowen Academy at Jumeirah — technical coaching for players working on real change.

Grass tees versus mats

Mats hide fat contact. If you are working on strike quality, pay for grass. If you are working on tempo, sequence or simply keeping the swing alive during summer, mats are perfectly adequate and considerably cheaper.

How to practise so it transfers

1. 01Never hit two balls in a row with the same club to the same target. Real golf never does that.
2. 02Spend the first fifteen minutes on wedges from 40, 60 and 80 metres. That is where strokes actually live.
3. 03Use alignment sticks every session. Most range 'swing problems' are aim problems.
4. 04Finish with nine 'holes' — pick a target, pick a club, one ball, score it.