Al Mouj Golf Course

Overview: Al Mouj Golf is an 18-hole links-style course along roughly two kilometres of Oman's coastline in Muscat. The Indian Ocean runs beside the playing corridors while the Hajar Mountains form the inland horizon, and the design uses natural dunes, water hazards and a coastal creek to vary the round. Greg Norman and his design team kept the holes open to the surrounding landscape, but the course still asks for careful positioning, particularly where wind and sandy waste areas influence the safest route.

History: Norman first visited the site in 2006 and developed the concept after studying its topography and weather. Al Mouj Golf opened in 2011 as Oman's first links-style course, becoming a central piece of the Al Mouj Muscat waterfront development. Its later role as a host venue for the Oman Open and other high-level events helped establish the course as a serious championship test as well as a resort and visitor course.

Did You Know? The official hole guide describes the seventh as the longest and toughest par five, measuring 513 yards from one of the published tees and finishing at a two-tier green protected by sentry-like bunkers. Al Mouj also reports more than 170 bird species using the course's natural habitats, ponds and creek, a reminder that its links character is built around a living coastal environment.