Doha Golf Club - Championship Course

Overview: Doha Golf Club’s Championship Course is an 18-hole, par-72 desert layout in West Bay Lagoon, designed by Peter Harradine. Its green fairways sit among pale limestone, sand, rock formations and carefully planted desert vegetation, while eight lakes add a strong water element to the otherwise arid setting. The official course profile describes a long back-tee test with two possible starting and finishing holes, a design choice that gives the club flexibility while preserving the character of the full Championship routing. Afternoon wind can change the playing picture quickly, especially across the exposed holes.

History: The Championship Course was unveiled in 1997 as part of Doha Golf Club’s 27-hole complex, which also includes a separate nine-hole academy course. Qatar’s first major international grass-golf moment followed in 1998 when the club hosted the inaugural Qatar Masters; the event has remained central to the course’s identity. The club’s history page records construction images from 1995 and describes the transformation of a barren site into a landscaped golf property. This profile refers only to the 18-hole Championship Course and keeps its scorecard separate from the academy routing.

Did You Know? The course’s desert planting includes thousands of trees and shrubs alongside 65 cacti, while the eight lakes supply contrast and strategy. That mixture is why the layout reads as an engineered desert oasis rather than as a conventional inland parkland course.