Royal Golf Club - Montgomerie

Overview: The Montgomerie Course at Royal Golf Club is an 18-hole, par-72 championship layout in Riffa, Bahrain. Its setting is unmistakably desert, but the playing corridors are shaped by irrigated turf, water features, sand and the broad contours of the Riffa Views development. The current published distance is 7,102 yards. Colin Montgomerie’s design asks players to read the contrast between generous landing areas and more exacting approaches, especially where lakes or deep bunkers defend the greens. The back nine is floodlit, allowing the course to be played in a different light from the bright daytime conditions that define Bahrain.

History: The Royal Golf Club opened the Montgomerie Course in late 2008 as part of the Riffa Views development, with European Golf Design involved alongside Colin Montgomerie. The course quickly became an international tournament venue: it hosted the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions in January 2011 and later stages of the Bahrain Championship, including the 2025 edition. The club also maintains the separate nine-hole, par-27 Wee Monty course, so the 2008 date and the 7,102-yard specification in this profile refer only to the full Montgomerie routing.

Did You Know? The course’s desert water story is unusually visible. The back nine of the Montgomerie is floodlit, while the separate Wee Monty is lit across all nine holes, making night golf part of the Royal Golf Club’s design vocabulary rather than an afterthought.