PEARL OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Now a golfing haven, Abu Dhabi has become an oasis of every imaginable human want, settled in an island along the Persian Gulf.

- BENNY TEO

A region of exoticism with real-life Aladdinstyled sheikhs speeding along in Bentleys and Bugattis, the Middle East is a world artificially created from the heat of the desert to become a man-made oasis of a postmodern paradise.

This slick and glistening capital of the United Arab Emirates presents a fascinating mix of tradition as well, with a history tracing back to 3,000 BC. Here, you'd find such visages of the Bedouin lifestyle in The Corniche Park, the White Fort, the Heritage Village, and the Women's Craft Centre. But you'll also see a rendition of the Lourve here and of course, that opulently fabulous Ferrari World.

Golf in Abu Dhabi got its first 'Hello World' when Tiger Woods played for the first time in the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship back in 2012. It was far more than just a feather in the cap for the oil-rich emirate because Woods's last day head-to-head with eventual winner Robert Rock was just part of Abu Dhabi making an even grander statement, which is to capture a significantly bigger slice of a global golf tourism market flushed with billions of dollars of green fees and other travel revenue.

Traditionalists back then found it quite mindboggling that such desert outposts had begun to compete with the world's great golf destinations. Dubai has led the way for Gulf golf for several years now, with the Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club well established, but what Abu Dhabi has created is arguably superior.

Incredible engineering and irrigation have created the lushest fairways and greens here, with wonderful shapes to the holes and plenty of water hazards.