CHPEARS

Right now the course is in great condition. Play it if you get the chance.

My reservation was supposedly ‘fully paid’ and showed ‘nothing to pay at course’.......how wrong could that be? On my arrival the girl in the pro shop asked me for 15ued ‘for VAT’. I showed her my reservation, told her I’d played 3 times earlier that week on other Dubai courses with no VAT added but she was adamant it had to be paid.

When I arrived at the driving range there we no balls by the mats. Asking around I was told you have to pay for them. Again it was the first time that week where these were not included......50ued for 50 balls.

Make sure you either drive there or have a taxi app as booking one from there was a complete farce.

Course is good, greens are excellent, shame about the above.

Arrived early for my tee time and the pro got me out with three members who were great company. Greens were true and quick. Some damage to course from bugs and birds but preferred lies meant this wasn't a great problem. Enjoyed it so much I'm going back again in two days.

Bondhay is an excellent, challenging course that I've played about a dozen times. The problem on this occasion was 9 temporary greens. I wouldn't have minded had this been pointed out (and priced accordingly) ahead of going out, but it wasn't. This meant it was impossible to use my GPS app to gauge distances to greens. Fallen leaves are currently making balls hard to find too. Staff were out trying to clear them though. Still given 4* as usally it's very good.

Never fails to test every aspect of your golf game. Shame players ahead were too lazy to rake bunkers and repair their pitchmarks.