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THE award-winning Yas Links Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s newest golf course, has received the significant accolade of being named in the influential Golf World World Top 100 Courses rankings for 2011.
The course has entered the list at number 95 and the recognition is the latest in a string of honours for the Yas Island-based club, whose celebrated 7,414-yard, par-72 championship course was designed by leading golf course architect Kyle Phillips, and opened in 2010.
Chris White, general manager of Aldar Properties (Golf Division), developer of Yas Links, welcomed the ‘incredible’ news saying: 'To have been part of a project that saw a totally flat piece of desert transformed into a true coastal links golf course was a proud moment in itself.
'But for that course, in its very first year of operation, to leapfrog a number of more well-established and highly acclaimed courses into the Golf World Top 100 Courses rankings is nothing short of incredible.
'Yas Links has, since its opening, received many rave reviews, helping us achieve our aim of creating a ‘must-play’ venue for golfers across the world – and we now have an official, published certification to endorse that positive feedback.
'It also serves as a fantastic reflection on the thriving condition and growing influence of golf in the UAE and wider Middle East region.'
Kyle Phillips, of Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design, commented: 'Yas Links was a unique and amazing project to have been involved with, both from an architectural and build perspective. With eight holes playing on the shore’s edge and landforms shaped in a true linksland style, I was always confident we would achieve a good result.
'To be recognised as one of the world’s top 100 courses is quite an achievement for all who have been involved in making Yas Links a reality.'