Shura Links, a Curley-Wagner Design course on an island off the west coast of Saudi Arabia, has opened for play.
The golf course is the centrepiece of Red Sea Global’s luxury resort development that is a 30-minute drive from Red Sea International Airport. The development will include 11 luxury hotels, including Four Seasons, Raffles, Rosewood and Jumeirah, all of which will open in October 2025.
Construction and landscaping work, led by Red Sea Global’s Richard Haas, began in 2024.
The course’s design prioritises both playability and strategic challenge, featuring wide fairways, fast and rolling conditions, and large, contoured greens with backstops, bowls, feeder slopes and runoffs. Its championship tee is 7,400 yards, although Shura Links has the capacity to extend beyond 7,700 yards for professional competitions. Curley-Wagner has also incorporated native mangroves and white dunes into the design.
The eighteenth green with the clubhouse, designed by Foster + Partners, in the background (Photo: Kevin Murray)
“Shura Links offers 18 unique and visually stunning holes in a beautiful island environment that will redefine golf in the region,” said architect Brian Curley. “Our goal was to create a course that is both strategic and forgiving, where golfers can enjoy the ground game, and be inspired by the seaside setting.”
Curley noted the course’s emphasis on creativity over punishment: “Too many desert courses penalise golfers with lost balls in thick vegetation of non-turf areas. Here, the course is framed by brilliant white sand and open expanses punctuated with bursts of natural dune vegetation that inspire creativity while keeping the game moving.”
The course’s bunkers are intentionally bold and visually striking, with some hard-packed for easy recovery and others featuring irregular edges. Signature holes include the dune-framed par threes – six and fifteen – which both play directly toward the Red Sea, as well as the par-four sixteenth.
The third hole at Shura Links (Photo: Kevin Murray)
Shura Links’ 70 acres of irrigated turf is made up of Platinum TE paspalum, a drought- and salt-tolerant grass supplied by Atlas Turf Arabia. A Toro irrigation system has also been installed. Landscaping integrates desert flora, palms and flowering trees across the white sand expanses.
The Red Sea provides the backdrop for several holes, including the fifth (Photo: Kevin Murray)
“Shura Links sets a new benchmark for the game of golf in the region,” said John Pagano, group CEO of Red Sea Global. “It’s more than just a course – it’s a place to connect, challenge yourself and experience the full beauty of the Red Sea. This is another proud milestone in our mission to reshape global tourism through sustainability and design, and a significant step in building Red Sea Global’s diverse sports portfolio, aligning perfectly with Vision 2030’s goal of establishing Saudi Arabia as a premier global sporting destination.”