The UAE has long been a favourite staging post for golf events, with the DP World Tour leading the way thanks to its flagship Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Hero Dubai Desert Classic and season-ending DP World Tour Championship. 

We also just witnessed the male and female amateurs stake a claim for the future at the World Amateur Team Championships in the UAE capital.

Of course, we know there will be company aplenty in 2024 as the Ras Al Khaimah Championship returns at Al Hamra Golf Club in January alongside the new Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek Resort.

As if that wasn’t enough to sate the golf-hungry fans in the UAE, we have another new arrival as the embryonic LIV Golf League takes another step on its journey. 

Following the drama at the LIV Golf Individual Championship showdown at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Jeddah, where Talor Gooch and Brooks Koepka took the plaudits, and then the Team Championship finale at Trump Doral’s Blue Monster in Miami, where Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers stole the show, there is still some unfinished business. 

Brooks picked up around $8 million for claiming the title at Royal Greens — and finishing third in the season-long Individual Championship points race behind Gooch ($18 million bonus for his stellar efforts on Sunday) and Aussie superstar Cameron Smith.

However, Koepka Jnr — younger brother and fellow Smash teammate Chase — has a more uncertain future as he was relegated as one of the bottom four in the season-long LIV standings. He finished last in the field in Jeddah and accrued only one point all season. He is now relegated out of the league along with Jed Morgan, James Piot and Sihwan Kim. The younger Koepka posted just one top-25 finish in 13 starts this season.

There is still a way back for that quartet as they will now head to the Promotions event in Abu Dhabi, where they will take on the best from the Asian Tour and beyond, with three spots up for grabs at the National Course.

The International Series winner — which looks like Andy Ogletree as we stand — earns an automatic spot, while a huge field will fight for the three remaining spots. Players from the Asian Tour will be joined by the top 200 eligible in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), and the top 20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the amateur champions from the United States, Great Britain, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. All are expected to line up in Abu Dhabi. In addition, players ranked sixth through 32nd on the International Series Order of Merit will compete for the three-round, winner-takes-all event from December 8-10.

After the first round, there will be a mammoth cut so that only the top 20 and ties will play on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. They will be joined by the four LIV Golf bottom guys — Koepka, Morgan, Piot and Kim.

The final round will be played over 36 holes and cut to the top 16 players. While Ogletree looks like a shoo-in, everything else is up for grabs.

Before all that, of course, we have a lot to be settled elsewhere.

The Ladies European Tour Race to Costa del Sol will be settled in the Spanish sun following the Aramco Team Series finale in Saudi Arabia, the Asian Tour hopefuls will also decide their Order of Merit and the opportunity to join the high-rolling LIV Golf League and, of course, the DP World Tour comes into Dubai for their final event at Jumeirah Golf Estates. 

The DP World Tour Championship serves as a bit of a doubleheader as Jon Rahm looks to defend his crown and go for a record fourth individual title, while Rory McIlroy will take aim at a fifth season-long coveted Race to Dubai gong. 

With Rahm and Rory meeting up with their winning fellow Team Europe Ryder Cup teammates, including Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Bob MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick following their now-famous victory at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club on the outskirts of Rome, there will certainly be a party feel around the Earth Course throughout the weekend of November 16-19, as the latest band of ‘brothers’ reunite in the UAE. 

Following on from his ‘bromance’ with Francesco Molinari in Paris the last time Europe claimed the trophy, Fleetwood was again the hero as it was up to him to nail the crucial putt that ensured Europe got their hands back on the beautiful little gold prize.

The US headed home having been handed a 16.5-11.5 hiding, but they are already plotting revenge when the visitors come to Bethpage Black in New York in 2025. 

This month, however, it will be all eyes on the UAE. 

With Europe captain Luke Donald sure to be on show proudly hoisting the Ryder Cup at Jumeirah Golf Estates, there will be many more memories to be made over the gruelling 72 holes of the Earth Course, etching another chapter in the UAE’s proud golfing history. 

For a few more weeks, this will be Europe’s home from home.

Main image: Matt Hazey