The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship is seen by many as the season's genuine curtain raiser. While some have been hard at work for weeks, this is where the game's major players often make their first appearance of the year, and it was no different in 2012.

As you might expect from a tropical country situated in a desert, it can push 50 degrees in the summer, but from October to May, with hardly a drop of rain, there are few finer spots to play. Read on for our look at the best courses and hotels on offer.

Courses

Abu Dhabi Golf Club, from £100

Home to the deadly National Course, one of the best courses on the planet and venue for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Abu Dhabi GC is only ten minutes from the airport, so even if you are only on an extended transfer between flights, a testing, exhilarating round could await.

Lined with trees and water hazards, and perfectly manicured, Peter Harradine's The National is a brilliant parkland course and the Falcon club house is similarly in keeping, with three floors of restaurants, a piano bar and conference facilities.

If the arduous par 4s don't tire you out, or the refreshments at the bar tempt you in, there is also tennis, squash, a swimming pool and spa, to go with excellent practice facilities.

Abu Dhabi Airport Golf Club, from £20

If you questioned whether they took golf seriously in the Emirates, then consider what other airports around the world have their own course. Also known as the Al Ghazal Golf Club, it is far from a glorified pitch and putt.

Al Ghazal is a truly incredible test for the overseas golfer. There are no fairways or greens. Iron shots are played from a portable Astroturf mat that each player carries with them and putts are made on 'browns', rolled and swept areas made from sand and oil, to surprisingly true effect.

All transit passengers are given transit visas and transport from the terminal to the course free of charge, so anyone stopping off in Abu Dhabi has no excuse. But even if you aren't waiting for a connection, the chance to play sand golf should not be missed.

Yas Links, from £150

The Airport course proves that Abu Dhabi golf isn't just perfect parkland, but in many ways Yas Links is even more remarkable. As its name suggests, it's a traditional-style links, the first of its kind in the Middle East.
Golf Course Architecture magazine called this the best course in the region and it's not hard to see why. Architect Kyle Phillips not only designed the beautifully undulating track, but the coastline itself, meaning the course blends with the Arabian Gulf perfectly harmoniously.

Home to more than 100 bunkers and with nine seafront greens this long, testing course will ask players to play shots more commonly seen on the coastline of the British Isles, but rather than enduring squalls and gales, players will do so in beautiful sunshine.

Hotels

Like another great desert City, Las Vegas, accommodation in Abu Dhabi tends toward the up-market, large-scale variety. With so much of the Emirate's tourism infrastructure being developed recently, hotels are new, glass and steel designs. While that doesn't mean that you get a boutique feel, they are modern, clean and spacious as a rule. And they don't have to be too pricey.

Cristal Hotel Abu Dhabi, from £50

Situated in the heart of Abu Dhabi's city centre, you get a true Abu Dhabi experience from this hotel. The rooms are modern, perfectly clean and very spacious and can offer brilliant views of the burgeoning city. What stands out, however, is the customer service, excellent food and value for money.

Beach Rotana, from £200

With its own access to the Abu Dhabi Mall, its own waterfront with views of the constantly-growing city, a huge range of rooms and suites are available. All are modern and spotlessly clean. The hotel also boasts ten restaurants and cafes and an outdoor pool with swim-up bar. With around 450 rooms at this huge 5 star venue you might assume one risk is a lack of attention to detail and to the individual guests, but the quality of customer care is fantastic.

Fairmont Bab al Bahr, from £175

Another glass and steel hotel but, again, where the Fairmont stands out is in customer service. Service is second to none at the beachfront business hotel and, as you would expect, the rooms are big, beautiful and spotless. The hotel complex is fantastic, with excellent food and plenty of options for soaking up the Middle Eastern sun. Look into the deals the hotel offers, like the Gold Rooms upgrade or membership of the Fairmont President's Club, for some extra special added extras.

There are plenty of other options, from more modest venues to the incredible Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort, set in the rolling dunes of the Liwa Desert.

Travel

With an increasing number of long-distance flights between Europe and the Far East and Australasia routing through the Middle East, getting to Abu Dhabi is easy and relatively inexpensive.

Direct flights depart from London Heathrow and Manchester and start at around the £550 mark with Etihad or a very reasonable £400 with British Airways from the capital. That value is hard to beat, but if you don't mind a stopover in Amsterdam, KLM offer from £350.

Once there, Europcar provide a Toyota Corolla from around £150 a week.