Having established itself firmly on the world golfing map through high-profile tournaments, sponsorship on the European Tour, and quality of its golf courses, 2010 is turning out to be a year of consolidation.

For the average golfer, the recession brought good news. Almost every golf course reduced its green fees and introduced new packages to attract more players. With the Dubai courses charging some of the highest green fees in the world – of course, the services and range of facilities offered were top of the range too – it was a correction waiting to happen.

Despite the gloom surrounding the real estate market, and the problem faced by its parent company, Leisurecorp and Jumeirah Golf Estates put up a great show during the inaugural Dubai World Championship in November 2009. Starting from the condition of the golf course, to the overall experience of the participating players, media and the fans, it was a debut that will be remembered for long.

Last year also witnessed the inaugural Race to Dubai, the year-long qualification programme on the European Tour which determined the Dubai World Championship field and the Bonus Pool winners. The comprehensive sponsorship ensured Dubai’s presence in all countries which are influenced by the European Tour.

The two courses at Jumeirah Golf Estates (Fire and Earth, both designed by Greg Norman) are brilliant new additions to the Dubai landscape. The eyes of the golfing world were on Earth during the Dubai World Championship. Fire, a bit of an unknown quantity, is a stunning golf course not only for its design, but also because of the flora used for landscaping.

The Montgomerie Dubai still rates highly on the ‘must play’ list and also becoming popular with the local golfer is the Ernie Els-designed The Els Club at Dubai Sports City. With its wide fairways, challenging green complexes and immaculate maintenance, The Els Club is a pleasure to play. It also hosts the Butch Harmon School of Golf, which is easily one of the most technologically advanced academies in the world.

Dubai Golf, owners of Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, have invested in renovating the iconic clubhouse at Emirates, and have also installed floodlights to facilitate night golf at The Faldo course.

The Dubai Desert Classic, the European Tour event now in its 21st year, may have missed its star attractions in 2010 – world No1 Tiger Woods and Dubai regular Ernie Els – but it did get a new title sponsor in Swiss watchmakers Omega.

As for new courses, the pace of development has slowed down considerably.

The most eagerly anticipated of all new courses was Al Ruwaya, the first design project of Tiger Woods. Contrary to the rumours, the project has not been shelved after the troubles faced by owners Tatweer or Woods. It has now been indefinitely delayed after originally scheduled to launch towards the end of 2009.

Work continues at Dubai Golf City – an ambitious residential community spread around five golf courses. Architects Thompson, Perrett and Lobb are constructing one of the courses where work continues. But Jumeirah Golf Estates are not going ahead with their other two courses – the Vijay Singh-designed Water and the Wind, which was to bring together Norman, Sergio Garcia and the incomparable Pete Dye.

The silver lining of the downturn is that most golf clubs have streamlined their operations and restructured their costs. That puts them in a great place to maximize profits as the overall economic situation starts improving slowly.