Day 5. The Montgomerie Dubai: A Celebration Round After the Pro-Am
Address Montgomerie. Colin Montgomerie / Desmond Muirhead
The Exhale Round
After the intensity of the Pro-Am final at the Majlis, barely enough time to eat, and the awards ceremony behind us, we headed to Address Montgomerie for 18 more holes.
Yes. 36 holes in one day. In Dubai. In February.
Colin Montgomerie designed this one. a links-parkland blend carved through Emirates Hills, with the Dubai skyline providing the backdrop and an Address Hotel on property complete with pool, spa, and Monty’s restaurant.
After the intensity of the Pro-Am, Montgomerie was the exhale. A celebration round. The pressure was off, the tournament was done, and we were just playing golf because we love golf.
The Course: Links Meets Desert
Montgomerie is everything the Majlis isn’t. Where the Majlis tests your nerve and precision under tournament pressure, Montgomerie rewards good shots without brutally punishing mistakes. Wide fairways, generous landing areas, the kind of layout that lets you swing freely and enjoy the walk.
At 7,620 yards from the tips, it’s long, but the luxury resort vibe made it feel like a victory lap. The conditioning was superb – every fairway looked painted, greens were receptive and true. And those views: the Dubai skyline rising from the desert, visible from nearly every hole, a constant reminder of where we were.
Colin Montgomerie clearly designed this for resort players who want championship bones without championship brutality. It’s strategic without being punitive. You can play aggressively if you want, or dial it back and still score. Perfect for a group coming off four days of tournament golf.
The Celebration Mentality
Playing with the same group from the morning – guys who had just survived four rounds of Pro-Am pressure together. The vibe was completely different. No scorecards to stress about. No Stableford points to calculate. No leaderboard position to protect.
Just golf. Pure golf.
We talked more. Laughed more. Actually enjoyed the shots instead of grinding through them. I found myself taking pictures, something I rarely do during serious rounds. This was the round where we could appreciate what we’d just accomplished and where we’d done it.
The swing that had carried me through the week – commit to the fade, don’t overswing, trust the process – was still there. Still working. Even with tired legs and a tired mind, the fundamentals held up.
36 Holes: The Test
My legs had opinions by hole 14. My back joined the conversation by 16. But I finished.
36 holes in one day, after four straight days of championship golf, in a country 7 time zones from home. At the beginning of the week, I wasn’t sure my game could handle the pressure. By Thursday afternoon, I was proving my body could handle the volume.
This is what improvement looks like sometimes. Not just better scores or lower handicaps, but increased capacity. The ability to stay focused for longer, maintain swing thoughts through fatigue, keep competing when the easy choice would be to coast.
Walking off the 18th green at Montgomerie, I felt something unexpected: I could have played more. Not that I wanted to – my body was definitely done – but mentally, I was still engaged. Still competing. That’s a new feeling for me.
The Connection Factor
The thing about celebration rounds is they let you actually connect with your playing partners. During the Pro-Am, we were all focused on our own games, our own scores, our own battles. At Montgomerie, we were just four guys from different parts of the world who happened to love golf.
Golf does this. It strips away everything else – where you’re from, what you do for work, how much money you have – and reduces everything to the shared struggle of trying to get a small ball into a small hole. In that struggle, you find connection.
One of the guys was dealing with swing issues similar to ones I’d worked through earlier in the week. Another was fighting the same mental battles I’d faced at Yas Links. Different people, same game, same challenges.
That’s what I’ll remember about this round. Not the score, not the course conditions, but the conversations between holes. The shared laughs after good shots and bad ones. The reminder that golf is better when it’s shared.
What This Round Represented
If the morning at the Majlis was about proving I could compete under pressure, the afternoon at Montgomerie was about proving I could still love the game when the pressure was off.
That balance matters. Golf can’t always be about grinding and improving and chasing handicaps. Sometimes it needs to be about walking beautiful fairways with good people, hitting shots for the pure joy of hitting them well, and appreciating how fortunate we are to be able to do this at all.
The 5 by 50 challenge will resume when I get home. The serious work, the lessons, the deliberate practice. But this round reminded me why that work matters: not just to get better, but to be able to enjoy moments like this more fully.
Tomorrow is the last day. Trump International in the morning – a Gil Hanse design that should test everything I’ve learned this week. Then the grand finale: night golf at the Faldo Course under the lights.
Course Notes: Address Montgomerie Dubai
Location: Emirates Hills, Dubai, UAE
Designer: Colin Montgomerie / Desmond Muirhead
Style: Links-parkland blend. Resort golf with championship bones.
Par: 72 | Length: 7,620 yards (tips)
On-site: Address Hotel, pool, spa, Monty’s restaurant
Signature feature: Dubai skyline views from nearly every hole
Best for: Groups looking for a high-end resort experience without brutal course conditions
Conditioning: Superb. Fairways look painted, greens are true and receptive
Tip for visitors: Play it as a complement to the Majlis. If the Majlis is the exam, Montgomerie is the celebration dinner.
Book a tee time: addresshotels.com/en/hotels/address-montgomerie-dubai
This is Day 5B of the Desert Grind: 8 in 6. eight courses across Dubai and Abu Dhabi at the 2026 Skillest Pro-Am. Follow the journey.
← Previous: Day 5. Emirates Golf Club Majlis: Two Birdies on the Biggest Stage
Next up: Day 6. Trump International Dubai: Gil Hanse in the Desert →