What makes the Earth Course the perfect finale? 

A premium on accuracy and a dramatic finish combine for the perfect end to the European Tour season.

The season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai takes place at Jumeriah Golf Estates this week, where a 65-man field are competing to end the year as European Number One.

The Earth course, which is one of three courses at Jumeriah Golf Estates, has staged all 12 editions of the event, and has been widely and continuously praised as a fitting venue to end the European Tour season.

Here’s what you need to know about it.

A world-class design

Designed by two-time Major winner Greg Norman, and inspired by the great parkland courses of Europe and North America, Jumeirah Golf Estates is set against a backdrop of barren desert with rolling fairways, pristine white bunkering, vast and undulating greens, and an abundance of trees, shrubs and wildlife.

“It’s is wide off the tee but you've got to be on the fairways because the greens are so sectional,” he explains. “Yet, if you're in the right section it generally will feed to a good birdie chance. But if you're not, you can three-putt very easily.

A dramatic finish

The closing stretch of holes the Earth Course at Jumeriah Golf Estates is one that has provided a plethora of dramatic and exciting moments over the year – and none more so than at the par-five 18th.

Henrik Stenson has a plaque on the fairway of the closing hole which is dedicated to the three wood he hit to tap-in distance in 2013, which helped secure the first of two Race to Dubai titles.

The previous year, Justin Rose had two putted from the back of the green to card the course record of 62, but a blistering finish that included five birdies on each of his last five holes meant that Rory McIlroy ultimately prevailed as the champion of both the DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai.

For Danny Willett’s triumph in 2018, it was an impressive tee shot to the par three 17th that secured his return to the winners’ circle for the first time in 953 days.

A premium on exceptional golf shots

When Matt Fitzpatrick first arrived at the Earth Course in 2015, his expectations were fairly low in terms of how he would perform on a course he was told suited longer hitters that could be less worried about hitting fairways.

He ended up finishing in a tie for fourth that week, and proved it was no mere fluke when he claimed the DP World Tour Championship title in 2017 – the year Jon Rahm triumphed as the winner of the Race to Dubai.

“I got told it was for bombers before I ever came here and I've sort of played really well here,” said Fitzpatrick, who now holds a share of the 54-hole lead.

According to Lee Westwood, who is the only player in the field to have played in all 12 editions of the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course, the idea that this course favours long-hitters is a popular misconception.

The Englishman, who has already triumphed in the season-ending on two occasions and sits one behind the leaders, told Tim Barter during his in-round interview that you only need to look at the previous list of winners to understand.

“I think you have to probably hit more fairways thank you think you have to hit,” he said.

“If you look at the guys who have won here in the past – Rory’s been successful, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, myself I guess, good drivers of the golf ball. People tend to think that you can come on here and blow it anywhere and it’s a bombers place but you’ve got to really get it in the fairway to get control.

“They can tuck the pins away, and as the week goes on it firms up a little bit and you just need that bit of extra control so if you drive the ball well."

For Patrick Reed and Laurie Canter, who hold a share of the 54-hole lead with Matthew Fitzpatrick, the importance of hitting quality shots is one of the key demands of playing this course well.

"You just have to make sure you're hitting some quality golf shots," said Reed.

"Hitting the ball in the middle of the face, kind of have full control, and if you're able to do that, then you're able to kind of attack. With it being softer you've got to pick your battles to attack."

"This course kind of demands some different stuff, to be honest," said Canter.

"I think the good thing about the golf course, it's going to force you to hit shots, so the brain can actually pretty quickly get into what you're doing. That's a good thing."

Impressive greens

Patrick Reed, who is vying to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai, said the benefit of exceptional greens on the Earth Course at Jumeriah Golf Estates is that you are guaranteed a winner who plays the best golf over the week.

“The greens are rolling true, rolling pure," said Reed.

"That's all you can really ask for is for good conditions and for the greens to run true because then it comes down to whoever is playing the best golf is going to win the golf tournament."

Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick was quick to echo the praise and sentiment of the greens,

“For me the greens are just always fantastic.

“I love putting on greens that are this fast. The slopes, how fast they are down grain, I much prefer putting on those, just sort of set it on its way and you know it's not going to miss basically.”

A different test in 2020

The December date has provided a course that offers a slightly different challenge to the players trying to win the 2020 DP World Tour Championship.

A month later in the schedule, the course has become a little softer, but the rough is also thicker and the fairways narrower, and wind has also played its part.

“It's a slightly different golf course we see this time around compared to mid-November, so thicker rough, narrower fairways,” said two-time champion Henrik Stenson.

“The runoffs are not what they used to be around the greens, but I think in one way that make it plays easier because the ball is going to stop closer to the pin, but just the pin positions are really tucked away in a lot of corners, and I think that will reflect on the scoring.”

To combat the slightly easier conditions for approach shots, the pins have been strategically placed in challenging locations, particularly over the first few days to demand a level of accuracy worthy of the Race to Dubai Champion.