Emirates GC, Dubai

[Thomas Dai]

Well it's Desert Classic time and the green oasis that is the Emirates GC Dubai is on TV again. And very nice too.

Green oasis though? All that lovely green everywhere. The trees and the foliage. How quickly things change for this is how it used to look.

The first photo is mine, taken just after opening in 1988, the others I've gathered off the web.


Early days of construction -



A couple of years after opening - would have been after the holding of the first Desert Classic, won by Mark James in a playoff against Peter O'Malley


These days -


I believe that Rod Bogg, the GM of the course when it first opened, has written a book about it's early days and subsequent history of golf in Dubai. If anyone knows how to obtain a copy perhaps they'd let me know as my web searching has proved fruitless.

atb

[Adam Lawrence]

I've got a copy of 'The Desert Miracle'. It's obtainable from Books Arabia - see http://www.booksarabia.com/desert-miracle.html

I should say that if you're looking for a detailed description of the design of the Emirates club courses you'll be disappointed - there's only a couple of pages on that subject. Lots more about the people behind the project, the tournament, and other interesting things about the growth of golf in Dubai.

[Thomas Dai]

Adam,

Many thanks for the information. I shall persue matters further.

Terrific transformation over the years.

For example, the first year the Desert Classic was held the field wasn't full and several low hcp local members played. There weren't enough tour caddies to go around either so quite a few guys did double shifts and some well established players, even future Ryder Cuppers were carrying their own 'Sunday' bags or pulling a trolley or had a member on the bag. By the next time the event was held however, word had got around as to what the location and the event (and the money!) were like and it's mushroomed from there.

An amazing achievement at the time and a course well worth playing, even though there have been a couple of tweaks recently to what Karl Litten and Co originally laid out back in the late '80's.

atb

[Duncan Cheslett]

Am I alone in finding the very idea of building golf courses in deserts obscene?

[Adam Lawrence]

Am I alone in finding the very idea of building golf courses in deserts obscene?

I have qualms, but I don't think it is quite that simple. If they were using potable water to irrigate, which I am sure used to be the case, but very rarely is nowadays, then that would be pretty horrendous in my eyes. But if people want to live in desert environments in large numbers, then they need leisure facilities. They also produce waste water which can, after a degree of treatment, be used to irrigate golf courses. And there are plenty of other ways in which you can reduce the environmental impact - golf carts with solar panels on the roof and suchlike. Emirates has been certified by the Golf Environment Organisation for sustainability, and the GEO scheme is pretty rigorous. That kind of thing reassures me to a degree.

[Ben Lovett]

Different mowing styles

[Søren Rye]

Followed some of the coverage today on TV and heard they were using/testing a grass type that could be at least partly watered with sea water.

[Norbert P]

     That mowing pattern is a very traditional tartan plaid  . . .
 





Melvin Morrow would be so proud.

  

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Has Litten designed any courses that merit a visit? My only experience with his design is Whitmoor Country Club which is very tricked up and pinched between houses.

[Thomas Dai]

Norbert,

I believe the tartan plaid you have show may be that of the MacToom or Maktoum Clan

Ryan,

In Dubai KL also did the Creek course plus these others from what the web says - http://www.worldgolf.com/golf-architects/karl-litten.html As to how good they are, pass, but the Creek is pretty nice.

Brain,

A bit OT, but I believe I recall being told that the Clubhouse was designed by the chap who eventually became Thomas Bjorns father-in-law. And the restaurante? Distinctly scrummy.

atb

[Jaeger Kovich]

Are GC Emirates and Yas Links currently the two best in the country?

[Søren Rye]

Are GC Emirates and Yas Links currently the two best in the country?

Yas Links is in Abu Dhabi, I believe.

[Søren Rye]

Different emirate but same country, technically speaking

That is, technically, correct.

[Thomas Dai]

Union of 7 separate emirates - Abu Dhabi (the biggest), Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain - each with its own ruler but bound together as a federation.......

Ras al-Khaimah (and maybe Sharjah) as well as Abu Dhabi and Dubai has a grass course. Not sure about the others.

atb

[Peter Ferlicca]

That has got to be the most ridiculous and time consuming mowing pattern I have ever seen.   They must be using three different mowers to be doing it like that.   I had to study for quite a while.  It must be a fairway unit doing the widest lines, a triplex doing the medium size lines, and a walk tee mower doing the very thin lines.   To see that being done in action has to be fun to watch. 

[Anthony_Nysse]

That has got to be the most ridiculous and time consuming mowing pattern I have ever seen.   They must be using three different mowers to be doing it like that.   I had to study for quite a while.  It must be a fairway unit doing the widest lines, a triplex doing the medium size lines, and a walk tee mower doing the very thin lines.   To see that being done in action has to be fun to watch. 

Their Supt tweeted how they mow it:

"2 triplex side by side for wide stripe then behind each other on return. Walk mow up every 2nd wide. 2 directions"

I'm still confused

[Jon Wiggett]

That has got to be the most ridiculous and time consuming mowing pattern I have ever seen.   They must be using three different mowers to be doing it like that.   I had to study for quite a while.  It must be a fairway unit doing the widest lines, a triplex doing the medium size lines, and a walk tee mower doing the very thin lines.   To see that being done in action has to be fun to watch. 

Their Supt tweeted how they mow it:

"2 triplex side by side for wide stripe then behind each other on return. Walk mow up every 2nd wide. 2 directions"

I'm still confused

Ryan,

your spot on. Just imaging trying to remember where in the mowing pattern you had got to. Maybe they should have just planted two different types of grass very precisely.

Jon

[Tom Kelly]

Early days of construction -



A couple of years after opening - would have been after the holding of the first Desert Classic, won by Mark James in a playoff against Peter O'Malley


These days -

Having been there a few times in the last few years, it is amazing to see the vast expanse of desert just a few decades ago compared to the city these days. An engineering marvel for better or worse.

[Thomas Dai]

Having been there a few times in the last few years, it is amazing to see the vast expanse of desert just a few decades ago compared to the city these days. An engineering marvel for better or worse.

When the earlier photos posted above were taken the population was about 400,000. Now it's about 2m.

atb