15 “The closing three holes are spectacular. They play around a large lake that features a peninsula, where we have retained mango trees. Also, because of the peninsula, it will mean that the extent of the lake is only revealed as you play the holes around it. This means you won’t see the lake alongside the par-four eighteenth until you walk off the par-three seventeenth green and stand on the final tee. It is certainly impressive and memorable.” Haggar says that alongside some links-like shaping, revetted bunkers were the obvious choice. “Bunkers are revetted in a traditional style using EcoBunker, with turf rolled down over the edge,” he said. “We also used EcoBunker to create a revetted edge to certain sections of the waste areas adjacent to the fairways, which provides another nice feature of the course, and which complements the bunkering.” When selecting turfgrass for the Rumanza course, sustainability and performance were primary considerations. The conditions called for a durable warm season turfgrass able to thrive in extreme temperatures and conducive to the pure sand base. To meet these demands, the architect team at Faldo Design specified a turfgrass with which they were familiar from previous projects, Platinum TE paspalum, supplied by Atlas Turf International. Rumanza features Platinum TE throughout the course from tee to green. As a versatile cultivar, Platinum TE is adaptable to various heights of cut and can be mowed as low as 2.03 millimetres for tight and fast greens or grown to higher heights for fairways and rough. “Rumanza has successfully opened to the public with rave reviews from the Pakistani golfers for the overall facility – including the Platinum paspalum,” said general manager Sam Clayton. “The highest praise came from Sir Nick Faldo, Graeme McDowell, Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Charley Hull on their recent visit. “The Platinum paspalum has endured six months of 45-50C heat from May to October, followed by three months of freezing overnight temperatures with heavy, frequent frosts and fogs from December through February. With the extreme weather conditions, the praise is a testament to the durability of the Platinum paspalum and assurance that the turf selection was the right choice.” Grassing Pakistan’s first signature course TEE BOX Faldo Design created an inland links style layout, with greens that have significant movement and are defended by revetted bunkers Photo: Rumanza Golf Club
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