64 DUBAI HILLS very strong individual identity. At Dubai Hills, the foundation for this is the routing. Johnston explains: “The fact that much of the golf course would be described as a corridor-style layout and changed direction frequently provided us the opportunity to make the golf hole you are currently playing the sole focal point and create that big reveal as you move from hole to hole.” Those corridors were created on what was originally a relatively bland site. “It was gently rolling desert and had previously been home to a camel stable,” says Johnston. “Most of the golf course had to be lowered to generate material for the residential component of the development so virtually all of the landforms and landscape features that can be seen now have been created.” This lowering of the golf course means that most holes play in valleys beneath the level of the surrounding housing, in relative isolation from each other. Upon that foundation, the real success of the course is its thoughtfully-designed holes and the constant change of pace that delivers interest throughout. The round gets off to a quick start, with the opening seven holes including a par three, two mid-length and three short par fours, and a reachable par five, the fifth. The latter’s ‘wow’ moment is a dramatic reveal of the Dubai skyline, and the hole is oriented so that the Burj Khalifa provides the ideal aim line. At 485 yards from the back tees it is, even playing slightly uphill, very reachable in two, but only if you successfully negotiate the central bunker with your tee shot. The fifth might be Dubai Hills’ poster child, but from a golfing perspective, the two holes that follow are equally impressive. “I’m a big fan of short par fours and was pleasantly surprised with how the sixth hole turned out,” says Johnston. “At 330 yards from the back tee and with a helping slope on the right, I would imagine there will be plenty of golfers who try to drive the green, but the bunkers and slopes on and around the green will still make it interesting.” Construction work at Dubai Hills Golf Club was overseen by Desert Group, the company led by Michael Mascarenhas that was also responsible for construction of the nearby Jumeirah Golf Estates, whose Earth course hosts the finale of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai. “Dubai Hills was completed in three phases,” explains Rory Hutchison, projects director at Desert Group. “We started work on the lakes and the holes around them – the eighth, ninth, seventeenth and eighteenth – in 2014. The second phase, the remaining fourteen holes, were all seeded by October 2017 and in spring 2018 we began work on the practice facilities.” A relatively short grassing window, due to the seasonal availability of treated wastewater, required strict timetabling for the project to be completed on schedule. “The whole process went very smoothly, although it was not without its challenges,” explains Hutchison. “We had an ongoing battle with Dubai’s desert winds and sandstorms undoing our shaping work. And during the landscaping process, we would often turn up in a morning to find that plants had been eaten by gazelles that roam wild in the area! “We had great support from Emaar and an excellent working relationship with Gary Johnston and Jeremy Slessor at European Golf Design, and the team at Rain Bird, who supplied the irrigation system. We’re extremely proud of the project and the quality of the final product.” Desert storms and greedy gazelles Rory Hutchison of Desert Group provides an insight into the challenges of construction
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=