Back to the Future
Arabian Ranches have wound back the clock with a greens renovation set to revitalise an old Dubai favourite
Arabian Ranches have wound back the clock with a greens renovation set to revitalise an old Dubai favourite.
Prepare to have your short game creativity and putting tested like the good old days at Arabian Ranches Golf Club. ▶ Following a near sixmonth closure to renovate all 18 green complexes and the practice putting surface, the Emaar Hospitality Group-owned and Troon International-managed course reopened Nov. 21 to enthusiastic reviews. ▶ Gone are the weakened and contaminated Tifeagle Bermuda greens, in come Platinum TE Paspalum surfaces and new greenside collars flown to Dubai in refrigerated containers all the way from Atlas Turf International in LaGrange, Georgia. Not only are the U.S. grown surfaces – think Dubai Hills and Al Zorah - already rolling more consistency across the par72 layout, much of the greens originally mapped by designer Ian Baker-Finch and slowly lost to Paspalum encroachment over the past 15 years have been restored. ➻
Among the most notable restoration, a significant portion in the front and rare left-hand side of the par-5 3rd (see p.67) promises some testy pin positions for monthly medals, club championships and the like. A huge swale on the front left of the 6th green has also reappeared, bringing the linksstyle ground game back to Arabian Ranches as Baker-Finch always intended.
Sean Kinsley, Cluster Director of Agronomy for Emaar Hospitality Group, estimates somewhere between 10 and 15 per cent of the originally mapped putting surfaces have been restored.
The Australian turf manager, who also oversees the Address Montgomerie Dubai and was a key member of the pre-opening team at Dubai Hills Golf Club, is delighted with transformation at Arabian Ranches. And he’s hopeful of even smoother things to come.
“I think members and guests coming back in to join us are going to be very impressed with what we are presenting but I want to wow them even more in times to come,” Kinsley said.
“You’ve got to be aware that turf this young doesn’t have the level of stress resistance that established turf does. So I want to make sure that 12 months from now we have outstanding putting surfaces. That warrants a more conservative approach right now.”
In layman’s terms, that means protecting the plant health to get the juvenile surfaces through their first winter and spring “to allow us to work them a little more aggressively, culturally, next year and bring them up to that full mature level.”
“The key difference here compared to Dubai Hills...when the main course was finished there, it was way in advance of the facility opening. So when we opened Dubai Hills for play, the youngest of the greens were 14-15 months old whereas here, the oldest greens are about 20 weeks.”
Kinsley anticipated the greens running between 9 to 9½ on the stimpmetre initially.
“So medium pace, not fast. I think with members and guests coming back in and some of the areas of the greens we’ve reestablished, there’s going to be some new slopes and breaks out there that maybe they haven’t played for several years, so having them running at 11 or 12 might not be exactly what they are after anyway.
“Our initial strategy is to focus on smoothness of the surface, firmness and consistency from nine to nine because the two were grassed on different dates. The speed will come in time but if you’ve got a smooth, firm surface that is rolling truly, that’s the first step. The speed will come later.”
Excavations cored out from the old greens have been used to reshape the driving range while the tees have also had a birthday.
Kinsley lauded the close collaboration with Desert Landscape, who shaped the renovation, and the regular input of Robin Evans, VP for Construction and Agronomy at Troon. He also trumpeted the drive of now-departed general manager Elliott Gray in seeing the renovation project come to fruition.
While Baker-Finch had no direct design input, he was kept in the loop with regular photo updates. “He’s very pleased to see us making the investment back into the asset.”
“We’re also very grateful for the support or Emaar Hospitality Group. The senior executive have seen the need to reinvest and that’s been very much appreciated. The patience and support of the membership and guests has also been integral in making this possible. I’m sure when they come back in, they are going to be impressed with the uniformity that they can now see.”
“I want to wow members and guests even more in times to come.”