Trump World Golf Club Dubai Progressing As New Year Begins
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2018-01-10
(Photo/TGR Design)
As the New Year begins, Trump World Golf Club Dubai, a TGR Design golf course, is progressing well. Rough shaping is underway on about half of the front nine holes, while much of the back nine is grassed, with landscaping continuing to be introduced along the edges. The rest of the course is scheduled to be grassed during the coming spring and summer.
Tiger Woods was taken with the property when he first saw it. The exposed sand reminded him of the sand belt courses in Melbourne that he has always enjoyed, because of the options in play and strategy central to them.
Woods has long appreciated the shot values that are part of firm, running turf. He saw that he could design a course where the ground as well as the air game was important. The windblown sand on the property provided a basis for Woods to exercise his imagination and create undulations and movement that would force the player to take into consideration what the ball would do when it hits the ground.
The green surround on the par-4, 446-yard 10th hole illustrates what Woods is creating at Trump World Golf Club Dubai. There are multiple ways to get into the green, which has but one bunker protecting the left side. A player can land the ball short of the green, and with the correct flight and spin can get to a back left pin placement. The golfer who prefers to fly his approach to the back of the green when the hole is cut there can do so. The options make the approach interesting by challenging and focusing the mind. For approach shots that miss the green, the tightly mowed surround allow everything from a putter to a lob wedge for recovery shots.
DAMAC Properties, a leading luxury property developer in the UAE, owns and is building the course. The Trump Organization, which owns and/or manages 18 courses, including the iconic Trump National Doral in Miami, Trump International in West Palm Beach, and Trump Turnberry in Scotland is managing the project.
“I’m thrilled with the progress being made on the Trump World Golf Club Dubai,” Woods said. “We’re fortunate to be working with exceptional individuals in The Trump Organization and DAMAC Properties. I’m enjoying working with The Trump Organization, which is first-class. Its people know golf and have demonstrated this across each of the Organization’s courses and clubs. We’re all working together to produce something spectacular and memorable. I look forward to our continuing efforts as the course takes shape.”
“We have an outstanding team working on this project,” said Bryon Bell, President of TGR Design. “Tiger’s vision, which comes from his experiences playing golf around the world and studying what makes a course stand out, combined with the expertise of The Trump Organization and the commitment of DAMAC Properties, ensures that this will be a world-class golf course and residential community.”
The course will play from about 6,000 to just shy of 7,400 yards and will be part of a luxury real estate community being developed, Akoya Oxygen. Water comes into play on ten holes, and often in a way that invites a player to either take on a risk by carrying it to get a better angle to a green, or safely away from it. The principle of strategy—and fun– that are important to Woods are thereby expressed in this way as well as in the contours of the ground.
While Woods expects to compete in 2018 and is excited about his playing prospects, he continues to find a deep satisfaction in designing courses and being involved from start to finish. He intends Trump World Golf Club Dubai, along with other courses he has designed and will design, to be part of his lasting contribution to a game that has given him so much.