If any more proof was needed that you can do anything with enough money, the latest news from Dubai regarding the Tiger Woods Golf development should clinch it. The Tiger Woods Dubai, a residential golf course development at Dubailand, is now also planned to become the country’s largest nursery.
An eighty-hectare nursery with more than 30,000 trees and shrubs which will be transplanted across the development in several phases. After the Tiger Woods Dubai development has been finished, there are now plans to expand the nursery by another 20 hectares to cater to Dubailand project.
Tiger Woods Dubai will include “Al Ruwaya” – a Tiger Woods designed golf course, a golf academy, a clubhouse, a seven-star boutique hotel, one hundred villas, including twenty-two “palaces” (trying not to snicker), seventy-five mansions and a community retail area. The development will have 30,000 fully developed trees, which are being imported from Thailand, Australia, South Africa, the US, India and Saudi Arabia.
The trees, all around 40 feet tall, are some of the tallest ever imported into the UAE. Prominent species include Siris Tree (Albizia lebbeck), Golden Flame (Peltophorum pterocarpum), Golden Shower (Cassia fistula) and River Bush Willow (Combretum erythrophyllum), but I have to wonder – if these trees cannot grow here naturally, how on earth do they expect them to survive after being imported. And has any one considered the possible environmental implications of importing this many non-native trees and shrubs? I have two words
Rabbits – Australia
And the last time I checked a “Nursery,” was a place where you grew young things rather than imported adults for storage and later transplanting so this is a bit of a misnomer.
The cost of importing the trees and shrubs and developing the nursery is expected to be over $20 million. Approximately 11,000 of the 30,000 mature trees will be used in Al Ruwaya itself, while the remaining will be replanted all across the development. Currently the plan is to bring in about 480,000 shrubs as well.
The shipping cost of each container will be about $2,500. “At present we have shipped about 10 containers. There will be 25 containers coming every week for the next three to four months. About 800 containers of trees and shrubs would be shipped into the UAE for use at the golf course alone,” said Abdhulla Al Gurg, the project’s director.
“Al Ruwaya, a 7,700 yard, par 72 championship-quality course has been designed to include dramatic elevation, lush landscaping, stunning water features and an overall design program, which will challenge and entertain golfers,” he said.
The turf for the golf course was ordered from Georgia, in the United States. “It is a very special type of grass and is superior to any other type on earth. The species is the same that Tiger has recommended. It has been specifically selected to create the playing condition in the golf course and for the way he wants the ball to bounce,” said Al Gurg. “The turf was flown in temperature-controlled containers. It is a premium turf that can withstand the heat. With the right amount of sand, nutrients and water, the turf will be perfectly fine,” he said.
Over 10 hectares of sprigs for the turf have been planted at the nursery and will be ready for harvest by mid August. The grass takes 10 weeks to grow and the schedule is to grass three holes at a time
A $25 million reverse osmosis (RO) plant, to be constructed and operated by the developer will be installed on site to purify 5,000 cubic meters a day of treated sewage effluent water to specified standards. An network of pipeline was laid to fetch water into the development from almost 18km away. The course would require at least 13,000 cubic meters of water to irrigate.
A special team of engineers from Landscape Unlimited are working on the shaping of the golf course. “They have worked on about 800 courses and have been nominated by Woods,” said Al Gurg. One of the hindrances he said had been the shortage of sand. “We are actually running out of sand within the development. But we have the luxury of having unlimited amount of sand from the neighboring areas. We need extra sand to create features, structures and elevation,” he said.
Excavation work for the six-meter deep lakes and the foundation of the club house is in progress. Nearly 31,000 cubic meters of cut-and-fill per day is in progress at the golf course area. The design for six of the 18 holes has also been simultaneously accomplished, with concepts explored for remaining holes.
Currently earth works are in progress and the lakes are being excavated. For two months every Wednesday dynamites were used to excavate six meters deep. The last blast is tomorrow. “The deeper the lakes the more aesthetically real and hygienic they will be. About 7.5m sqft of lakes will be created, all of which will be interconnected. Water for the lakes will be sourced from RO plant,” he said.
The power for the golf course will be supplied from a substation where work has started and is scheduled to be completed in 12 months. Work on the eight and half-km ring road the boulevard that will link the hotel and all the club house, has also begun. More than 300 trucks operate daily and work is being done round the clock to ensure completion.
http://blog.luxuryproperty.com/tiger-woods-golf-development-in-dubai-becomes-nursery/
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