Harnessing the elements

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Middle East Architect catches up with Bob Knott, senior development manager of golf courses for Jumeirah Golf Estates, to talk about designing, building and maintaining Earth, Fire, Wind and Water in the Middle East.

The Earth golf course at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates (JGE) - which recently played host to the Dubai World Championships - is a sharply defined, sculptured course that was inspired by the parklands of Europe and North America. Designed by golf legend Greg Norman and executed by Norman and JGE’s director of golf operations, Bob Knott, the course paints a magnificent pastiche of flora, rolling terrain and rushing water. These natural components also provide differing angles and changing perspectives from each tee.

The Earth course is streaked with what JGE calls, “Meandering, and occasionally daunting, water features [which] are ever-present factors when lining up one’s next golf shot”. Fully grassed since April 2008, JGE gave Earth two seasons to mature before the championship tournament.

With a variety of inspirations that range from the olive groves of Spain to classic Roman towns and villages, the homes of the Earth neighbourhood offer a compelling variety of architectural styles.

This diversity, coupled with the district’s verdant topography, lends an air of expansiveness and encourages residents to congregate in the development’s ample outdoor space.

Because of the publicity surrounding last month’s Dubai World Championships, the Earth course has become very familiar to golfers and golf course designers throughout the world. But JGE’s next offering, the Fire course—which Knott claims is completely finished—is still shrouded in a bit of secrecy.

In terms of golf course architecture, Fire is framed by a wide variety of flora, carefully selected to reflect the overall theme and to enhance its natural setting, which is largely burnt grass and red sand. According to JGE: “Fire is in complete harmony with its surroundings. The undulating topography, with considerable protrusions, creates a more challenging level of play.”

Rich tones of terracotta reflected on walls of stucco, stone and brick, the Fire neighbourhood draws on rustic Mediterranean architecture that complements the desert context. The seven communities sited around the Fire course are landscaped to complement the beauty of their desert surroundings.

Middle East Architect caught up with Bob Knott, to talk about sustainability, design and maintenance of the Middle East’s most expansive golf course development.

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First, how does one build a green golf course in the desert?

BK: When we started, we didn’t have the Dubai World Championship in mind. This began as simply a residential golf real estate development. When you build a golf course in the desert, the most important thing you need is water.

I can shape anything in sand, it’s a wonderful medium to work in, but if we have a 40mph wind coming through, everything I’ve shaped that day could be blown away.

So as soon as we shape, we need access to water, so the first thing I did when I came here was create a temporary lake. We had a specific 24-inch main from Dubai Municipality that would service our temporary lake so everything we built emanated away from that water source.

When we first came here, the site was a raw desert. Sand was blowing all around, dunes were shifting and Greg Norman was surrounded by camels.

The first thing he did was create a ‘routing’ which is a basic idea of where the course will lie from tee #1 to green #18—hopefully this is done in two loops of nine holes so you’re always coming back to a central point, which is the clubhouse. Once we had that routing, we began deciding on the style of the course. We began looking at features we could design into the landscape, whether those were lakes or streams or trees or general landscaping. After that, we began the plotting process. At tee #1, we put a stake in the ground, then we would walk down what would be the middle of where the fairway would be and we would identify the turning point—at around 275 yards away—and we put a stake in the ground there, which would then become the centre of the fairway. Then we would go another 180 or so yards and that’s the centre of your green.

After that, we brought in a team and began shaping. I had shapers here from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the USA, Mexico and Great Britain. The shaping team literally came from all over the world.

At the rough grading stage we focus on the general look and shape of the golf course. Then another team comes in a does a fine grade. After that, another team comes in and starts putting in all the features. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. Then we get irrigation and topsoil and eventually grass. To get to this level of quality, you have to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing those surfaces.