Arabian Ranches Golf Club has reopened its back nine holes with major renovations having been completed over the last five months.
After the significant rainfall that hit the UAE back in April, the decision was made to bring forward the already scheduled enhancements to the back nine of the Ian Baker-Finch Design golf course.
During the closure of holes 10 – 18, the club undertook significant enhancements to improve the playing experience.
Key upgrades include:
- Raising buggy paths in flood-prone areas
- Elevating the 10th and 13th fairways along with the 10th green
- Levelling and resurfacing all tees on the back 9
- Addressing isolated problem areas through lifting and resurfacing
Raising of buggy paths in areas that get flooded and restrict access
10th hole buggy path raised
The raising of buggy paths on holes 10, 11, 13 and 16 has been completed to reduce the risk of excess rainfall causing restricted access for both associates and golfers.
Raising of 10th & 13th fairways and 10th green
Hole 10 green being raised
On hole 10, the water levels were much higher than the level of the fairway and green after the rainfall. Even before the rainfall, the club had experienced groundwater issues on holes 10 and 13 for a number of years.
To reduce the risk of this happening again and ensure the water level is below the root zone, the top layer of turf and roots were removed, and the fairways on holes 10 to 13 have been raised by an average of 50cm which brings it above the water level experienced in April. The desert areas were not raised, allowing areas for water to runoff into.
Hole 10 green was moved and then raised 30cm above previous flood levels and re-laid back in it’s original position.
Resurfacing all tees on the back 9
Process of laser grading (i.e. levelling) Tee boxes
All tee boxes holes 10 to 18 were also lifted and removed as these were a mixture of Bermuda, native Paspalum and Tropical Signal Grass.
The surfaces were then laser graded, and some tees enlarged, and resurfaced with Platinum Paspalum which is the same grass species as on the greens.
Lifting and resurfacing of isolated problem areas such as 15th apron
Work ongoing to raise apron
There were additional areas that were starting to cause issues, such as the 15th apron, along with small areas on the fairway of the 10th, 13th and 14th where water was sitting. These were raised in a way that will allow water to run off into the desert.
Main Image: Arabian Ranches
