Tiger Woods' Dubai Course Opening Has Been Delayed
by Ryan Ballengee on Jun 4, 2009 10:16 AM EDT
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PrintI did a little snooping around in the past couple of days since seeing One Eyed Golfer's piece pondering if Woods would have his AT&T National at a course he designed and/or owned one day. In good humor, I ruled out Tiger's Dubai course, Al Ruwaya, because I couldn't find it on (an admittedly) outdated Google Map.
What you didn't know was that I actually called Tiger Woods Design in Florida to see if this lowly blogger could get an update on the progress of Al Ruwaya since I had not heard anything about the project since September. From the website, it said that sodding had begun at the course and more than half of the holes had been shaped.
Well, I still know my place in the world because I didn't get a call back. But, my hunch about the lack of progress was right. CNN's Justin Armsden found out that the opening of Al Ruwaya has been delayed.
CNN has exclusively learnt that the official opening of Woods' 18 holes on the Al Ruwaya course, due to be ready by September, will now not take place until at least April.
It is understood that just six holes will be opened in September, three of which were fully grassed in May before the heat of summer, where temperatures often reach 45 degrees Celsius.
A spokesperson for the course denied there were any delays. "In terms of the timeline to club opening, we will announce our specific timeline and opening closer to the opening date in conjunction with IMG and Tiger Woods," said the spokesperson.
So, nobody will be playing on Al Ruwaya anytime soon, much less professionals.
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This shouldn't be a big surprise...
…very few golf courses actually open on schedule.
RB – you dismissed the Dubai course because of the construction delay…but you didn’t dismiss it because it’s in DUBAI ?? in the desert…in JULY ??? Hmm…. (lol)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Haha, I wasn’t really surprised that the course was delayed. It was a billion dollar golf course in the middle of the desert that uses 4 million gallons of water per day. No chance that was going to finish on time. That’s why I called them in the first place :)
If they were going to hold an event there, it couldn’t be in July, that’s for sure. One of the few places on earth where golf season is shortened due to blistering heat.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jun 4, 2009 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions
better check this out...
…too late to pull back on the CNN praise – BUT – Bob Smiley was on this a year ago…
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I remembered this from Bob’s book – it’s my second favorite part of it when he goes to Dubailand to find Tiger’s course. I was actually going to go back when I went home this afternoon and type up a few paragraphs!
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jun 4, 2009 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions
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