EARTH GC

By Neville Leck Last updated: 17th November 2009

Jumeirah Golf Estate, venue for the Dubai World Championship, has only one ambition - to be the world's best.

Calling itself 'Golf's Glorious New Home' the desert estate, owned by Dubai-based Leisurecorp and developed under the guidance of golfing legends like Greg Norman, will offer the golfing world:

- Four exclusive members-only championship golf courses - Earth, Fire, Wind and Water - that have been designed by world-renowned golfing figures and have cost twice the amount usually associated with the very best championship courses elsewhere in the world.

- Golf and Tennis academies and other faculties such as pro-shops, locker rooms and swimming pools, a spa and health centres that are second to none.

- Some of the most beautiful and luxurious homes ever built on a golf course estate.

- A magnificent clubhouse with a dining destination offering a huge variety of menues ranging from gourmet dinners, through table-side grilling of waygu beef, meat and fish, through hot and cold post-golf food and drink in a congenial atmosphere, through a rooftop tapas spot serving wine, shisha and cigars, through healthy, easy-to-eat dishes served poolside or at the spa to a lounge where cake, coffee, juices and snacks are served in an atmosphere as relaxing as its servings are tasty.

- The clubhouse will also house the international headquarters of The European Tour and make available five-star facilities for weddings, banquets and business conferences.

THE COURSES:

The four championship courses, designed by Norman (Fire, Earth), Vijay Singh (Water) and Sergio Garcia (Wind) - the latter with the help of famed US golf course architect Pete Dye - have yet to be played on.

After making its debut at this week's Dubai World Championship, Earth, along with the other Norman inspiration, Fire , will be operational by December 1 this year, but the other two, Water and Wind, are still under construction and it is not known at this stage when they will become operational.

Named after the powerful elements of nature that inspired the legends of golf to create these magnificent layouts, Earth, Fire, Wind and Water are each, in their own right., the centre pieces of four distinctive neighbourhoods which together, Leisurecorp claim, will offer a golfing experience available nowhere else.

Their golf courses, they say, are "like no other".

"In their beauty, they delight both players and observers. In their diversity, they offer new ways to challenge and excite. Grass covers, not just the playing surfaces, but also the peripheral landscaping as well, give the courses a verdant quality unique in the Middle East."

The courses have been developed using environmentally friendly techniques such as hydro seeding, a less water-intensive method of growing grass.

Mature trees have been rescued from sites all over Dubai and replanted here - they number over 3,000 on the Earth course alone.

Rarely have courses received more attention from their creators, improved through frequent visits from Norman, Singh, Garcia and Dye in person.

Likewise, most courses do not benefit from the Jumierah level of financial investment - more than twice the average expenditure per hole as compared to other premier courses.

And, in the case of Earth, few courses have been under so much scrutiny, with the eyes of the golf world trained upon it as it was being readied for its maiden round in the all-important Dubai World Championship.

EARTH COURSE:

Earth Course is a sharply defined, sculptured course inspired by the great parklands of Europe and North America,

Norman's guiding hand has helped paint a magnificent pastiche of flora, rolling terrain and rushing water. These natural components also provide differing angles and changing perspectives from each tee.

The meandering, and occasionally daunting, water features will be an ever-present factor for this week's Dubai Championship field when they line up their next shots. It constantly forces a careful drive and careful consideration of ball carry and will certainly favour the most accurate and strongly focused.

Never before has a course been closed to the public for so long as it awaited its debut.

Fully grassed since April 2008, Jumeirah Golf Estates has given Earth an unprecedented two full seasons to mature before the Championship. Until then, intensive maintenance will ensure that Earth has the look and feel of an established course but conditions more pristine than most professional players will have experienced at any time in their careers.TOUR OF THE EARTH COURSE

Greg Norman's Earth Course in Dubai will be the second-longest course in European Tour history.

With the shortest of the four par-fives measuring 572 yards, only one par-four under 400 yards and two of the par-threes over 200 yards, the lay-out is 7,675 yards in total.

The final four-hole stretch has been described as a "Golden Mile", with Norman commenting: "I expect it will be considered one of the most challenging and exciting miles of golf in terms of risk and reward.

"It comprises a short par-four, a long par-four, a great par-three and a medium-to-long par-five, so a lot of things can happen."

Hole-by-hole guide:

1st, 454yds, par 4: Downhill dogleg right to a sloping fairway and a green which angles away to the right and sits on a ridge.

2nd, 583yds, par 5: Uphill drive through a valley. Shorter hitters face a carry over bunkers to the second landing area, but going for the green in two is made harder by it being perched up.

3rd, 452yds, par 4: Uphill tee shot favours big hitters with extra run down towards the green. Undulating fairway and mounding 40 yards short.

4th, 245yds, par 3: Long downhill hole back into the prevailing wind. Large mound left and small, deep bunkers short and long right.

5th, 407yds, par 4: Dogleg right climbing back up the hill. Best play is up the right side, while any approach short will roll back off the green.

6th, 186yds, par 3: First of the water holes, with bunkers protecting the bail-out area to the right. Short or left is wet, right or long means playing the next shot towards the water.

7th, 572yds, par 5: Uphill all the way, the dogleg right has a creek down the right. Bunkers narrow the driving zone and the creek bends into the fairway short of the green.

8th, 461yds, par 4: Downhill dogleg left, with a creek this time on the left before crossing in front of the green. The fairway slopes from right to left. Two bunkers front the green.

9th, 499yds, par 4: The drive is free of bunkering, but the uphill approach has traps left, right and centre just short of the green. A ridge strengthens the right side.

10th, 437yds, par 4: Downhill to an undulating fairway with bunkers on the left. A massive bunker fronts the green and there are depressions left and short.

11th, 401yds, par 4: Dogleg left where the best play is high on the left side to avoid playing over the waste area. The green sits along a ridge and falls away on both sides.

12th, 476yds, par 4: Slight dogleg left back up the hill. The green sits on top of a rise and is nestled in against the hill, but slopes slightly away left and right.

13th, 204yds, par 3: Uphill to a green heavily surrounded by bunkers. The green is backed by a mound that runs into the putting surface and divides the pin positions.

14th, 626yds, par 5: Downhill dogleg right. Going for the green requires hitting over the bunkers and trying to use the slope. A waste bunker runs alongside the lake on the right.

15th, 371yds, par 4: Slight dogleg left and driveable for the big-hitters. Fairway falls away down the left right up to the green. Safe shot leaves an approach over the depression.

16th, 486yds, par 4: Dogleg right over a creek, with a large lake down the right and a waterfall linking it to another. Really tough hole.

17th, 195yds, par 3: Island green and combination of wind and pin placing will determine just how hard it plays. Vital to get club selection right.

18th, 620yds, par 5: Water right and then a creek splits the fairway. Going right is narrower, but makes for an easier approach to a raised green with the creek to the left.

THE CLUBHOUSE:

The 'Great White Shark' has said of the clubhouse at Earth and Fire: "There are many aspects of the golf lifestyle.

"At the centre is the game, but eating well, staying fit, pausing to relax and celebrating life's milestones are also important.

"The Clubhouse at Jumeirah Golf Estates is a place to do all those things in comfort and style, among friends. As carefully designed as any of my courses, the clubhouse epitomizes the unsurpassable standards I demand of all my endeavors."

Containing an exclusive hotel, a luxurious spa, an array of signature restaurants, a golf academy and tennis academy, some of the world's most advanced fitness resources, first-class shopping, the Norman Clubhouse is the premier destination for leisure in Dubai; a monumental, elegantly designed facility where locals and visitors alike will surely gather morning, noon and night.

STAYING FIT:

For those who love choice in the way they stay fit, there is no better place to work out and play than the Norman Clubhouse. Far more than a gym, its variety of cardiovascular and conditioning activities are complemented by several types of swimming pools, as well as a tennis academy and the total provides everything from courts for casual matches to lessons that seriously improve skills, to a fully-equipped fitness centre, a Yoga and Pilates studio and a relaxation swimming lagoon

MEMBERSHIP:

Five years in the making, from a barren area of desert to one of the world's most anticipated golf course developments, Jumeirah Golf Estates is opening its doors to invite a select few to take on the varied challenges of Greg Norman's new masterpieces, Fire and Earth..

Destined to become the most exclusive club in the Middle East, the honour of playing on Fire and Earth is to be restricted to its members only.

With no pay-and-play option, only members of 'The Club' at Jumeirah Golf Estates will walk in the footsteps of the top 60 players in Europe who will open the courses at the Dubai World Championship.

Three tiers of membership are available - Founder Member, Debenture Member and Annual Member, each offering a host of varying benefits

Founder Member:

The Founder membership is aimed at golf elite offering unlimited access to both Fire and Earth for 25 years with no additional annual subscription.

For these members, preferential green fees also on offer at the Leisurecorp-owned Turnberry, the host venue of the 138th Open Championship and at the stunning Pearl Valley Golf Estates in Paarl, South Africa, host venue for the 2007 and 2008 South African Opens

Founder members will also benefit from reciprocal arrangements at other select Greg Norman properties with preferential rates.

Being valid for a 25 year period, this membership option can be passed on to family members.

Debenture Member:

Debenture membership is for dedicated golf enthusiasts looking to make the most of private club membership.

Members will be offered preferential benefits, such as unlimited golf on the Fire and Earth courses, the use of all golf practice facilities, golf club storage, complimentary golf clinics, carts and 30 day preferential tee-time bookings.

Annual Member:

The annual membership is the entry level membership and it is valid for a 12 month period. Limited numbers of Annual membership are available. With a 10 day advance tee time reservation scheme in place, annual members will have unlimited access to both the Earth and Fire courses.

You should contact The Jumeirah Golf Estates for further information on pricing and terms and conditions associated with membership.

CONTACT THE CLUB:

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 262080
Dubai, UAE

Phone: +971 4 375 2222
Fax: +971 4 367 9584

Neville Leck