TEE TIME

Trump International Golf Club, Dubai

Bringing 18 years of industry experience to Trump International Golf Club, Dubai, Benjamin Griffiths talks about the effort involved in maintaining one of the UAE’s biggest golf courses at DAMAC Hills

Benjamin Griffiths Trump International Golf Club, Dubai

At the heart of DAMAC Hills, Trump International Golf Club, Dubai, has become a leading destination in the emirate’s burgeoning golf community. Spanning 7,300 yards, this par-71 course offers state-of-the-art leisure and training facilities, providing the ultimate golfing experience in the emirate.

The club boasts an 18-hole championship-style golf course along with a par-3 course that mimics its play and undulations. It was designed by world-renowned golf course architect Gil Hanse, who was selected to design the golf course for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

An extraordinary project that has quickly become a firm favourite among avid local, regional and international golfers, it features a 30,000-square-foot clubhouse, the largest of its kind in Dubai.

While maintaining the course is no easy feat, Director of Agronomy, Benjamin Griffiths makes the role seem effortless with all the work he does behind the scenes.

“To be involved with such a project was always a career goal and it has not disappointed,” he said. “Seeing the golf course at Trump International Golf Club, Dubai, transform from bare sand into a thriving golf club and community is extremely rewarding. I am proud to have played a pivotal role in this transformation.”

As Director of Agronomy, Griffiths is responsible for the department’s day-to-day operations, such as management of the turf, landscape, irrigation system and other equipment. He supervises a team of 30 that helps set up the course ahead of play to ensure that the experience isn’t compromised by any maintenance snags.

Offering ideal playing conditions every day is the team’s primary goal as there are several challenges that arise because of the terrain and weather conditions. “The key challenges are based around the extremities of the climate as it can affect turf growth. “We have three types of Bermuda grass, all imported from the United States in refrigerated containers from certified turf farms. These are supplied to us as stolons, which are then planted and nurtured to create the fine turf around the course. But these are warm season grasses and they do not take well to Dubai’s winters. When the temperature dips, growth

Trump International almost stops. Factoring in that Dubai’s winter is our busiest period of the year, it provides a real challenge to keep the

Golf Club, Dubai, is a turf healthy and alive.” Producing a high-performance turf in the UAE requires that moisture, leading destination for salinity levels and soil chemistry are well managed. Although these factors the city’s golf community contribute to ideal growing conditions, they change on a weekly – sometimes even daily – basis, making management more complex. On average, it takes anywhere from one to six million litres of water per day, depending on the time of the year, to nourish the grass. The heights of the cut also make a difference as no two courses are the same. At Trump International Golf Club, Dubai, there are five cuts, which vary throughout the year as the seasons change. “There are many pieces of the puzzle to create a well-maintained golf course and all these factors need to work together. That is why, timing is so important with all that we do.”