I recently made my third visit to the Tiger Woods Dubai (update in July 2018 about this project) with its golf course superintendent Cameron Thompson. In 2008 I saw the site when shaping was just beginning, last year saw it with three holes grassed, and now was able to look at six holes grassed and other holes shaped and with irrigation installed and ready for grassing.

One thing that is notable is the summer heat at Dubai. The thermometer in the morning at the site read 44° C in the shade. With those types of temperatures, the evapotranspiration is high; the average annual evapotranspiration at Dubai is more than 2,000 mm. Careful management of the irrigation is essential to have high quality grass.

I did some irrigation water analyses for Tiger Woods Dubai and one thing that stood out in the samples was the relatively high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. The water being used is treated sewage effluent from the city of Dubai. Thompson said he looks at irrigating with this water as "free fertigation" and he has not applied fertilizer to the fairways or greens for more than six months. The nutrients in the water are sufficient for the grass. And the grass looks great! There are no photographs allowed of this exclusive course, so I can't post anything here, but I would describe the course as spectacular.

At Dubai, it is essential to know what is in the irrigation water, and at courses in Asia it is also essential to know what is in the water. Have you done an irrigation water test recently? I usually recommend doing an irrigation water analysis about one month prior to the onset of the busiest irrigation season or summer or dry season, whatever it may be in a certain area.

And what grass is used at Tiger Woods Dubai? Tifeagle bermudagrass is on the tees and greens, Tifdwarf is used on some low-cut approach areas, and Tifway 419 is used on the fairways and roughs. And Thompson has been practicing his short game on those closely mown green surrounds as he checks the response of the golf ball to the turfgrass conditions. That practice at Tiger Woods Dubai is paying off for him, as he handed me a rare defeat in a match we played at the Emirates Golf Club under the lights. Thompson didn't hit all the greens in regulation, but he had no problem getting the ball up and down from some precarious spots around the greens.