From the "Emirates Evening Post"
The introduction of golf in such climatically unpromising countries as those of the Arabian Gulf is one of man’s more remarkable triumphs over the elements. To turn a few acres of barren desert into a verdant golf course like Emirates or Creek is an astonishing achievement - but one that perhaps visitors and residents alike now almost take for granted. But as in other areas of modern life where the technology and the resources exist to make changes it is vital that golf course development is sustainable – i.e. that it is not only short term commercial considerations that drive decisions. In some parts of the world golf tourism is now so lucrative that the side effects of golf course building are sometimes ignored.
The need for a sustainable development plan to be in place both for new and for existing golf developments is essential and on my recent trip to South Africa I saw for myself what can happen if the balance between competing stakeholders for resources is not maintained. The most important raw material for golf is water – and water in very substantial quantities indeed not just in the construction phase but over the lifetime of the course. In Dubai the first course developments had the guarantee of water in sufficient quantities and at reasonable cost from the start. Emirates, for example, uses water that is a by product of Jebel Ali’s industry and that works well. More recent developments may not have such an advantageous commercial position but although they may pay more for their supplies they can guarantee sufficient quantities are available and they can factor the cost into their business plans. There is sufficient water (at a price) for all. In South Africa this does currently not apply and authorities are faced with difficult judgments as to how they allocate water which is a very scare resource in many areas. In the Western Cape, for example, a long period of drought has meant that there has been a serious water shortage for some time. Even those of us who love the game of golf, and who admire South Africa’s many fine courses, would not argue that they should have precedence over people and communities when it comes to allocating water supplies! This has to be an area of public policy decision making and it would be quite unthinkable that water allocation be left to the market.
During my South African trip I visited a number of courses in the Cape Town area and played on some. Now a sun baked fairway suits my “game” as my topped drives can scoot along a concrete like surface far greater distances than if they were stopped by the healthy grass of a well watered fairway! However the brown tops on the approaches to many holes were not designed to help the high handicappers – they were a sign that water is in short supply. At “Erinvale” a course twenty kilometres or so or so from the centre of Cape Town, the professional told me that they had half the water that they really needed and that if there was not a significant amount of rain in the next three months the course might be forced to close. And this is one of South Africa’s premier courses where major tournaments are held.
I do not know the extent to which sustainable development considerations played a part when speculative commercial golfing ventures like Erinvale were at the planning stage. That a golf course created from barren land can over time establish its own eco-system we have seen in Dubai and one of the great delights of playing at Emirates, the most mature of all our courses, is that there is now well established flora and fauna to be seen that belie their desert location. A bird watching expedition around the Emirates lakes will throw up many surprises. In the UAE there has been proper planning of all aspects of golf course development and providing adequate water can continue to be made available at acceptable prices there is no reason why an almost unlimited number of courses cannot be built. But in a highly populated country like South Africa, with desperate needs for water just for normal living, golf course plans need to be very robust, and the social aspects need to have been properly considered, before authorities should give permission for any new course construction.
