Ernie Els visits The Dunes in Dubai for progress report

In his first visit since the unveiling of the project in 2005, Els toured the site with his design team and checked out the build progress now that full construction of the course is underway by Turnpoint Septech, the golf course construction contractor selected by Victory Heights and Troon Golf. The international level of expertise involved in the project is extremely high and Els confirmed that he was very happy with the work to date. Two holes have been shaped with the green complexes and bunkers being Ernie's main concern on this visit.

Commenting as he walked the site, Els said: "The design is fabulous on paper, and the most important step from here is that our shaper gets the greens and bunkers in the style that I envisaged from the beginning. I am happy to report that I am very satisfied with what I saw today."

Els continued: "It is great to come back in 2006 and see that so much progress has been made on site, not only in terms of the golf course, but within the overall Dubai Sports City project. The Dunes will be a world-class facility aimed at amateurs and professionals, families and individuals, and will certainly set the standard of golf course design in this region. Victory Heights is a very impressive concept and offers a wonderful lifestyle - I would certainly be happy to bring my family up in such a fantastic environment with so many facilities on the doorstep.

He concluded: "I am proud to be associated with a project of this magnitude - it is truly unique and there is nothing else like it in the world today. I firmly believe that Dubai Sports City will become a global centre for sports and will set the agenda for the development of sport on a worldwide scale. "

Accompanying the Big Easy on his tour, U Balasubramaniam, CEO Dubai Sports City, said:" It is a great pleasure to have Ernie back in Dubai and we are particularly pleased that he has been able to take time out of his busy schedule to take a look at the ongoing construction of his golf course. We are proud to have such a big name in the game of golf associated with Dubai Sports City."

The Dunes is Ernie Els Design's first golf course in the Middle East consisting of a combination links golf course and traditional 'classical era' design and will feature broad and gently rolling fairways, receptive for drives off the tees. Steep greenside bunkers, grass swales and imaginatively designed greens will present significant challenges for the incoming approach shots. The course will utilise Tifway 419 Bermuda in all grassed areas with the exception of the greens which will contain TifEagle, a fine textured dwarf Bermuda grass conducive to maintaining fast green speeds.

Stretching 7,452 yards, with five sets of tees allowing players a selection of different lengths from which to play the golf course and featuring more than 60 bunkers, The Dunes will be a showpiece that can be transformed from a friendly, every day player course to one that offers a challenge to the world's best golfers.

The course will be managed by Troon Golf, the world leader in upscale golf course management, development and marketing. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Troon Golf manages operations at more than 185 courses located in 29 US states and 19 countries.

Troon will also operate a Butch Harmon School of Golf at the course. Troon has created a partnership with Harmon, the world's number one ranked golf instructor, to secure his only facility outside of the USA. It will include a private indoor/outdoor teaching area, 100,000 square feet chipping and bunker area, state-of-the-art video equipment and instruction by top teaching professionals, including special appearances by Butch himself.

Victory Heights is the residential element of arguably the world's most ambitious golfing and sports community. The scheme provides 900 beautifully designed 3 and 4 bedroom luxury villas and townhouses set in and around the Ernie Els designed signature 18-hole championship golf course.

The development has been specifically designed with the residential community in mind with homes benefiting from stunning views over the course and an abundance of carefully nurtured landscape grounds and open spaces.

Rob Davies, Project Director of Victory Heights, said: "It is great that Ernie Els is here to ensure that the golf course is designed to the highest standards and specifications. It fits perfectly with the Victory Heights ethos of upscale community living. We are pioneering a product that has not yet been seen in Dubai or the rest of the world and are using world-leading designers and quality control agencies, such as Bureau Veritas, a world-renown accreditation agency to monitor design and build quality for properties, to ensure that the specification and materials will be of the highest international standards."