Business & Money | Saturday 13 February, 2016 10:55 am |

KING Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) is putting the final touches to the Royal Greens Golf Course and Country Club. Landscaping of the 18-hole championship course is nearing completion, while grassing is also entering the final phase with only the back nine holes remaining to be grassed.

Playing to a par of 72, and a maximum length of just under 7,000 yards, the Royal Greens Golf course is destined to be one of the leading courses in the world.  Designed by European Golf Design (EGD), a division of leading sports management group IMG, it will be one of only four grassed 18-hole public courses in Saudi Arabia and the only one to enjoy unspoiled views across the Red Sea. The back nine holes will be fully floodlit, enabling for play at night which is especially important during the warmer months of the year.

Managed by Troon Golf, the world’s largest operator of luxury golf courses, Royal Greens will also incorporate a Golf Academy featuring a fully fitted teaching facility, with extensive practice areas, including a full length driving range with swing studios, as well as extensive putting, chipping and bunkers greens complexes.

“Royal Greens Golf Course is just one example of the unique lifestyle choices offered to the residents of KAEC,” said Fahd Al-Rasheed, Group CEO and managing director of KAEC. “For the first time, Saudi Arabian residents will be able to take advantage of world-class sporting facilities on their doorstep. We are especially keen to encourage women and children to take up this wonderful, community-oriented sport, and to produce quality Saudi golfers for the future.”

KAEC operates a nursery of the Pure Dynasty variety of Seashore Paspalum to grass the course. Varieties of seashore paspalum have been used on over 400 golf courses including the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, venue of the 2012 USPGA championship.

Pure Dynasty, which only became available on global markets in 2014, is a blend of two paspalum varieties that combine to provide very high tolerance to salty conditions. This will allow for the course to be irrigated by a more sustainable treated water source, rather than from a premium pure water supply. Pure Dynasty also provides increased resistance to disease, tighter density and excellent resistance to wear and tear, resulting is some very good playing surfaces.

The course is part of the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club facility that will offer luxury corporate hospitality facilities, a ballroom, private dining rooms, conference rooms, business center, VIP lounges and a cigar room. Club members will also enjoy access to fine dining restaurants, an exclusive health club and spa and a golf pro shop.

“Work on the state-of-the-art Royal Green golf-course and the exclusive Country Club is progressing on schedule to open during the second half of the year,” said Charles Biele, CEO of Real Estate Development Company (RED) in KAEC. “This will be a world-class facility for the residents of KAEC’s Coastal Communities and the golf venue of choice for enthusiasts throughout the country and the region at large.”