79 are natural – unlike the man-made ones in Dubai – and are low-lying and only slightly above sea level. Given that, the initial efforts were to dredge material to raise the island. Minimum levels were set for golf, non-turf areas and the lowest turf areas so that rootzones would avoid issues with saltwater wicking up.” The shaping team has created a golf course with contour and, as the architect puts it, “enough movement to create interesting landforms without busting the budget on fills or impeding on views from the built environment.” Shura Links’ 70 acres of irrigated turf is made up of Platinum TE paspalum, a drought- and salt-tolerant grass supplied by Atlas Turf Arabia. Toro’s Lynx Control System has also been installed. Curley made monthly site visits to oversee the course’s construction, as well as the implementation of landscape work, working alongside Richard Haas, head of golf design and construction for Red Sea Global. “We were fortunate to be able to create some very high and dramatic dunes where we wanted to block views – such as the infrastructure building zones,” says Curley. “The result is that Shura has plenty of movement both from a visual standpoint and to help the golf course site drain well.” Curley’s design prioritises playability and strategic challenge, featuring wide fairways, fast and rolling conditions, and large, contoured greens with backstops, bowls, feeder slopes and runoffs. Its back tees produce a total length of 7,400 yards, although Shura Links has the capacity to extend beyond 7,700 yards, if required for professional competitions. “The routing that I inherited prior to my involvement is based upon a mix of wide swathes of golf, holes playing to the water’s edge and single corridor holes that fortunately have development to only one side,” says Curley. “In addition, the built environment is very low density with Photo: Brian Curley Brian Curley’s favourite tee shot is at the twelfth, where sand cuts into a wide fairway
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