Teeing off with Peter

It’s a hole-in-one for Peter Harradine. He’s just won the bid to design The Legend’s 9-hole golf course in Dubailand.

A quintessential globe-trotter, Harradine is currently on a free-wheeling world tour — from Moscow to Spain and Egypt and eventually to Dubai. He will come to the city recharged from the swings, slices and pitches he makes at every next golf course that he visits while on his journeys. No rookie to the game, the man is passionate about what he designs. But more importantly, he loves to golf. It is that sheer love for the game that keeps Harradine charged and glued to the golf course — those that he designs and those that challenge him.
What sparked your love for course designing?
I represent the third generation of golf course architects which was started by my step grandfather in 1920. I love golf as a game and I have been in contact with the golf industry from a very early age as I started playing when I was six years old.  I must have seen over 900 courses.
Unfortunately I was not actually awarded a degree as I flunked my exams, which was mainly due to the particular period I was in the States (1965-66). I must admit that I was more interested in the parties and general shenanigans experienced on campus during that period, which were not very inspiring enough to studying.
The first course that I designed was actually with my father, in Nimes Campague (France) in 1968. I built that course as well and it was a great satisfaction to see the transformation of the design on paper to actual reality on site.
When did you come to the UAE and what brought you here? 
I came to the UAE in 1976. I was working for an English company that built golf courses and they wanted to diversify and explore other markets.  They were awarded a project to install drip irrigation in Dubai for a road-side landscaping project and they did not have anybody within their staff that had the necessary knowledge and expertise. I was the obvious choice because I had actually learnt about that type of irrigation (which was fairly new at that time) during my incredibly learned studies in the States.
 I have been living here since, although I travel and have been traveling every month to my various sites in Europe, Africa, India and the Middle East .
I have only designed nine courses in the UAE. Two were never built, two have been built: The Abu Dhabi National and Garden Courses and the Jebel Ali Golf Course. Three courses are being built: The Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club, the Al Hamra in RAK, Mudon in Dubai; The Legends in Dubai and the Sharjah Golf Course and the Al Madhab Course in Fujairah are on the drawing board.
How do you design a course in the desert?
The biggest dilemma is to produce something different with each equally flat site. Unfortunately, most courses are designed in areas where there is nothing around them and if urban plans do exist they are very general and only denote housing or apartments without giving any details of the architectural style.
Is the money involved in designing a course directly proportionate to the timeline given and the grandeur of the course?
The fees vary greatly from architect to architect and depend a lot on the client’s willingness to pay for a golfer or architect’s name. I suppose that each architect tries to receive as much as he can although he normally has a standard fee especially in the Middle East where fees are usually quoted as a lump sum figure. In Europe there are scales and guidelines that regulate consultant’s fees and they are generally based on a percentage of the project value.
How long does it take complete a nine  or 18-hole course from concept to reality and which in your opinion is the best golf course in the UAE?
 In the Middle East, a nine- or 18-hole course should not take longer than 12-18 months to be playable after initial ground-breaking. The time that elapses between the preliminary design and actual building depends on many factors such as finance, land ownership and eventual building permits, among others.
The best 18 hole golf course in the UAE is the Abu Dhabi National Course.
Why hasn’t golf picked up here as it has in Europe? 
 If you mean why more local and residents of the UAE do not play golf, I think you are right; it is rather expensive to play on a grass course in the UAE. Land should be given by the government to create public courses that are not just profit-driven.
What is the most frustrating part of your job?
Golf course building committees and golfers who think that they are golf course architects.
Who do you rate as the best gold course designer of your generation and why?
Robert Trent Jones Senior. He was a real and learned golf course architect and was not chosen due to his golfing skills but because he was a qualified and professional architect with extreme flair, good knowledge and reliable tender designs and documents. I think he was the father of modern golf course architecture.
If you were to pick the best golf course in the world, which would it be and why?
St Andrews because it is the home of golf and because of its incredible tradition.

Peter patter
The best golfer is...
Tiger Woods
The best compliment you received was...
Garry Player telling me I was great company
The costliest golf course was...
Abu Dhabi
The most difficult course to play on is...
Doha, when the wind blows
The best shot I’ve seen on a course is...
My second shot on the old wadi course at the ECG on the 14th whilst playing with John Rose. That shot produced an eagle!
If you were not designing courses you would be...
A landscape architect
Favourite golf destination is...
The older courses in northern Italy such as Biella, Barlassina, Villa D’este and Varese as it was on those courses that I learnt how to play.