Thriving Under Pressure: Managing Heat Stress and Dry Conditions at Ayla Oasis Golf Club

Challenges

Despite remarkable and extensive views of the coastline in Aqaba, Ayla Oasis faced several challenges in course design and development. Designers had planned to leverage the incredible waterfront views of the course and make water features an integral part of the facility. However, the extreme heat within the region made it nearly impossible to grow lush grass to complement the water features. Unfortunately, the water available to the course was of extremely poor quality, with high levels of total dissolved salts (TDS) and other undesirable elements that can damage grass growth.

With extensive knowledge and experience specifying impressive greens and tees all over the world, Graham was brought into the project to develop a solution that would enable Grassi’s team to grow-in tees and greens that could perform long term in Jordan’s environment. It was not only necessary to have the grass grow-in successfully, but to ensure the greens could stand up to the heat and continue to flourish despite poor water quality. Furthermore, the team also hoped to leverage local materials in the course development and tasked Graham with finding a way to use native silica sand from the mountain region to build the greens.

The Solution

Having worked with Profile Products on several other projects, Graham immediately tapped into the expertise of the Profile team and relied heavily on Profile’s solutions to tackle the challenge ahead. To find a solution that would be viable in the region, Gavin Kelly and Joe Betulius of Profile travelled to Jordan to meet with Graham and Grassi and conduct testing on native sand varieties.

The testing from Profile revealed that a rootzone mix of 85% sand and 15% Profile Greens Grade™️ would create viable and sustainable greens. The Profile Porous Ceramic (PPC) particle found in Greens Grade is 74% pore space with 39% capillary (water) pores and 35% non-capillary (air) pores. Blended with sand in a greens mix, it can improve water- and nutrient-holding capabilities, increase oxygen levels at the root zone, and facilitate drainage when soils are saturated.

Atilla Demirsoy, Class A Golf Course Superintendent, was brought into the project during the final phase of the construction to manage course conditions. The solution from Profile improved those course conditions by enabling the greens to drain water quickly, which is critical when working with poor water quality to prevent unwanted elements from penetrating. Furthermore, the PPC mix allows for improved water-holding capabilities—a characteristic that is essential to growing and maintaining grass in a dry and hot environment.

“One of the biggest challenges we faced on-site was the extreme environmental conditions—especially the summer temperatures with high, dry winds,” comments Demirsoy. “Temperatures ranged between 42 degrees Celsius in the daytime and 29 degrees Celsius at night, and it was very dry with not much humidity. Basically, the sun feels really hot, plus the dry winds put a lot of heat stress on the plant. Profile improved the impact of this major issue we were facing.”

Results

Ayla Oasis has quickly established itself as the premier golf course in the country of Jordan, attracting players from around the world. The solution provided by Profile not only delivered evergreen grass during development, but the maintenance team also benefits from the consistency and quality of the greens year after year. An online review of the course notes that with “unprecedented modern and natural lush landscape, the Ayla Golf course has become the new go-to destination for not only golf enthusiasts, but also tourists.”

The long-term results of Profile’s solution can be seen throughout the course; in fact, according to Graham, “there was a huge issue with dry spots in the areas where we did not use the Profile mixture, while the greens with Profile had no problems whatsoever.” Having permanently amended the structure of the greens with Profile, Ayla benefits from consistent and predictable maintenance, which provides long-term financial benefits by enabling the club to save time and money dedicated to maintenance needs.