The Al Ruwaya Golf Course in Dubai, part of the multi billion dollar Tiger Woods Dubai development project that also includes 100 villas, 75 mansions, 22 palaces and a boutique hotel, was due to open this autumn but has only three holes complete.
It is a huge blow to Dubai which announced that Woods first course would be in the Emirate amid a blaze of publicity. Now the flagship development has been hit by the economic crisis and Woods himself confirmed the delay.
'It's six months as of right now. It's going to be behind schedule. Obviously, the economy has turned over there and they've slowed down construction because of it,' he said.
'The economy needs to turn around. If it gets stimulated we can pick up to the point where we might open earlier, but who knows? It's out of my hands,' he added.
He also confirmed that only three holes were under construction when work was suspended. 'We're making sure we get the holes we have completed,' said Woods who recently visited the project.
The course in Dubai needs irrigation to keep the sand in place because of arid conditions and the wind, according to Woods. He said on one of his visits, the wind 'changed the whole outline of one hole.'
Woods is also working on two other courses under construction in North Carolina and Mexico. The Cliffs at High Carolina is expected to be finished in the middle of 2010, while the Mexico course with spectacular ocean views is not scheduled to be completed until late 2010.
