Tiger's $1.1 billion Dubai course plan 'on track'

Despite its dry, desert climate -- temperatures on Monday hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit -- Dubai is rapidly becoming a major golfing destination.

The city, which is banking on tourism to diversify its economy, each year hosts the Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Ladies Masters.

Woods said he drew inspiration for his first course from clubs in the "sandbelt" golfing region near Melbourne, Australia. "We want this golf course to play fast, quick," he said, while remaining appealing to a broad range of players.

Woods is not the only golfer laying out links in Dubai.

An 18-hole course designed by Colin Montgomerie was launched in 2006, and another by Ernie Els opened earlier this year. Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia, Pete Dye and Vijay Singh are also working on courses scheduled to open this year or next.

Dubai developers have tapped other marquee names as well, as they struggle to make their projects stand out in an increasingly crowded real-estate market.

Donald Trump last week hosted a star-studded bash to tout plans for a new hotel on the first of three palm-shaped islands being built in the Persian Gulf.

Brad Pitt has signed on to help design a hotel of his own, while Giorgio Armani is outfitting apartments in the unfinished Burj Dubai, already the world's tallest building. And last month, a Dubai investment company announced that fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld will design homes on a man-made "fashion island" off the city's coast.

Plans for Woods' course were first made public more than a year and a half ago. But as the project and a number of other high-profile developments near completion, fears are growing that Dubai's soaring property market may be due for a correction.

Morgan Stanley recently predicted the city could face a supply glut by next year that could drive property values down by 10 percent. At the same time, the government is widening a probe into alleged corruption of a handful of prominent local companies, including some with ties to the real estate sector.

But Gurg said he wasn't worried Dubai market concerns could make it difficult to fill the high-end houses around the golf course. After all, he said, it's not everywhere homeowners can say their backyard has been designed by Woods himself.

"The Tiger Woods Dubai is catering toward a niche market," Gurg said, adding that the developers were in no hurry but were "focused on quality" to attract potential residents to the 197 exclusive housings.

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