Golf Inc - Spring 2012 - (Page 20)
Development Roundup n A country music festival promoter hopes to develop 750 acres in British Columbia into a community and amusement park. Claude Lilievre, who runs the Merritt Mountain Music Festival, laid out plans for an equestrian community, 600 single-family houses, 400 townhouses and a golf course designed by Delta, British Columbia-based Ted Locke, who once apprenticed with Graham Cooke. Lilievre has budgeted $3 million for the layout and hopes to break ground in 2013. n Grupo Vidanta, the biggest golf course developer in Mexico, has inked Greg Norman to design the second course at Nuevo Vallarta, just north of Puerto Vallarta’s international airport. The resort, which includes three miles of beachfront, is already home to hundreds of vacation houses, numerous hotels, a 300-slip marina and shopping areas. Grupo Vidanta expects to break ground on the new course next year, with a scheduled arrival for all 18 of its holes in the summer of 2013. n Cuba’s Carbonera Club has hired Tony Jacklin, who has a design office in Bradenton, Fla., but can work in Cuba because he’s a Brit. Carbonera will take shape on 425 acres of government-owned property just outside Varadero, about an hour’s drive east of Havana. Besides Jacklin’s 18-hole, championship-length course, the community will include 100 villas, 800 condos, a 120room hotel, a spa, a marina, a beach club and a Jacklin-branded golf academy. Carbonera is being developed by Esencia Hotels & Resorts, an affiliate of London-based Havana Holdings. n Charlie Pasarell, the former tennis star, will open what the Golf Channel calls “the best golf course in Puerto Rico.” The track is the centerpiece of Royal Isabela, a private resort community on the island’s northwestern coast. Friends and would-be property owners have been playing the 18-hole, David Pfaffdesigned track since 2009, but Pasarell has held off the official unveiling. He has plans to build additional courses. n J. Michael Poellot has designed two golf courses in Panama, and this year he expects to break ground on a third, at Las Olas Golf & Beach Resort in Playa La Barqueta, a former cattle plantation. While he waits to commence construction at Las Olas, Poellot is putting the finishing touches on 18-hole courses at two other communities in Panama: Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resort in San Carlos, on the Esmeralda coast and Cielo Paraiso in Boquette, in the island’s western highlands. 20 Golf Inc. Spring 2012 n Taymouth Castle in Scotland will reopen this summer with a significant rerouting and two new holes constructed close to the River Tay. There are also nine new greens, 18 new tees and complete renovation of all bunkers. The course has also been lengthened to 7,000 yards. The historic castle is also being renovated into a hotel and luxury retreat. n Thomson Perrett & Lobb has signed a contract to design a new course outside the Nigerian city of Calabar. The 18-hole course will be built on a dramatic riverside site just outside the city, the capital of Cross River State, whose state government is developing the project. The development covers a total site of 400 hectares and includes an international convention centre, which is already under construction. ▼ ▼
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