A golf course that aims to “redefine the golfing experience” in the Philippines is taking shape at an eco-friendly resort community in Bataan Province.
The course has been designed by Kevin Ramsey of Santa Rosa, California-based Golfplan. The “eco-sustainable” track, its developers say, promises to “set the standards for green golf courses in the country,” and it’ll have the potential “to be ranked alongside the best golf courses in the world.”
Clearly, the 18-hole, 7,100-yard layout, Golfplan’s first golf course in the Philippines, aims to be something special. It’ll anchor a seaside community, Anvaya Cove, that’s taking shape on 800 acres just a short drive from Subic Bay Freeport. The community, which includes almost two miles of coastline, will eventually consist of houses, a beach club, a sports club with a pool and a recreation center, a nature preserve, some sports-related attractions, and a variety of low-impact amenities.
Ayala Land, Inc. is developing Anvaya Cove through a subsidiary, Ayala Land Premier. Bobby Dy, the president of Ayala Land Premier, says he hopes to complete the course’s first nine holes by the end of this year and the second nine in 2012. To fund the construction, ALP hopes to sell 1,500 or more membership shares in the community’s recreational amenities, at a top price of about $41,000 a share.
The golf course, Dy said at a press conference, will be “playable for everybody.” Ramsey plans to incorporate drought-tolerant vegetation and less-thirsty grasses into its design, and he doesn’t figure to move a lot of soil to build it.
“The key to the future of the game,” he said at the press conference, “is having eco-designs and minimizing carbon footprint.”
According to a story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Ramsey also said that the course will rank “among the top two golf courses designed by Golfplan.”
This story originally appeared in the World Edition of the Golf Course Report, in a slightly different form. For a sample copy of the World Edition, call 301/680-9460 or write to WorldEdition@aol.com.