The Hindu Business Line : Nick Faldo to develop golf course, academy at Lavasa

The design project will be undertaken by his company Faldo Design and will be spread over 150 acres at Damanhole town at the hill city being developed by Lavasa Corporation Ltd, part of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) Ltd.

To open in 2012

Faldo Design will contribute an 18 hole-championship standard golf course, which will form an integral part of this new project. The academy is scheduled to open in 2012 and will be the first of four sports academies proposed at Mugaon.

Mr Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman, Lavasa Corporation, said, “We are delighted to partner with Nick Faldo to create this golf course. The golf course aims to meet the highest standards with every contour shaped to meet Faldo’s rigorous benchmarks.”

Aesthetic effect

Mr Nick Faldo said “This dramatically rolling site is topographically very interesting with large changes of elevation and an abundance of different flora and fauna. With areas characterised by rocky outcrops, rice paddies and gently cascading streams, there is so much to offer a course designer in terms of inspiration here and I’m sure that we’ll be able to make use of these features to great strategic and aesthetic effect.”

Established in 1991, Faldo Design is an international golf course architectural practice dedicated to designing outstanding golf courses in every continent. It has completed projects in 14 different countries, including those at Sporting Club Berlin in Germany, Chart Hills in the UK, the Faldo Stadium Course at Mission Hills in Shenzhen, China, Ocean Dunes at Phan Thiet in Vietnam, the Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert and the Rock golf course at the Red Leaves resort in Ontario. It is currently working in North America, the Caribbean, Europe, Russia, Africa and Asia-Pacific.