Co-owners Luis Cano and John Fair have unveiled the first Arthur Hills golf course in Mexico at Paraiso del Mar, a residential resort community on 1,700 acres of secluded peninsula that extends out into the Sea of Cortez.
|
|
Unfettered by trees and following the natural contour of the land, the course at Paraiso del Mar (“Paradise of the Sea”) takes full advantage of its sandy peninsular setting. The verdant fairways, some 80 yards in width, lay across the striking dunescape like a blanket, providing a stunning contrast to the desert landscape all around it.
“Welcome to the British Isles, Mexico style,” says Brian Yoder, the partner at Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates (AHSF) who directed the Paraiso del Mar project. “Creating a course here was like throwing down a tablecloth, in one sense. We employed a very light touch, as they did when creating the classic links of Scotland. We did it this way to preserve the existing natural beauty and, from a golfing perspective, we did it because so much of the existing terrain was dramatic enough the way we found it.”
The par-72, 7,100-yard course at Paraiso del Mar is indeed seamlessly woven into the natural surroundings of the peninsula, which the locals call “El Magote.” The 18-hole routing is replete with ocotillo cacti, ocean views and, an ever-shifting, windswept sea of sand dunes. Paraiso del Mar will be Mexico’s first Audubon International Signature Sanctuary development, golf’s highest environmental standard.
“We’re proud to earn the Audubon distinction,” said John Fair, co-developer and CEO of Paraiso del Mar. “Preserving the local environment was of utmost importance to us. While the entire development occupies nearly 1,700 acres, more than 800 of those acres have been set aside for wildlife sanctuaries, mangrove preserves and a biological corridor.”
The course architects at Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates are world renowned for the environmental sensitivity of their work. The Toledo, Ohio-based firm also designed the first Audubon International Signature Sanctuary course in the United States (Colliers Reserve GC in Naples, Fla.) and the first in Europe, Oitavos Dunes in Cascais, Portugal.
A striking line of “foredunes” separates the course at Paraiso del Mar from the beach itself, but Arthur Hills’ team deftly weaves these scenic, delicate landforms into routing. Case in point: The green settings at the par-3 6th and 14th holes. The 6th bumps right up against the foredunes and overlooks the beach. The putting surface here is unique; surrounded by pot bunkers but flanked by a large, natural bowl that has been incorporated into the green itself.
Sand of a different sort – actual dune sand, rounded to an ultra-fine standard by eons of wind buffeting – features in the layout’s distinctive bunkering, which accents the look of Paraiso del Mar along its fairways. The bunkers were designed mainly in the “drop-in” sunken pit style, while others are notched into the native vegetation that flanks both sides of the holes. Fitting for this links course, most of the greens are large with bold contours. There is even a double-green shared by holes 4 and 7, another nod to The Old Course at St. Andrews.
