Jupiter, Fla. — Golf course architect John Sanford will be back in Egypt this summer as work resumes on a pair of golf courses he designed and developers plan to open in the near future.
An 18-hole layout is the centerpiece of the Taba Heights Golf Resort, located under the table mountain of Taba Heights at the northern point of the Gulf of Aqaba near the border of Egypt and Israel. The resort covers 900 acres with a three-mile-long secluded beach on a private bay.
Course construction started in 2000. Much of the heavy earth work and rough grading were completed before construction was halted due to political unrest and economic difficulties in the area, which sits roughly 10 miles from Elat, Israel. Landmasters Construction, an Egyptian firm, is building the course for the Taba Heights Resort Co.
“They restarted the project due to the economic recovery in the region,” Sanford says. “Construction is underway and should be completed in about a year.”
The championship layout will play 7,050 yards from the back tees and feature smooth-rolling, salt-tolerant paspalum turfgrasses throughout.
Two holes will play directly along the Gulf of Aqaba. The 17th is a 410-yard, par-4 running downhill to the beach, with a green sitting just above the high-tide mark and offering views of the Gulf, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The 435-yard, par-4 18th plays back uphill toward the clubhouse with a wadi (dry river bed) between the landing area and green.
Farther down the Red Sea coast, south of Cairo, is Makadi Bay Golf Resort near Hurghada. Sanford’s 18-hole design will be part of an existing five-hotel resort in Makadi Bay, a fashionable destination area. Three new hotels and 200 villas are planned around the course, which will include a comprehensive golf academy featuring a 20-acre practice range, nine-hole pitch-and-putt, and three practice holes.
The 18-hole championship course will have six sets of tees and reach almost 7,500 yards from the tips. The layout works its way through existing sand dunes, with elevation changes of 170 feet affording views of the hotels, Red Sea and mountains. It will also be planted with paspalum turfgrass.
Construction is scheduled to begin in two months, with the golf academy opening in a year and the full course in two years. The sandy topography will require minimal earth moving. Water will come from a deep well located in the mountains and be delivered to an irrigation pond located on the 7th and 8th holes. The course will be planted with paspalum grasses, which should thrive even with irrigation water containing 4,000 parts per million of salt.
Travco, an Egyptian travel agency and hotel operator, is the developer/owner. Sanford Golf Design (SGD) will supply several key construction personnel, while Travco will contribute the equipment and labor force.
Sanford is well known in Egypt as designer of the 18-hole layout at The Jolie Ville Mövenpick Golf & Resort located between the Sinai Desert Mountains and Red Sea on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The course is planted in Bermudagrass and features six lakes, excellent practice facilities and a par-3 course.