Schmidt-Curley Design -- the full-service golf-course architecture, master-planning and construction-management firm -- will begin construction of a four course project at Maravia Golf Club in La Paz, Mexico and is partnering with golf great Nick Faldo on a design at the Kanay Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Construction of the first course at Maravia Golf Club begins in April. It will be named "Comillo de Coyote" ("Fang of the Coyote") and is part of a planned golf residential community overlooking the Sea of Cortez. Located 15 minutes north of La Paz in Mexico's Baja California, it's a par 71 of 7,068 yards and will combine desert-style "target golf" with numerous spectacular ocean vistas. The layout will feature extensive, rugged, sandy waste areas with backdrops of the sea and dramatic mountains, as well as the revolutionary Seashore Paspalum grass on its tees, greens, fairways and roughs.
The Kanay Resort course, Schmidt-Curley's seventh joint effort with Nick Faldo, lies 45 minutes south of Cancun on the Mayan Riviera and will snake through lush, primordial jungle. Plans call for an 847-room hotel as well as a residential component.
"Our work in Mexico highlights how active we are throughout the world," says Brian Curley. "We've been able to leverage our significant international experience to seamlessly enter the promising Mexican market."
Mexico is a key, emerging market in Schmidt-Curley's global design footprint and aggressive international business model. The Maravia and Kanay Resort ventures join Amanali Golf Club in Tepeji and Ventanas de San Miguel in San Miguel de Allende as current Schmidt-Curley projects in the country, and other Mexico-based projects have been targeted and could be served by the firm's advantageously located Arizona headquarters.
"The sites we're working in Mexico are quite varied," says Curley, a 30-year industry veteran. "They range from the rugged coastline of the Sea of Cortez to the foothills of the Sierra Madre and will allow us to fully capitalize on the creativity that's a hallmark of our firm."
Schmidt-Curley has designed more than 100 courses in 24 countries on four continents. The firm's credits include the largest golf club in the world, Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China; four-time Skins Game host Terra Lago Golf Club in Indio, California; and Chonburi, Thailand's Amata Spring Golf Club, host of the PGA European Tour's Royal Trophy and Asian Golf Monthly's "Best New Course in Asia" for 2006.
Previous Schmidt-Curley / Faldo collaborations are Mission Hills' Faldo Course (Shenzhen, China), Marriott's Shadow Ridge (Palm Desert, Calif.), Marriott's Desert Ridge (Phoenix, Ariz.), The Wilderness Club (Eureka, Mont.), Katemaya Dunes (Cairo, Egypt) and Ventanas de San Miguel Golf Club (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico).