Source: Fiji Times
World number one Vijay Singh announced in Florida yesterday that his golf course design company will draw up a spectacular new golf course at the Natadola Marine Resort, in Nadroga.
Samba Communications said in a statement that the design agreement was formalised yesterday between Natadola Land Holdings, the owner of the project, Asia Pacific Resort International Limited (APRIL) the project developer, and Singh.
"This is a dream I have had since I was a young boy -- to design a golf course in my homeland," said Singh, who arrives in Fiji next year.
"We have a beautiful piece of land to work with at Natadola, and a developer with the financial resources and clear vision to create a resort golf experience that will rival any in the world.
"We have been pursuing this project for seven years, and all the pieces have now come together to allow us to move forward confidently and quickly.
"I am honoured to be a part of the Natadola Marine Resort project, and I look forward to working as hard on the design of the golf course as I do on my golf game.
"I don't want to design a lot of golf courses, but the ones that I do design will be on special pieces of land with exceptional developers like NLH," Singh said.
He said they had dedicated a lot of effort so far on the golf course routing plan.
"We created four alternate plans before selecting and further refining the one that not only delivers a great golf course, but one that really showcases the surrounding villas and hotels which are an integral part of the development.
"Sixteen of the holes have ocean views and seven holes play down to or along the water.
"I really can't describe how visually stunning this course will be, and we're only moving 108,000 cubic metres of earth, which reflects the quality of the routing plan and how well it fits the land.
"We're paying particular attention to the needs and skill levels of today's resort golfer so our guests and residents come back again and again," said Singh.
Said Vijay Singh "I promise you that we'll be able to hold any tournament in the world if need be, but we're really going to making this a memorable and enjoyable course for everyone," Singh said.
"The course will be challenging, but my approach is not to design a golf course where I'm the only one who can break par.
"While we thoroughly reviewed all of our options, the golf course design decision really was quite easy for us" NLH director said James Raman said.
"Vijay is our national sports hero, and he has over the past seven years consistently demonstrated his enthusiasm for our project and to putting Fiji firmly on the global golfing map.
"Natadola Marine Resort will inaugurate a new era to promote Fiji as a golf destination," Gerard Saliot, CEO of APRIL Development, "and who better to lead that effort than Vijay," he said.
Fiji National Provident Fund chief executive Olota Rokovunisei said FNPF Investments had joined with the promoter, Natadola Marine Resort, which had spent several years developing the concept for the resort which is consistent with the FNPF's objectives of providing strong and secure returns to its members through diversifying its investment portfolio.
Natadola Marine Resort is a 580-hectare (1450 acre) integrated resort golf development on the white sand beaches of the Coral Coast, located on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu, 45 minutes from Nadi International Airport.
The project includes an 18-hole Vijay Singh - designed golf course, exclusive golf and ocean villas and five-star resort hotels that will be announced shortly. APRIL Development have set timelines that will see construction of the golf course and the first hotel commencing in March, 2005. For more information on Natadola Marine Resort, please visit www.natadolafiji.com.
