Ground has been broken on the first PGA Village development outside the US. The project, on Cat Island in the Bahamas, is a collaboration between the PGA of America and a development team headed by US firm Southworth Development, which recently acquired the Machrihanish Dunes project in Scotland.

The 1,906 acre property waterfront property includes over two miles of beachfront and will be developed to include a Rees Jones-designed golf course, PGA branded golf cottages, and assorted other elements. Construction has begun and is expected to take 24-36 months.

Located 325 miles from Miami and 130 miles from Nassau, Cat Island is the sixth largest island in the Bahamas and features the highest elevations in the archipelago.

The recent groundbreaking was attended by a large delegation of government officials including Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. Ingraham called the development “a new and never before experienced economic shot-in-the-arm” for one of The Bahamas most underdeveloped islands. The PGA Village is expected to create over 200 construction jobs and more then 900 permanent positions.

Cat Island partner, David Southworth, president and CEO of Southworth Development said: “We truly believe that in two to three years, as phase one of this great project is completed, we will no longer be in a world-wide recession – we feel the timing of this development could not be better. We know that in this day and age, customers will not buy until developers have built the amenities and facilities. Because of this, the partnership is committed to the funding and completion of phase one. Today is the first big step of many to come.”