Six time Major champion Nick Faldo will open Elea Golf Club in Cyprus, his firm’s latest design project, this autumn.

The course, located between the town of Paphos its international airport, will be the centrepiece of Elea Estate, a development of villas and apartments, a boutique hotel and spa facilities.

The par 71, 6,800 yard golf course occupies a hillside location above the Mediterranean and features extensive weathered outcrops of limestone. Paspalum grass has been used throughout.

Faldo said: “When we designed the golf course at Elea Golf Club we decided to put the emphasis on thoughtful, rather than big-hitting, golf and there are plenty of strategic riddles for the golfer to explore and unravel over all 18 holes.”

Elea’s holes are fringed by unirrigated swathes of colourful native ‘garrigue’ flora. Ross Robertson, director of golf operations at the Elea Golf Club, said: “For too long the international golf business has been focused on turning over numbers. At Elea we intend to change that. We want everyone, whether a golfer or non-golfer, to experience a real club; where everyone is welcomed and everyone can feel at home. Furthermore, with a brilliant golf course that blends seamlessly into the beauty of the landscape, our guests will be in awe of what is a truly remarkable place.”

To create this club feel, a limited number of annual memberships will be available. Robertson added: “We have a responsibility to serve the community in Cyprus as well as attracting visitors from overseas. We are keen to develop a healthy membership that will enjoy all the benefits, both playing and social, of being a part of a golf club which epitomises all that is good about our great game.”

Editor Adam Lawrence was the first golf journalist to see the Elea course recently. A full review of the project will be published in GCA issue 21, out in early July.