Construction has finished at the new Moganshan Gowin club, located in one of China’s main resort areas about 160km from Shanghai. The course is expected to open next spring.

American architect Rick Jacobson broke ground on Moganshan Gowin in mid-2009. The course is part of a mixed-use development that includes hotel, residential, and retail elements.

“It is always nice when construction is completed and the grow-in phase begins, because you know it won’t be long until golfers are out playing the course,” Jacobson said. “From the perspective of the architect there’s nothing more satisfying than knowing golfers are enjoying the great game of golf on a facility we designed. The Mogan Mountain area has been a premier vacation and resort destination for many years, and we are delighted to provide tourists with a course that will serve as another outstanding amenity for the region.”

The front nine awinds through valleys and features elevation changes of 25m from tee to fairway. Several holes are framed by trees and groves of bamboo forests. Seven holes incorporate a variety of water features.

The back nine, which plays through the wide valley, is framed on three sides by mountains and features several large native sand bunkers. Three manmade lakes have been integrated into the design on six holes of the inward nine.

Jacobson said he is especially fond of the home hole. A par five measuring 609 yards from the championship tees, the hole plays along the base of the mountain with a stream along the left of the fairway. The green is located next to a waterfall complex built into an abandoned quarry; a vertical rock formation forms the backdrop for the green.

Moganshan Gowin has been built to be environmentally sustainable and sensitive to valuable water resources, Jacobson said. Stormwater runoff will be collected by the course’s system of streams and lakes and will be directed by gravity flow to a central collection lake. The irrigation pump station then will recycle the water back onto the golf course.

“We feel that environmental sustainability is an important element in the construction of any new golf course,” Jacobson said. “We have the technology to make sure the golf course improves rather than detracts from the environment and we’re committed to using it.”