Cyprus’s bid to become one of Europe’s leading golf destinations has taken another step forward with the news that what could be the island’s biggest development yet has broken ground.

Developer Shacolas Group, one of Cyprus’s largest private companies, first announced the Limni Golf Resort project back in 2007. The development is located on a 2.9 million square metre holding – with 750 metres of beachfront – in the Polis Chryochou district near Pafos on the west of the island.

Limni will have two eighteen hole golf courses, built by the design firms headed by Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. The Player course is located in an old copper mine, higher up on the property, and features a large crater that has been integrated into the design. The Nicklaus course will be built lower down, and will finish at the beachfront.

The first phase of the project, according to Cypriot sources, is due for completion in mid/late 2012, and will include a selection of property options from marina apartments to seafront villas.