Mimosa Plus Golf Course in the Philippines has reopened following a 36-hole renovation project overseen by the Nelson & Haworth design firm.

The Mimosa golf complex was built in the mid-1990s on Clark Field, a former US air base that was damaged in 1991 by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. As a result, the US military abandoned the base, and its 18-hole course, and returned it to the Philippine authorities.

In 1992/1993, the government redeveloped the Clark area, which is approximately 100 kilometres north of Manila, as a free port zone, and appointed golf architecture firm Nelson & Wright to design a completely new 36-hole golf complex on the former Clark Field. Twenty-seven holes opened in 1994 with the final nine following shortly afterwards. Mimosa now comprises the 18-hole championship course (Mountainview) and two nine-hole layouts (Acacia and Lakeview).

In the early 2010s, The Bases Conversion and Development Authority sued Antonio Gonzales, Mimosa’s chair, and took custody and ownership of the property. “After this takeover, the course saw little in the way of investment or maintenance and over time conditions at Mimosa had deteriorated significantly,” said Brett Mogg, partner at Nelson & Haworth.

In 2016, however, a change of ownership signalled a better future. Mogg and Neil Haworth (who passed away in June 2024) were approached by Filinvest, a major Filipino property developer, and were appointed to develop a 36-hole masterplan.

Filinvest wanted to reserve part of the property for the development of a shopping mall and more, which meant that several holes on the Lakeview nine needed to be reconfigured, while retaining most of the original routing. “The reasoning for retaining the routing was that the original worked well and there was a desire and government requirement to retain all of the large mimosa trees that form the backbone of the course’s character,” said Mogg. “Our work was largely to improve playing conditions, which was made possible by a new Rain Bird irrigation system, an AquaFUSION polyethylene fusion system by CMF Global and encouraging the native zoysia to take over.”

Other changes have included green expansion and the removal of bunkers on the Mountainview course that were only impacting high handicappers. This work to improve conditions and playability has helped the resort spread play more evenly over the 36 holes.