Nauka Nayarit is a new Fazio Design layout in the final stages of development south of Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
The course will be available to hotel guests and residents of a new private community, which will include a marina village, yacht club and Ritz-Carlton Reserve.
“Nauka is a word that represents the four distinct environments the course has been built upon,” says Mike Gooden, director of golf at Nauka Nayarit. “There’s the beach, a tropical jungle, a central dune area and rocky, almost mountainous terrain. It is a very dynamic site that allows us to create some special golf holes.”
Construction started in early 2023 and the course has now been grassed with Atlas Turf International and Pure Seed’s Pure Dynasty seeded paspalum and is growing in. Ten holes opened for preview play in late December 2024.
“We’ve designed three holes on the ocean – essentially sand dunes along the beach – and the foundation of the routing started from there,” says Bryan Bowers, architect at Fazio Design. “There’s dramatic elevation change – some places are 50 feet above sea level. The eighth is the pinnacle of that elevation and it has long range views of the mountains to the west and the ocean to the east. Holes fourteen, fifteen and sixteen play along the ocean and then the final two holes play back through the jungle.
“I remember walking through the jungle with the project team in snake boots and carrying machetes. We couldn’t see three feet in front of our faces! That area has been transformed and you’ll now find yourself standing on a fairway framed by enormous banyan trees, making for a very cool environment to play golf in. You then move on to the dunescape holes – all of that was created. The dunes almost look like they have always been there. And then you reach the ocean holes – it’s not just a single green sitting on the ocean – it’s three consecutive golf holes along the beach.”
A key aspect of the project has been the significant landscape programme. “The golf course is built out of sand that was dredged from the marina,” says Gooden. “In the central dune area we created, we’ve planted palm trees and a variety of vegetation to really frame the holes. The landscaping really ties the holes together, and then we developed a variety of looks to make each hole unique.”
Bowers adds: “We’ve tried to create variety in terms of elevation changes with uphill and downhill holes, angles and multiple yardages – the course will have five sets of tees to allow for member enjoyment and test players who want to play a 7,500-yard golf course.
“The entire layout is built on sand – in some areas there is around two to three metres of sand. However, we did make a little bit of a pivot on bunkering – they now have a fabric liner and white silica sand has been imported so they are now more formal bunkers.”
An in-house team built the course, with Fazio Design’s Bowers, Andy Banfield or Ron Smith visiting the site regularly. Brent Harvey was responsible for irrigation design and Marc Logan oversaw construction agronomics.
Practice facilities, a short-game area and a nine-hole short layout are also in construction.
This article first appeared in the January 2025 issue of Golf Course Architecture. For a printed subscription or free digital edition, please visit our subscriptions page.