Architect firm Thomson Perrett & Lobb (TPL) has unveiled its design for a golf course on hills overlooking the ancient Pyramids of Egypt.

The New Giza course is part of a masterplanned development that includes residential areas, a resort university, school, hospital and a dedicated public transport system. It is hoped construction on the course, which will descend into an old quarry, will start early in 2009.

"There are some breathtaking holes with the par three fourth and thirteenth standing out," said Tim Lobb. "It will be one of the most spectacular landscapes we've worked on, and we are using the natural features to add drama to the journey around the course. We will add bold landscape features with strong bunkering and large greens." The tee on the fourth hole will look across at the Pyramids, with the first shot playing over a ravine and onto a green 25-30 metres below, in the depths of the quarry.

The par five twelfth plays down into the quarry bed with the high cliffs running all the way down the left of the hole. The hole has a double dogleg with a water hazard in one of the quarry's many natural lows.

"As a design firm there are few opportunities to create golf holes where the line of play is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but that is precisely what the golfer will experience at New Giza," said Lobb.

This article first appeared in issue 15 of Golf Course Architecture, published in January 2009.