Irish architect Jeff Howes has begun work on a new 36 hole project in the city of Liuzhou in southwestern China.

The Liu Jiang International Golf Club site is located alongside the River Liu, around fifteen minutes from downtown Liuzhou, a city of almost four million people in Guangxi province. Howes and his associate Paul O’Brien have routed the two eighteens, called the River and Mountain courses, to take advantage of the views of the karst (limestone) mountains for which the region is known.

Eight holes of the River course will play alongside the Liu. “The bunkers will be less formal in shape and the course will have a wild and natural appearance, with large areas of tall fescues being used for separation and contrast,” said Howes. “The Mountain course is located closer to the hills and will have more formal shaped bunkers, more tree-lined holes.”

Most of the bulk earthworks have been completed on the River course and fine shaping is now underway, with three professional shapers provided by the development group. Howes has specified paspalum grass for the playing surfaces. “With water quality and scarcity being an issue in China, the use of paspalum has been welcomed by the authorities,” he said. The River course should be open for play this October.