Sanford Golf Design will resume its construction of the course at the Hacienda Bay Golf Resort on the North coast of Egypt.
Palm Hills Development, the site’s owners, has hired Sanford Golf Design to provide repurposing design services after three years of non-activity following the postponement of the project in January 2011 due to the turbulent political situation in Egypt.
Sanford Golf Design will reduce the overall course area, turf area and the length of the course at Hacienda Bay, reducing the amount of water consumption and maintenance costs.
GCA spoke to architect John Sanford about the project.
“Hacienda Bay Golf Resort was 60 per cent built when Arab Spring struck Egypt in January 2011,” explained Sanford. “The golf course was originally designed to attract European tourists to the Mediterranean Coast of Egypt, playing 7,240 yards from the championship tees. Following the ousting of then President Mubarak, construction was halted due to uncertainty surrounding the national government. This past summer the counter revolution ousted President Morsi and renewed confidence in the Egyptian development community.”
Sanford Golf Design was contacted by the resort’s owner to begin the ‘repurposing’ plan with new design criteria for the course, which lies approximately 50 miles west of the city of Alexandria
“Since the revolution three years ago there is a new sensitivity towards sustainability,” said Sanford. “In this case sustainability must include financial, environmental and social components. We have reduced the size of the footprint which in turn reduces the turf area and length of the course. Water is so precious in Egypt, and by reducing the turf area we have reduced water consumption and fertilizer inputs going forward.”
Sanford Golf Design will look to reduce water consumption and maintenance costs across the course and practice facilities
The new turf area of the course will be 60 acres compared to the original design of 80 acres. The reduced course area has been replaced by unirrigated buffers and additional villas, which shows a renewed confidence in the second home real estate market in the region. Construction will resume on the course this winter.
“We are very excited to be returning to Egypt and participating in the development of sustainable golf projects on the Mediterranean coast and throughout the country,” concluded Sanford.
For more information on the Hacienda Bay project, take a look at this Sanford Golf Sustainability video.
