Golf Course Architecture - Issue 65, July 2021

47 Photo: European Golf Design Photo: Golf Design India Tom Mackenzie of Mackenzie & Ebert has completed a greens renovation at Minthis Golf Club in Paphos, Cyprus. The original clay push-up greens were rebuilt to conform to USGA specifications. Each green has been expanded by, on average, 25 per cent and they now feature 007 creeping bentgrass. They have also been reshaped to offer more variety and challenge for golfers on and around the greens. Mackenzie has also overseen a renovation of the course’s bunkers, including replacing sand with new material quarried from the Sahara Desert. Greenside bunkers have been reshaped for aesthetic appeal and to divert rainwater to nearby drains, where it can be stored in the course’s main reservoir. Photo: Minthis GC Mackenzie renovates greens at Minthis Golf Design India’s Vijit Nandrajog has been selected to design the new Kharghar Valley golf course near Mumbai, India. It will be the region’s first 18-hole golf course available for public play. “The site is located in a valley along the foothills of the Kharghar Hills and offers splendid views all around,” said Nandrajog. “The topography of the site is dramatic and there are some unique landforms that I intend to utilise in their natural state in the design of the course.” Construction is expected to start by September. Vijit Nandrajog designs new golf course near Mumbai Construction is progressing on a new nine-hole golf course designed by Gary Johnston of European Golf Design in Aktau, Kazakhstan. The course – the country’s fourth – is being built on a mostly sandy site near the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. It will be part of Aktau Resort, a masterplanned community project that includes retail and commercial space, real estate and multiple hotels. Johnson has designed the par-34 layout so that it can be played in loops of three and six holes that start and return to the clubhouse. The golf course is expected to be fully grassed by the end of September 2021, with an opening scheduled for summer 2022. New nine-hole course takes shape in Kazakhstan