New course takes shape at Somabay on Egypt’s east coast A new course by Lobb + Partners is being built at Somabay Golf Club on the east coast of Egypt. “Our new 18-hole design is created to complement the existing Gary Player Design layout,” said architect Tim Lobb. “It was not our intention to design a traditional championship course but to create a family friendly and manageable test of golf for the holiday golfer.” The layout is being constructed in three phases of six holes, with the first six now being built and grassed. The full 18 is expected to open in winter 2026, with Lobb expecting there to be some preview play before then. “The golf course will occupy some of the internal land of this epic peninsula and offer sea views from nearly every hole,” said Lobb. Somabay lies on a peninsula that juts into the Red Sea. “The original site lacked detailed contouring but had the expansive views of the Red Sea. The views and scale of the site were the main inspiration for the golf course intent.” The course is being built by the same Egyptian teams that Lobb trained during the construction of the club’s golf academy, which he designed with James Edwards of EDI Golf. The shaping philosophy is to ‘make it look like Mars’. Course superintendent Andrew Hughes is the project manager and will look after grow-in of the Pure Dynasty playing surfaces from Atlas Turf International and Pure Seed. “Fun is the intended playing experience at our new course at Somabay,” said Lobb. “We have not created a long course – it will be a par 71 of 6,200 yards. We started with eight formal bunkers in the design and have already taken a few out. Sand waste areas and abrupt landscape mounding with native grasses which give a striking visual appeal and provoke a strategy for this ‘sleeper’ of a golf challenge.” 18 TEE BOX
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