Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the international golf course architecture practice founded by five times Open Champion Peter Thomson with partners Ross Perrett and Tim Lobb, has unveiled its design for a golf course in the most dramatic landscape the company has worked with yet, on hills overlooking the ancient Pyramids.
New Giza, Egypt, is to be built on desert hills with spectacular views to the ancient monuments and includes at least one tee shot where golfers will be required to line up with the Pyramids.
The master plan for the project, which will be a landmark development for Egypt including residential areas, a resort, university, school, hospital plus a dedicated public transport system, has now been fine-tuned and it is hoped construction on the course, which will descend into the bowels of an old quarry, will start early in the new year.
The new route has allowed TPL to create a beautiful course with dramatic golf holes incorporating 50-metre high quarry cliffs.
Tim Lobb said, “There are some breathtaking holes with the par-3 4th and 13th standing out. 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.”
One of the most memorable holes will be the par-3 4th. Standing on the tee of the 185-yard hole, looking across at the Pyramids, the golfer will face a shot over a ravine and onto a green 25-30 metres below the tee, in the depths of the quarry.
Other standout holes include the par-5 12th, which plays down into the quarry bed with the high cliffs running all the way down the left side of the hole, creating a vertical presence and a visually striking hazard. The hole has a double dog-leg with a water hazard in one of the quarry’s many natural lows adding further food for thought for the golfer.
The following hole, another par-3, continues the route down into the quarry with a tee shot to a green 10 metres below and surrounded by the quarry wall, giving the hole the feel of an amphitheatre.
“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,” added Tim Lobb.
TPL www.tpl.eu.com