NEW GOLF PROJECTS

NEW GOLF AND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT IN IRAN 

Nasser Farzaneh, MD Anglo Hispano Spain

Interview with Nasser Farzaneh, November 2009

N asser Farzaneh, Managing Director of the Spanish Iranian Company “Anglo Hispano Spain” revealed today in an interview with The Travelling Golfer’s Guide that his company is well into its plans to create a golf and sports development in Iran. “We have been sitting on them for a couple of years”, he admitted “But it wasn’t the time to launch such a revolutionary project, especially as it is centred around Golf. This will be the first golf course development in Iran, but we are sure it certainly won’t be the last”.

“Over the past two years we have been in touch with a major consortium in Iran to back the project, but with international politics as they were we bided our time. We feel that the moment has now arrived”.

“We have called it Cyrus Park after the famous Iranian King Cyrus the Great, who around 2500 years ago laid down a human rights charter which was more just and comprehensive than either the declaration laid down after the French civil war in the eighteenth century or the United Nations charter issued in the nineteenth century”.

“Having seen how popular this type of development has become in Spain I am sure something similar would be well received by Iranians”, he said, adding: “Golf has never caught on in Iran, but I feel that is because, not only has it a reputation as a decadent Western sport, but also no-one has bothered to present it properly as a sport for all ages which dates back to well over six hundred years. Golf brings out the best in everyone who plays the game as it is based on trust and truth”. He continued: “To develop the game in Iran we intend to establish a golf academy to teach both men and women from 7 to 70 years old. We are aware there are already some golfers within Iran because of the good work being done by the Iranian Golf Federation with whom we will work to promote this addictive outdoor sport.”  

Artist's impression development

Farzaneh added: “Even to those who are not sports-minded the delightful surroundings of a well designed and maintained golf course present pleasant views and a serene ambiance in which to live. The property that is planned for the first course will range from town houses, apartments to individual villas. We will also develop 100-bedroom golf hotel overlooking the course to attract the golf tourist market, which thrives very well in Europe, Southeast Asia and North and South America. I am sure this development will be the first of many that we hope to create.”

Enlarging on his company’s planning Farzaneh said: “Although our major market will naturally be within Iran there are millions of Iranian ex-pats throughout the world who want to have a positive link with their country of origin. This we intend to provide with a timeshare operation which I am sure will appeal to this large body of nationals who want to be able to visit their country and relatives as well as having an affordable tangible asset within the country”.

Artist's impression hotel entrance

Farzaneh further commented: “We have already spent a considerable amount of time and money on market research and produced some delightful visionary evidence of what we will achieve, together with detailed plans of a residential golf academy and clubhouse. These illustrations back up our claims that this first full eighteen hole layout, which will be situated within an easy distance from Tehran, will be popular to golfers and non-golfers alike from its inception.

For the benefit of those knowing nothing about the game he added: “A full size golf course consists of 18 holes, each one varying in length and hazards challenging the skills of each individual player. His score at the end of play is the total sum of the times he has hit the ball before achieving holing the ball on each of the 18 holes. It may sound easy, but it isn’t and the skill of the player only improves with practise. It is a satisfying sport and a healthy one, played over grass, providing a pleasant outdoor experience and exercise”.

Artist's impression golf course and accommodation

“The first phase is planned for 27 holes, which will give the golfer the choice of three different 18 hole layouts that he can play. An additional 18 hole layout is planned according to demand. It is essential and our intention to make sure that golfing areas are ecologically friendly with guidelines laid down by an international body regarding watering, fertilising, including construction and maintenance of the area”.

The time required to construct a golf course, seed it and allow grass to grow strong enough for play is 2.5 to 3 years during which time the clubhouse and other constructions such as the hotel can be built.

He continued: “Practice is an ongoing necessity for all players and a pleasurable one. A driving range not only provides practice facilities, but is also a popular social area. It is intended that a golf academy will be a major feature and attraction to Cyrus Golf Park. The academy would have all that is required to teach the game to players of all ages by professional golfers who will also handle the organisation for golf tournaments. Such a facility would be marketed not only to local clientele, but used as an amenity for hotel guests. The promotion of junior golf would be a priority to popularise the sport for its ongoing success”.

Turning to accommodation for tourists Farzaneh said: “A four-star 100-bedroom hotel, limited in height to only two floors - ground and first - with full amenities including gymnasium, health spa, quality restaurants, swimming pools, etc in luxury surroundings will be constructed. Facilities will be available for small management conferences. Here again investment opportunities are also available for those who wish to purchase a suite and benefit not only from its increasing value, but its annual income. If all the rooms and suites are bought by investors all that would be needed is a management company to handle the ongoing running of the hotel for the benefit of these investors”.

With regard to private property, he said: “Investment in property can be made in respect of villas, townhouses and apartments. Luxury villas designed to individual preferences will be available in selective areas throughout the Park. Within the whole development there will be approximately ten village areas. Attractive townhouses will be available with a two-story - ground and first - layout, ranging from one to three bedrooms in size. All rooms are generously proportioned with high ceilings. Clusters of apartments will be built throughout the development, self contained with a maximum height of two stories in blocks of varying sizes, giving a quieter and more personal feeling to the urbanization”.

Enlarging on other facilities that will be available: “In tandem with golf, soccer and general athletics training facilities are also under consideration as many sportsmen and women enjoy golf as a relaxing pastime after their training. A tennis centre with a similar set-up as the golf academy will feature in the planning of the development. Polo is also being considered as it was first created in Iran over 2000 years ago and is still very popular in many parts of the world. This will require playing fields, stabling and an equestrian club. We will also create a race track”. He added: “A comprehensive shopping centre with selected representation would be provided to cater for all residents and visitors.  A medical centre would also be established. The final touch to Cyrus Golf Park will be a large conference centre and exhibition hall with the latest IT technology and communications with simultaneous translation for approximately 2.500 delegates”.

Artist's impression equestrian centre

Summing up Farzaneh commented: “We know it’s an ambitious project, but I am convinced it will be popular and it will work plus it will help Iran's economy with the amount of jobs that will be created. Similar developments on a smaller scale will sprout like mushrooms – you mark my words”.

Nasser Farzaneh can be contacted  on: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

NICK FALDO TO DESIGN ‘HIDDEN GEM’ IN VIETNAM

3rd September 2009:

F aldo Design has been appointed by the Banyan Tree Indochina Hospitality Fund L.P. to develop an 18-hole championship standard golf course at the Laguna Hue resort located between Danang and Hue city in central Vietnam.

The Nick Faldo designed course will form the centrepiece of a luxury integrated resort complex situated on a 280-hectare beachfront site that when fully developed will have approximately 2000 hotel keys under the management of international branded hotel and resort operators, award-winning spas, resort residences, convention facilities and a town centre with retail and recreational facilities.

Six-time Major winner Faldo commented: “This is a stunning and very diverse piece of land with gently rolling terrain, splashes of sand throughout and an impressive array of natural design features.  We’re spoilt for choice, really: our layout will incorporate sand dunes, rice-paddy fields, trees and scrub, wonderful exposed rock formations as well as a section of dramatic coastline and a routing that will visit each of these features on both nines.”

“For this part of Vietnam it’s a real hidden gem.  We have the opportunity to create a very strategic golf course that offers golfers an abundance of shot and route options, and players will need to plot their way through some very picturesque surroundings.  The course will sport a ruggedly-handsome look with a real sense of place.  I’m confident that we can produce a finished product that has the potential to become a genuine talking point in the region.”

Michael Ayling, Managing Director Laguna Resorts & Hotels PLC, added: “Laguna Hue is positioned to be one of the largest premium integrated resorts and second home destinations in Vietnam and across South East Asia, spurring interest and high expectations from residential investors, resort guests and business partners.  We are very pleased to be working with Faldo Design to build a unique top-quality course and raise the bar on creating a world-class destination come 2012”.

This new course at Laguna Hue will be a prominent addition to Nick Faldo’s expanding portfolio of golf courses.  In Asia alone, Faldo Design has recently opened courses in China and Cambodia, and has also commenced work on a new project in India.

 FALDO SIGNS ‘STUNNING’ INDIAN COURSE DESIGN PROJECT

8th June 2009:

N ick Faldo has announced details of a new golf course design project being undertaken by the six-time Major winner’s company, Faldo Design, at the Lavasa hill city near Pune, western India.

The 25,000 acre development – which straddles seven hills and is built along more than 60 kms of lakefront – will incorporate several pioneering residential and commercial initiatives, a varied collection of hotels and resort activities, as well as numerous centres of education and sporting excellence.  Lavasa will be India’s first hill city based on the principals of New Urbanism and Faldo Design will contribute an 18-hole championship standard golf course, which will form an integral part of this exciting and ambitious new project. The company has been given a large and very diverse site on which to route their course and detailed design work is planned to start later this year.

Faldo commented: “I’m very excited to be working on what promises to be an absolutely stunning project – a real benchmark for golf in India.
This dramatically rolling site is topographically very interesting with large changes of elevation and an abundance of different flora and fauna. We’re still at the early conceptual stages, but we certainly plan to create a golfing journey that takes in all of the various elements and distinct features on offer. Part of the course routing will play towards the striking Lake Warasgaon and we’ll incorporate the many extraordinary backdrops and vistas that stretch all the way towards Mumbai. With areas characterised by rocky outcrops, rice paddies and gently cascading streams, there is so much to offer a course designer in terms of inspiration here and I’m sure that we’ll be able to make use of these features to great strategic and aesthetic effect.”

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman, Lavasa Corporation Limited, said, "We are delighted to partner with Nick Faldo to create this championship-standard golf course and to set up what we believe will be India's most sought after golf course academy in Lavasa.
This tie-up is yet another testimony in forging best-in-class global partnerships at Lavasa. Faldo Design’s golf course will be a natural fit for Lavasa and will further reinforce Lavasa as the ideal destination for spirited people with varied tastes as well as an ultimate year-round recreational destination. The golf course will meet the highest standards with every contour painstakingly shaped to meet Faldo’s rigorous benchmarks."

The company’s project at Lavasa will sit perfectly within Faldo Design’s very diverse global portfolio of golf course design projects. With courses soon to be opened in such contrasting places as Montana, Northern Ireland and the Dominican Republic, Faldo is fast earning himself a reputation as one of the best player-designers in the industry.

SOUTH KOREA'S NEWEST CITY EMERGES

A Jack Nicklaus golf course and convention centre will be among the major enticements to investors in Songdo, which lies at the heart of a $200bn development which its creators hope could reinvigorate the country's flagging economy. A 20-minute drive from South Korea's main international airport, a new city is rising out of the mud flats at the edge of the Yellow Sea.

Although growth is slowing in the world's 13th biggest economy, thanks to the global credit crunch and South Korea's place on the map, squeezed between low-cost China and hi-tech Japan, the government is hoping to turn that geographical position to its advantage and transform itself into a regional business hub for north-east Asia. Songdo is central to that ambition. It is in the Incheon Free Enterprise Zone (IFEZ) which means there will be financial incentives for overseas firms to relocate. But will companies be willing to relocate in the middle of a global slowdown?

"I think a risk can be changed into an opportunity," says Lee Heon-seok, Commissioner of Incheon Free Enterprise Zone Authority. And location is on its side, according to Stan Gale, a US developer helping to build Songdo.

"It's an hour-and-a-half's flight to Shanghai from Incheon Airport, it's an hour-and-a-half to Tokyo, and there are 50 cities with a population of over a million within a short plane ride of this location."
Foreign investment in South Korea is falling and the government wants to lure overseas firms to Songdo. But not just any firms. South Korea is finding it hard to compete with the low wage bills offered by China and Vietnam. So it wants to move away from the labour-intensive industries on which it built its fortunes and towards knowledge-based business.

"Not necessarily IT," says the boss of IFEZ's Business Opportunity Bureau, Min Hee-kyong. "It could be anything from art all the way to bio or nanotechnology, the brain-based industries."  To attract that sort of business, Songdo has been designed as a so-called ubiquitous city, with wireless networks and radio-frequency identification linking all major information systems - residential, business, medical and governmental. Residents will have smart phones they can use to pay their bills, access medical records

or just open their doors. And if all goes according to plan, they will be able to time their commute outside with the changing walk signals on the street 50 stories below their apartments.