Golf Course Architecture - Issue 58 October 2019

42 Construction is under way on the first nine holes of the Yas Acres golf course in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, designed by Fry/Straka. “This first phase is a 156-acre site and is all core golf and serves as the centrepiece for a new housing development on Yas Island,” said Dana Fry. An additional nine holes will be added at a later date. “We have lots of space to play golf and create memorable golf holes. We are also creating a few big ridgelines up to eight metres in height that bisect through the centre of the property and create separation between golf holes and help frame them too.” Fry expects grassing to be complete by late summer 2020, with the course to open in early 2021. #1 #3 #9 #4 #8 #6 #2 #5 Image:Fry/Straka Construction under way on new Yas Acres course Global round-up TEE BOX Vattanac Golf Resort in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, has opened its East course, the first of two Faldo Design layouts planned for the resort, which will also include villas, a hotel, shops and a school. The 7,500-yard East course opened in May and the second course, the West, is set to be completed later this year. “Vattanac Golf Resort has been one of the more challenging but rewarding projects Faldo Design has undertaken, as we literally had a blank canvas with one or two trees on a flat plot of land that used to be occupied by rice paddy fields,” said Andrew Haggar, lead architect at Faldo Design. “The opening of the East course was a proud moment for the design team – the golf course looks absolutely superb and the design features will soon become a talking point around the world.” New Faldo Design layout opens in Cambodia Photo: Vattanac Golf Resort