Links-style golf in Chinese mountains? Elephants and tigers on Cambodian fairways? Teeing off in the hot winds of an emirate’s desert? Absolutely. North, south, east and west, the excellent team at the Arnold Palmer Design Company (APDC) is busy bringing great golf to all corners of the globe—and we do mean all corners.

“There’s a lot going on, and it’s all international right now,” says Erik Larsen, APDC Executive Vice President and Senior Golf Course Architect. “It’s really exciting; there are beautiful sites out there and we’re working in countries we’ve never worked before.”

There are many projects in many places, but just a few of the countries APDC is currently working with include Brazil, Russia, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates, Costa Rica, China and the Philippines.

PHILIPPINES

John Hamilton, Vice President, says the newly completed Sun Valley course outside of Manila recently opened to rave reviews.

Just 39 minutes from the city, the mountain course features dramatic drop-offs and holes styled around the significant elevation changes.

“Stylistically we’re responding to all the existing conditions—the waterfalls, trees in the jungle—without disturbing the natural surroundings. On one of the holes, the backdrop of the green is a 20-foot wide natural rock waterfall.”

As beautiful (if a little less dry), the Imperial course on Mactan Island is a reclamation project built entirely on an existing mud flat.

“All the golf is on the sea,” says Hamilton. “It will be unusual and unique for the Philippines. The tidal movement will flush the course lakes every day.”

Another project in the Philippines will also be an exercise in reclamation. It will involve turning an old quarry into a top-notch golf course.

“It should be dramatic,” says Hamilton.

CHINA

The big story in China is Beijing Cascades. A 27-hole golf development built with the Beijing Open and the China Open in mind, Cascades will be a showpiece course to be sure.

As impressive as the course will be when it’s completely finished (18 holes are open now), the story of its construction is absolutely amazing. As with most Beijing courses, the site for Cascades was essentially flat. To provide elevation changes, 2.5 million cubic meters of soil were brought in and laid down. Now, the elevation changes near 50 feet! Giant waterfalls— some 70 to 100 feet wide—were created, 7,000 trees were planted and countless hours were invested shaping, trimming and adjusting the course to be the best in the country. No doubt it will prove to be exactly that when it opens shortly.

Another Chinese course, this one built in the mountains over a lake in Kunming, will provide drama as well, though its elevation changes are 100 percent natural—and 100 percent dramatic.

“Four holes play elevation changes of 300 feet above the lake,” Hamilton says. “They play over canyons, so on the tee shot you’re looking down these 150-foot deep gorges, and then they play down to the lake’s elevation and along the lake’s edge.”

Brandon Johnson, another APDC Golf Course Architect working on the course, agrees that the site “has a lot of character.” In addition to the fact that some of the holes sit up on cliffs and others play along the shore of the lake, he says the inland, links-style course has a lot of native grasses on-site that give it a special visual identity.

As Johnson put it, the course is “pure nature, untouched.”

When it’s open, it will definitely be one to see (if you can manage to get there).

RUSSIA

One of the more recent APDC projects to come along is a job in Moscow, which will be headed up by APDC Golf Course Architect Thad Layton. Russia has come late to golf but the potential for the sport is massive in a country where land and water availability is excellent and where the population are fanatical about sports. Layton says he’s already getting busy working up the course layout, and the plot, which includes some interesting river frontage, has excellent potential. We are dreaming of Dacha’s and saving up our roubles already.

CAMBODIA

A recent addition to the world of serious golf course development, Cambodia is coming on strong with Bokor Golf Resort Mountain, a 36-hole golf development set in a national park three hours south of Phnom Penh.

Now in the design phase, Hamilton says the area features tigers, elephants, carnivorous plants and all manner of other exotic flora and fauna.

“There’s lots of biodiversity,” he says. “The course is at 300 feet in secondary jungle, not primary forest. There’s easy access and no environmental impact. There’s even a view to the South China Sea.”

With a strong developer behind it, this course is one to keep an eye on.

OTHERS

Like its far eastern neighbors Vietnam is jumping into golf course development as well, with courses slated for Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. The 18-hole course in Da Nang is part of a huge casino resort complex and will feature mountain and riverside golf. The 36-hole development in Ho Chi Minh City offers both a links-style course and a resort-style course. Both should provide excellent golf—and excellent stories. A course called West End in the Bahamas is near 40 percent completed and should be a stunner; part of a lovely resort, ocean on both sides, plenty of golf on the water. There’s a project in St. Lucia that’s moving along, a beautiful farmland course in France called Vignoly that’s practically done and one in Costa Rica, at Garabu, that's just getting started. Dubai, Portugal, Ireland and Brazil are just a few of the other international locations APDC is looking to build. We’re planning our vacations already.

U.S.A.

Of course, APDC is still busy here at home building great courses for those of us who hate long flights.

On June 7, the beautiful Seven Falls Golf & River Club in the mountains of western North Carolina, celebrated the opening of its practice facility and par-3 course. An incredible residential development on the banks of the French Broad River, Seven Falls will eventually offer one of the first Palmer Premier golf course developments. And in addition to the top-tier golf and club, great fishing and other recreational opportunities will be available to members and guests. For now, a taste of the good things to come is possible with the recently opened practice facility, which offers a 20-acre driving range and 25-acre par-3 course that, like all things at Seven Falls, is a cut above the rest.

“It’s more of a par-3 plus,” says Layton. “That was at the request of the owner. He wanted to be able to practice every shot you’d encounter on the golf course. You can hit every club in the bag, starting with a lob wedge and going all the way through to a driver. There’s even a par-4 in there.”

Figure Seven Falls’ full course to open next year.

Just down the road from Seven Falls in Sylva, North Carolina, Balsam Mountain Preserve opened June 6. Offering great golf and a fantastic lifestyle for all of its residents, it also offers an incredible example of responsible living. An amazing 3,000 of the development’s 4,400 acres are protected by conservation easements, ensuring everyone who lives at Balsam Mountain Preserve will feel right at home in nature for years to come. An onsite Nature Center and naturalist will help residents appreciate the community, while plenty of trails for hiking and mountain biking will ensure they get out and enjoy it.

Also in North Carolina, N.C. State golf team will soon be practicing on a course that is—finally—all their own. Brandon Johnson says the course at the university (from which both he and Erik Larsen graduated) is going well. It is set amidst rolling terrain in classic N.C. style, with plenty of native vegetation, including dogwood and magnolia trees as well as native grasses.

On the other side of the country, Vice President Victoria Martz and Design Associate David Couch have been busy getting things rolling in California. The Los Valles project in Valencia is moving forward, Couch says, with “lots of dirt” being moved on what will eventually be a dramatic course with plenty of elevation changes. Rolling Hills, located in Palos Verdes, is another California project that’s going well. An addition to an existing 9-hole country club course, Rolling Hills is being created on an old quarry, adjacent to the club. “There are good views from the site looking up into town,” Couch says. “You might be able to catch some night lights, and there are a couple of ocean views.”

Should be nice.

Other projects include The Newport, a links-style course on the Gulf of Mexico in Port Aransas, Texas, that’s set to open this fall. If you aren’t frightened by bunkers, like “Scottish style” golf but prefer a temperate climate then The Newport is the venue for you. Further courses in South Carolina and Florida are also still in development.

GOING FORWARD

With plenty of projects on the table and plenty more to come, the team at APDC are busier than ever. And whether the greens fees are in dollars, yen or something else completely, there’s no doubt the golf courses they’re building will make the golfing world a better place. Bon voyage.