By Richard Humphreys |
The Madeira government in Portugal has announced that both the 18-hole Porto Santo Golfe and 27-hole Clube de Golf Santo da Serra (pictured above) will add new nine-hole layouts to their facilities.
Clube de Golf Santo da Serra is one of the oldest clubs in Madeira and has three nines designed by Robert Trent Jones. The Machico and Desertas nines opened in 1991 and Serras opened in 1998. The Machico-Desertas combination was used for the European Tour’s Madeira Islands Open between 1993-2008 and 2012-2015.
The new nine project, taking the club to 36 holes, will also include the construction of two new lakes for water collection and sustainable water management. The stored water will not only be used to irrigate the course, but it will also be available to support the region’s firefighting helicopters.
The Porto Santo Golfe course was created by Seve Ballesteros’s design firm in 2004, and it also hosted the Madeira Islands Open, between 2009-2011. The new nine will be created by Magnolia Golf Design, the team from Ballesteros’s design business. The first tee and ninth green will be located near the clubhouse to allow the club to offer multiple 18-hole combinations. A new lake will also be built to ensure the club’s water self-sufficiency and contribute to the course’s sustainability.
The Porto Santo Golfe course, created by Seve Ballesteros’s design firm in 2004 (Photo: Porto Santo Golfe)
These projects come as the new Ponta do Pargo course, set on a dramatic clifftop site, by Faldo Design, is being built.
More: Faldo Design architect Paul Jansen discusses Ponta do Pargo on The Greenprint podcast