66 convinced the owners that reserving this area for golf would elevate the playing experience and enhance the overall appeal of the resort. The thirteenth is a par four that begins with a drive to a fairway flanked on the left by a native area of sand and palms, that cuts in and out of the fairway. A large dune dominates the line of play for the approach shot, to a green with a spectacular sea backdrop. Hole fourteen (pictured on page 64) is the most dramatic on the property, a par three that sits among the sand and rock landscape above the coastline and is fully exposed to the wind. The green, which looks deceptively slim from the tee, falls away on all sides, with a miss leaving pot luck among the native landscape. Playing to the front of the green is the safest option, especially when the wind is up and a back pin is particularly treacherous. “When I first visited the site, it was very apparent that the wind was a feature and that maintaining bunkers would always be a challenge,” says Lobb. “It comes from a similar direction most days, so we wanted to use the wind when determining the golf strategy. A few of the par fours can be driveable when the wind is blowing, which creates great excitement. The short par-three fourteenth, right up against the Red Sea, can be super challenging – even though it has no bunkers and is only 125 yards.” There are only eight formal bunkers on the entire course – which would at first seem to diverge from what Lobb describes as his usual approach of using bunkers as a strategic element. But he has instead incorporated the sandy landscape of the site into the design, both to separate holes and as a hazard around greens and encroaching into fairways. On hole eleven, for example, there are great swathes of sand slicing into the fairway. Similarly to his other Egyptian design, at Newgiza in Cairo, the sandscapes feature native planting, which adds both character and jeopardy. “I was determined to design a course that looked different to the existing Gary Player layout but also had different hazards and design strategies,” says Lobb. “We have incorporated abrupt mounding – using building rubble – to create distinctive landscape features that play into the golfing strategy.” Sandy mounds on the par-four fifteenth do exactly that, splitting the fairway and providing Holes on the windswept site are separated by the desert landscape, which features native plants and palms HIDDEN COVES
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