Interviews

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Richard Humphreys
/ Categories: News

Work begins on new course by Ernie Els Design in Mexico

Ground has been broken on a new eighteen-hole golf course in Mexico. The layout by Ernie Els Design is for Oleada Pacific Living & Golf, a new 860-acre oceanfront resort community on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.

The resort and golf course are being built on a seaside site 15 minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas. Oleada Golf Links will be a links-style course featuring views of the Pacific Ocean and a desert landscape of dunes and sandy ridges, providing sheltered valleys and winding corridors for Els’s team to use in their design.

Els, a winner of 75 professional tournaments, including four majors, said: “Our goal at Oleada will be to build a core golf course that harmonises with nature. We envision a compact design that drapes naturally on the land, steps lightly on nature’s toes and functions as an environmental steward of the site’s indigenous flora and fauna. With its rolling dunes, elevation changes and majestic desert-meets-ocean setting, I believe we can produce a versatile test that will rank among the best and most beautiful courses we’ve ever built.

“Because the native contours and dune formations are so good, very little earthmoving will be required to build the course. Shaping will be very minimalistic. Man cannot improve on what mother nature has created over the eons. The golf course that we create at Oleada will be here long after I’m gone. That means something and it makes me feel very proud.”

Federico Gaxiola, project director at Oleada Pacific Living & Golf, said: “As we create a destination founded in responsible luxury, we selected Ernie because of his true understanding of sustainable development and sound environmental practices.”

The Oleada project will also include luxury resorts; oceanfront accommodation; a nursery, orchard and garden; nature, fitness, hiking and biking trails; and more. Designers involved at Oleada comprise WATG, Vision Land Design, Mexican architect Victor Legorreta and landscape architecture by Design Studio of Michael McKay.

The first phase began in January 2023 and includes construction of the golf course and three beachfront resorts. This portion of the project is expected to open in early 2026.

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Slideshow HTML
  • Oleada
    Oleada Pacific Living & Golf

    A new course by Ernie Els Design will be built on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula for Oleada Pacific Living & Golf

  • Oleada
    Oleada Pacific Living & Golf

    Els says his goal for Oleada Golf Links is for a course that “harmonises with nature”

  • Oleada
    Oleada Pacific Living & Golf

    The design team will make use of the site’s natural terrain, including a lagoon

  • Oleada
    Oleada Pacific Living & Golf

    Els and his team are aiming to create a links-style course that will feature views of the Pacific Ocean

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Oleada Pacific Living & Golf
Richard Humphreys

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