A Unique Legacy of Play

Written by  Anvaya Blog 

MORONG, Bataan, The Philippines (07 December 2013) — Philippine real estate giant Ayala Land has unveiled Anvaya Cove Golf & Sports Club, the group’s first attempt at high-end, seaside golf development. The 7030-yard course, designed by Golfplan partner Kevin Ramsey, opened for play on Dec. 7, and the initial reaction from members, international media and course raters was straightforward and uniform: Wow.

Perched on the West Philippine Sea, 2.5 hours from downtown Manila, the course routing at Anvaya Cove Golf & Sports Club runs the gamut of pulse-quickening golf environments. Several holes play directly alongside the beach, while others occupy bluffs some 30 meters above the surf. Several more cut daring paths through thick, tropical jungle, while the remaining play along ridges some 100 meters above sea level.

“With that sort of elevation change, there are only a few holes that don’t have an ocean view, but it’s always a thrill to deploy salt water as a legitimate hazard, and we did that multiple times out here at Anvaya Cove,” said Ramsey, whose California-based firm has, since its founding in 1972, designed more than 200 courses in 75 different countries — including The Club at Nine Bridges, in South Korea, one of only two modern Asian courses ranked on GOLF Magazine's World Top 100.

“We believe Anvaya Cove to be in this class,” Ramsey continued. “Truly great golf courses can exist in a single environment, but I prefer those that play through a diversity of environments. The terrain here — the elevation change, the vegetation and Ayala Land Premier’s overall land-planning acumen — allowed us to create an uninterrupted string of really strong golf holes that play through five distinct environments, never repeat themselves, and never fail to elicit a strong emotional response.”

Such as, wow? “Yeah, there’s a lot of wow out there. Holes 11 through 13 account for some of that. They form our own Amen Corner, only this one’s at seaside.”

This run of holes — a driveable par-4 looking out across Subic Bay, a par-4 that play downhill to the beach, and a bluff-top par-3 whose peninsular green falls off some 30 meters into the ocean, on three sides — will surely rank among the most photographed holes in Asian golf. But Ramsey is understandably proud of the inland holes, which, thanks to the marked elevation changes and expert shaping, played right into the hands of his firm’s “look hard, play fair” philosophy.

“From the tips, it’s long and tough enough to challenge tour pros, which is something the client specifically requested — but it’s very playable track from the multiple forward tees we created,” Ramsey said. “At 470 hectares, this is an enormous property. We were given the latitude to provide these golf holes the width they needed. By the same token, the homes here are barely visible from the golf course, which is a welcome anomaly in the golf real estate context.”

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