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By
PGA.com news services
01.18.2006
09:05 pm (ET)
NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Nicklaus Design has signed an agreement to create its first golf course complex in Egypt, company officials have announced. The complex, consisting of 27 holes, will be in Palm Hills, a new residential community with views of the famous Egyptian pyramids. The 27-hole complex, spread across more than 275 acres of land near Cairo, will be the largest golf course in Egypt. "The creating of this golf course comes at an ideal time, as its development coincides with the government's efforts to turn Egypt into a golf destination," said Yassin Mansour, the chairman of Palm Hills Developments. The course, part of Palm Hills' Club, Golf Spa & Resort, will feature expansive views of the pyramids, and its water will come directly from the Nile River. The project will feature complete spa facilities and a hotel, and construction on the course is expected to begin by the end of 2006. Golf in Egypt, though still young by global standards, does have its history. Some historians have said that golf's roots in Egypt stretch to the late 1800s, though most say that golf was introduced there by the British around the time of the first World War. By the middle of the 20th century, there were seven fully operational golf courses in Egypt, but it wasn't until the last decade that the country truly embraced the game and a boom in golf development began. With eight more courses opening in the 1990s, Egypt now has 15 courses open for play and an estimated 10 more under development. Copyright 2006 PGA.com. All rights reserved.
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