Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects has been hired to breathe new life into a layout in one of the most incredible settings for the game in the world: Mena House Golf Course, which sits less than 250 yards to the side of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
The Great Pyramid of Giza is seen from the Mena House Golf Course in Giza, Egypt.
Mena House began as a royal hunting lodge in the 1880s, and golf was played there within the shadows of the Giza Pyramids starting in 1899. The California-based architecture firm plans to honor the site’s history while introducing a more flexible golf experience. Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects also designed Madinaty and SouthMED golf courses in Egypt.
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Mena House is owned by Legacy Hotels, which is 51 percent owned by ICON, the hospitality arm of real estate and hospitality development company Talaat Moustafa Group.
“Mena House Golf Course is unlike any other golf destination in the world. It combines heritage, hospitality and one of the most iconic settings imaginable,” Omar Hisham Talaat, chief business development officer for Talaat Moustafa Group, said in a media release announcing the project. “With the Giza Pyramids as its backdrop, the course offers an extraordinary opportunity to create a golf experience that is both globally distinctive and deeply rooted in Egypt’s cultural legacy.
“Golf is a key part of our broader vision for sustainable development and healthy lifestyles. As we continue to grow our golf portfolio – which includes Madinaty Golf Club, the 18-hole SouthMED course on Egypt’s North Coast and Sharm Bay in Sharm El Sheikh – we see Mena House as a crown jewel, one that deserves the highest level of design excellence and international attention.”
The media release said the renovation will include:
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A complete redesign of the course to best capture the experience of playing beneath the Pyramids
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A social green to encourage family play and to act as a gathering place for resort guests
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Ground contour lighting to enable evening play
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Installation of a modern irrigation system to support optimal conditions year-round
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Installation of new grasses
“This is one of the most meaningful sites for golf anywhere in the world,” Robert Trent Jones III, chief operating officer of Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects, said in the media release. “We are honored to steward a course with more than 125 years of history and to shape its next chapter with care, precision and creativity. Our vision is to embrace the history of this awe-inspiring setting as golfers play beneath the 4,700-year-old Pyramids. Mena House has all the ingredients that make golf memorable: history, landscape, atmosphere and a setting people will never forget. Our focus is on designing a course that belongs in that place.”
Jason Lusk is Golfweek’s travel and golf course architecture editor, as well as the magazine’s creative director. He has written for and designed Golfweek for more than two decades.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Robert Trent Jones II to redesign course next to Egypt’s Great Pyramid
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