Thursday March 17th, 2006 was a ground breaking day for South Beach, San Felipe.
Among the elite guests was our own Victor Rodriguez, President of the Board of
Tourism and Visitors and Convention Bureau in Mexicali (COTUCO). Additional
esteemed guests and speakers included Samuel Ramos Flores, the Mayor of
Mexicali; Eugenio Elorduy Walther, Governor of Baja California, Mexico; Armando
Ramos of San Felipe Marina Resort; and the design specialist from the Diamond
Golf Company, a subdivision of Nicklaus Designs.
The bulldozers roared with the crowd at 1pm as they pushed the first mound of
dirt, for what is soon to be an 18 Hole SIGNATURE Golf Course. The golf course
is a joint venture between the development of the Baja Diamante and the San
Felipe Marina Resort, and means big things for future development of South
Beach, San Felipe. Armando Ramos, Samuel Ramos Flores and David La Barre were
among those who hit the first balls into what has up till this point been just a
vast expanse of desert.
According to news listed on the Jack Nicklaus
website, BEST's Golf
Guides to Mexico recently named Jack Nicklaus as the "Best Golf Course Architect
in Mexico." The recognition came in conjunction with the magazine's 2006 list of
the "Top 30 Courses in Mexico," where Nicklaus Design led the pace for the
second year in a row by taking nine spots, four of which were in the top 10.
This golf course will be challenging enough for the pros, but accessible and
playable for amateur golf enthusiast as well. The practice facilities will be
set up to resemble an actual golf hole, as Jack Nicklaus believes the first 50%
of a good golf shot is to visualize it, the second half is to execute what you
have visualized. Practicing on an actual golf hole makes that all the more
feasible.
News about this is buzzing among the South Western cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson. So what does this mean for Mi CASA del MAR? Well, as any golfer knows, true golf enthusiasts don’t vacation somewhere to play just one golf course, there needs to be at least three or four. With La Ventana’s golf course and now the Marina’s signature golf course under construction, it is only a matter of time before Mi CASA del MAR breaks ground on their own signature golf course.
The Marina’s Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course has projected a completion date of May 2007, just 14 months away. For all of you golf enthusiasts reading this, mark your calendar. South Beach, San Felipe will soon be one of Baja’s premier vacation, retirement and golf resorts.