SAN FELIPE MARINA BOASTS GROUND BREAKING ON THE JACK NICKLAUS SIGNATURE GOLF COURSE

(Golf enthusiasts will soon learn it’s not a mirage)

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, just three miles away from La Hacienda. 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 even Mi Casa del Mar’s president, 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 La Hacienda? 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 La Hacienda 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.