Iran's First Golf Course In More Than Three Decades Is Underway

Australian firm Pacific Coast Design is "underway with the construction of the first new golf course in Iran for 33 years," according to GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE. Developer TSI (Iranian Land) chose PCD to design the project, an int'l standard 18 hole course, plus a nine hole academy, near the town of Panand, about 15 minutes from the main Tehran airport.  Construction of the golf course began in the spring and is expected to be finished by early '14. While the entire site is 1,400 hectares, the golf zone, which has been planned by PCD and comprises the course, academy and clubhouse, plus residential and commercial property, a hotel and a school, forms a parcel of 340 hectares (GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE, 9/10). Meanwhile, Swan Golf Designs has been selected to design the new golf course at Channels Golf Club in Chelmsford, England. Clifford Leisure has appointed SGD to design the new course to be located on land immediately north of the original 18 holes. SGD will be working alongside land promotion specialists Ptarmigan Land and London-based architects John Thompson & Partners to ensure that the project sets a new benchmark for golf and residential developments in the U.K. (Swan Golf Designs).