China released a five-year plan on Monday, vowing "to increase the nation's expanse of public sporting areas to 1.5 sqm per head of population by '15." Under the plan drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, and the General Administration of Sport, China will build more public sports facilities in the next three years "to guarantee people's rights to take exercises and encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle" (XINHUA, 12/11). ... Roger Federer said that Brazil needs to improve its tennis facilities if it is to hold future ATP World Tour events. Federer said Brazil needed "to think bigger" to stage elite tournaments in the future. Federer said, "I think some things need to be improved if you want to make sure the fans have the best experience possible" (IANS, 12/10). ... The Irish FA said that "work on the Windsor Park redevelopment is due to begin" in September after it formally submitted its planning application for the project. Around £29.2M ($46.8M) is being spent on the project, which will raise the stadium's capacity to 18,000 (BBC, 12/11).
TEE UP: Guacalito Golf Course, Nicaragua’s first 18-hole beachfront golf course, will be ready for play on Feb. 1. The new golf course is part of Guacalito de la Isla, a $250M, 1,670-acre private beach community developed by Pellas Development Group on Nicaragua’s Emerald Coast (GOLF INC. MAGAZINE, 12/11). ... A new golf course near the World Heritage Site of Uluru in central Australia "is reaching the end of the planning stage." The Ayers Rock Resort, owned by the Australian government-backed Indigenous Land Corp., is behind the proposed course (GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE, 12/5). ... Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design will create Batu Bay Golf Club in Inner Mongolia. Dana Fry, a company principal, will oversee the project until its completion. The resort golf course, perched on a bluff overlooking the Batu Bay reservoir, will be an 18-hole layout built on sand dunes, with a Banyan Tree Hotel located on site. The owner is Oriental Holding Group, based in Ordos, Inner Mongolia (Fry/Straka).
