One day after Tiger Woods played through pain in his knee to win the US Open, he spent over three hours strolling the site of his new Mexico golf course with his business partners.
It was the first time Woods had viewed the site for the planned $100 million private course overlooking the Pacific Ocean which he hopes will become known as the "Pebble Beach" of the Baja peninsula.
"I got involved in this project just before the US Open. I was supposed to do a site visit on the Monday. But I was busy," Woods said at a news conference at the Hotel Bel-Air on Tuesday
Two days after capturing his 14th career major championship title in a Monday playoff on June 16, Woods underwent reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament surgery which ended the 2008 season for the 32-year-old American.
"He walked three and a half hours on site and had to have surgery the next day," said Woods' business partner Brady Oman, the co-founder of The Flagship Group.
The Ensenada-area Punta Brava project features a hotel, private clubhouse, luxury ocean view homes, swimming pool, spa and is expected to take two years to build with completion scheduled for 2011.
"It is like anything I get into," Woods said. "I always go into it leery. I looked at the plan and liked this one. As soon as I saw the site I was in.
"You can see the ocean from every single hole on the course."
The planned 18-hole, 6,853-yard course is located 108 km south of San Diego. Woods' favorite holes are the par-three No 2 and the 12th.
"There are eight shots you have to hit over water," Woods said. "When you get to No 12 it is similar to No 8 at Pebble Beach."
Woods, who turned down more than 12 other golf course design proposals, said it took more than 20 tries to settle on a course layout for Punta Brava.
"This is my first ocean front golf course," Woods said.
"I tried to give people the feeling of building drama throughout the round."
(AFP via China Daily October 9, 2008)
