We can’t let December slip away without congratulating our friends and clients at Anvaya Cove Golf & Sports Club for being named Best New Course in Asia by Asia Golf Monthly magazine. This coveted plaudit is bestowed each year as part of the 2104 Asia-Pacific Golf Summit, held earlier this month in Singapore. Many consider the Asian Golf Awards to be the centerpiece and highlight of the annual Summit, as they are the only course honors that take into account the entire region.
The goals for Anvaya Cove have always been lofty. The project developers at Ayala Land Premier, in collaboration with Anvaya Cove General Manager George Cadhit, understood just how good this golf course would be. Through Mandarin Media, they were determined to expose this golf experience to the media and course raters who matter — while maintaining the exclusivity of what remains a very private club. That’s a delicate balance… They were also keen to strike a blow for golf in The Philippines, as no course from the archipelago has ever been crowned Best New Course in Asia. Mission accomplished, on all fronts.
We at MM have always been frank with clients about the course-rating process, which can be fickle. Naturally, it’s vital to deliver only the most influential media and raters to the course. However, once that has been achieved, the course must ultimately stand on its own merits. Accordingly, we must doff our caps to Kevin Ramsey, the course architect responsible for the 18 holes at Anvaya Cove.
Kevin and David Dale (his partner in Golfplan) are responsible for dozens of superb and highly decorated courses worldwide. But Mr. Ramsey may have outdone himself at Anvaya Cove. The stretch of seaside holes on the back 9 may have gathered the lion’s share of attention (seaside holes always do), but the overall routing here is highly inventive and serially thrilling.
One more shout-out to photographer Tom Breazeale, whose images of the course did it justice. Other photographers have since beaten a path to this spectacular piece of ground, just south of Subic Bay, and we'll be sharing their images in due course. But Tom shot it first, and his capture of so many intriguing visual elements (golf-related and otherwise) were key to exposing Anvaya Cove to such a large and influential audience.