Masterplanned golf course communities: Landscapes of play, stewardship, and community

GOLF is a sport on which the sun never sets. There are more than 38,000 golf courses across the world, and as such, the sport is played on six continents; with 82% of countries having golf courses, the majority of which are in the United States, followed by Japan, and then the United Kingdom.

The Philippines is home to 111 golf courses, the bulk of which are located in and around Metro Manila. The fringes of Metro Manila are home to numerous communities built around, and anchored by, golf courses.

Golf courses are more than places of sport. They are also living landscapes, carefully shaped terrains where nature, design, and human experience converge. In the Philippines, golf course development has played a quiet but influential role in shaping communities, land use patterns, creating value, and even our understanding of leisure as an essential component of a balanced life.

My experience in 18 golf course planning and development projects has been guided by the belief that these spaces should respond to their climate, topography, hydrology, and culture — not impose itself upon them. This thought process has informed my collaborations with some of the world’s leading golf course designers and has shaped landmark projects such as The Country Club, Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate, Splendido Taal, Manila Southwoods, and Forest Hills.

COLLABORATION ACROSS DISCIPLINES AND BORDERS
Golf course design is inherently collaborative. While the golf architect shapes strategy, playability, and challenge, the planner and architect must ensure that the course sits harmoniously within a broader vision which considers accessibility, environmental systems, residential integration, and long-term sustainability.

In projects like The Country Club — which was designed in collaboration with Tom Weiskopf — the emphasis was on restraint and purity. The course is situated on rolling terrain with an L-shaped configuration and has fairways peppered with palm trees, with two rivers flanking the whole course, offering a challenging experience for the golfer.

At Sta. Elena — designed in collaboration with Robert Trent Jones, Jr. — the challenge was different. Here, the goal was to create a world-class golf experience that could stand alongside the best in the world, while also serving as an anchor for a low-density residential estate. Many seasoned golfers will note how the course follows the natural contours of the land, with several dogleg holes posing a challenge for the golfer. Hole No. 12 is noted to be a long Par 4, with an elevated green, encouraging golfers to approach it analytically. The course was conceived not merely as an amenity to the community, but as the organizing spine of the community. Homes were oriented to views, breezes, and open space, rather than maximizing frontage. The course is now known to be one of the finest, if not the finest golf club outside of Metro Manila.

GOLF AS A FRAMEWORK FOR COMMUNITY
One of the most misunderstood aspects of golf course development is the assumption that it is an inefficient use of land. In reality, when properly planned, golf courses may function as green infrastructure, providing flood control, groundwater recharge, urban cooling, and biodiversity corridors.

Manila Southwoods was done in collaboration with Jack Nicklaus, and had been developed during a time when large-scale master planning was still finding its footing in the Philippines. The development of golf courses helped preserve vast tracts of open space along the increasingly urbanizing southern corridor of the Calabarzon region. Working alongside foreign designers, we ensured that the courses were woven into a larger framework of roads, villages, and landscape systems. Southwoods demonstrated that leisure-driven development could coexist with environmental responsibility and long-term land value.

Similarly, Splendido Taal, designed alongside Greg Norman, offered a dramatic natural setting, views of Taal Lake, sloping terrain, and cooler climate. The design of the course had to respond to its natural environment, not detract from it — creating a leisure-oriented estate that appealed not only to golfers, but to families seeking respite from the city. In this sense, golf became a gateway to countryside living, instead of an exclusive enclave.

At Forest Hills, the developer brought golf to the eastern fringes of Metro Manila in Antipolo, Rizal. The course was a collaboration between myself and Jack Nicklaus, Jr., and stands out as a fairly large golf course, with 36 holes, rare for the time it was built. The residential community that is built around it is supported not only by golfing facilities, but other sports and recreation amenities for the non-golfing resident.

CLIMATE, CULTURE, AND THE PHILIPPINE CONTEXT
Designing golf courses in the Philippines demands a deep understanding of climate. Heavy rains, intense sun, and rapidly shifting weather patterns require courses that are resilient and adaptable. Drainage, turf selection, and stormwater management are integral to the development of golf courses around the country.

Golf in the Philippines is not only about sport; it is a social, intergenerational, and increasingly inclusive function. Courses must support this by being walkable, welcoming, and integrated with clubhouses and community facilities that encourage interaction rather than exclusivity. Residential neighborhoods situated within golf courses thus offer a perfect backdrop for creating lasting friendships with family and neighbors, with its picturesque sceneries, amenities, and shared love of the sport of golf.

A friend of mine living in one of these communities recounted to me his experience living in one of these communities with his family. He says that as a longtime retiree, he is able to play 18 holes twice a week, on Wednesdays and on weekends with his children and grandchildren — the latter of whom grew up on the sport as a result of repeated visits to his home situated along the fairway, providing his grandchildren access to great golf instructors at the nearby club.

LOOKING FORWARD: GOLF AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
As our cities grow denser and our open spaces shrink, the role of golf courses will continue to evolve. Critics are bound to scrutinize golf courses and seek justification for their role as recreational facilities, and as contributors (positively or negatively) to environmental health and community well-being.

I firmly believe that the future of golf course development lies in multi-functional landscapes — courses that manage water, preserve ecosystems, support active lifestyles, and anchor thoughtfully planned communities. When done right, golf courses can protect land from speculative overdevelopment while creating enduring value to last generations.

The role of public golf courses is also integral to the future of the sport. The Intramuros Golf Course was recently opened to serve as a public park on Sundays, while proposals to convert the entire golf course into a permanent public park has been met with ire from golfers and historic conservation groups. The latter would be a more preferable land use for the course, however barring that, allowing for the course to serve as a multi-functional landscape permits Intramuros Golf Course to meet different needs required by the residents of the city.

In reflecting on projects such as The Country Club, Sta. Elena, Splendido, and Manila Southwoods, I am reminded that good design is ultimately about stewardship. To quote Chief Seattle: we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. Golf clubs may have many critics and detractors, but I believe that the benefits of having them outweigh the costs — especially in a country like ours, where open spaces and green lungs are taken for granted and almost nonexistent, the golf course fills this gap.

Golf is, after all, a game that requires a strong will to succeed and amazing precision, all while encouraging deep thought. The same can be said of planning, designing, and maintaining our built environment.

Architect Felino “Jun” Palafox, Jr., founder – Palafox Associates and Palafox Architecture Group, Inc. He has 53 years of experience in architecture and 51 years in planning. He was educated at Christ the King Seminary, the University of Santo Tomas, the University of the Philippines, and Harvard University. He founded Palafox Associates and Palafox Architecture and has completed more than 2,000 projects in 41 countries. He has received over 200 awards, including the UAP Dubai Awards First Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.