EGYPT Sanford & Sun

Which U.S. architect has designed the most golf courses in Egypt?

The answer is John Sanford, a Jupiter, Florida-based designer who’s completed four golf properties in the Land of the Pharaohs and has others slated to open in 2010 and 2011.

Sanford’s first course, at the Jolie Ville resort in Sharm El Sheik, opened in 2000.

Six years later, Orascom Hotels & Development -– the company that built the landmark El Gouna resort along the Red Sea -– opened a Sanford-designed course at the Taba Heights resort community in Taba.

Then, in 2008, came a 27-hole complex -– an 18-hole course, a nine-hole, par-3 course, and a practice center with three practice holes -– at another Red Sea resort, Makadi Bay in Hurghada.

Last year, Cairo-based Hassan Allam Group wrapped up construction on Sanford’s nine-hole course at Little Venice, a resort that’s expected to open next spring in Ain Sokhna City, on the western coast of the Suez Gulf.

And in the summer of 2010, a 27-hole complex jointly designed by Sanford and Nicklaus Design will be unveiled at Palm Hills Golf Club in Sixth of October City.

More important, Sanford isn’t done in Egypt: His course at Hacienda Bay, near El Alamein on the Mediterranean coast, is under construction and scheduled to open in the fall of 2011.