china Nicklaus Leaves a “Legacy”

The first Jack Nicklaus “legacy” course in Asia is supposed to open in early 2011, at Lan Hai International Golf Club on the island of Chongming, outside Shanghai.

I can’t say for sure what the “legacy” moniker means, but because the course has been co-designed by Nicklaus and his son Jack, I suspect that it ranks somewhere in the family hierarchy between a “signature” design and a Nicklaus Design. In any case, the club will eventually add a second 18 (it’s expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012) and a 30,000-square-foot, Tuscan-style clubhouse.

Lan Hai will be managed by IMG Golf Course Management, which reports that one of the courses will be capable of hosting “a significant international professional tournament.”

The club is part of a 617-acre community that’s being developed by Shanghai Zhongying Enterprises. IMG has said that the community will have a hotel and “an extensive real estate component,” and Nicklaus has said that the houses have been designed in the “Tuscan, Italian, and Spanish style.”

The Chinese are known for being great exporters, but they’re clearly great importers as well.

While I'm at it, I should note that a Nicklaus “signature” track is under construction at Changbaishan Golf & Ski Resort in Changbaishan (Jilin Province). Nicklaus has also been tapped to design a “signature” layout for Dayabay Nicklaus Golf Resort in Huizhou (Guangdong Province).