Curley-Wagner Golf Design announces new course signing in Philippines with Villar Group

Curley-Wagner Golf Design is proud to announce its first course signing in the Philippines with the Villar Group. The proposed 18-hole golf course is located in Villar City, a planned 3,500 hectare (8,650 acre) megalopolis that connects 13 cities and municipalities in Metro Manila and Cavite and will feature five central business districts. 

Former Senate President and Villar Group Chairman Manny Villar said: “I’m thrilled about the partnership with Curley-Wagner Golf Design for the future of Villar City’s world-class, 18-hole golf course. Their expertise and vision align perfectly with our goal of creating an exceptional golfing experience. Here’s to elevating the game in Villar City!”

The 65 hectare golf property features open meadows with areas of beautiful mature vegetation situated on ideal rolling terrain with advantageous elevation changes and two natural stream systems flanking the eastern and western edges of the property. 

Jim Wagner, partner of Curley-Wagner Golf Design, said: “The site’s natural features and inspiring character will be integral in the creation of an extraordinary sequence of golf holes. We are enthusiastic to immediately begin exploring the master planning and routing phase for the project. The site’s attributes along with Villar Group’s commitment to quality, innovation and hospitality is something we value immensely, and we are thrilled to be partnering with them to create an elevated golfing experience that will bring people together to enjoy the great game of golf within an urban setting”.

The 18-hole golf course will be capable of hosting professional tournaments and will feature state of the art practice facilities along with a putting course and short game area component. Project master planning is expected to start immediately.

Curley-Wagner Golf Design is a U.S. based, full-service golf course and master-planning design firm with a world-wide portfolio of over 150 critically acclaimed and award winning courses spanning 25 countries. Included in this list is the 22 course complex at the massive, world-renowned Mission Hills Golf Club in China as well as projects throughout the U.S., Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mexico, Sweden, and many more. Current endeavors include two courses for Red Sea Global in Saudi Arabia as well as high profile courses in Indonesia and Malaysia. The firm, founded as Schmidt-Curley Design in 1997, has been named GOLF Magazine’s ‘Architect of the Year’ and Asian Golfer’s ‘Best Golf Course Architect’ seven straight years. Golf Inc. magazine has named them “the fourth most influential designer in the world”. The firm currently has ten courses ranked in Golf Magazine’s 2023 Top 100 Courses in Asia Pacific and its courses have hosted the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, PGA Champions Tour, World Cup of Golf, The Skins Game, Korn Ferry tour and many more.  The firm specializes in creating challenging, beautiful and enjoyable courses, often on difficult sites. By balancing classic golf course architecture with ever-changing technology, it strives for courses that still the soul and elevate a golfer’s appreciation for the land and the game and always design for cost-efficient maintenance and operations.