As the curtains fell on an illustrious career which included three Open Championships, three US Masters and the world no. 1 tag for a total of 98 weeks, Sir Nick Faldo shifted his focus to designing golf courses and has achieved a considerable amount of success in this as well.

He holds the distinction of having designed major golf courses on every continent and his latest venture is a 270-acre project in Lavasa City, 50 km from Pune.

Faldo is excited about the project and has plans to make it a top-level tournament destination.

“This is a spectacular project and I am honoured to be part of it. We have plans to make it a competition venue,” he said.

According to him, the emphasis of the course should be laid on educating the young golfers of India.

“We will have an excellent campus to work with. I have ensured that we will be bringing a professional instruction team from England so that the players can avail of the best possible training,” he said. The course, which will be built as per the high standards set the ace golfer, will be playable at every skill level and would be tweaked slightly for international tournaments.

The academy, that he will start, will also incorporate exchange programmes with other golfing countries. “We will be looking to bring young golfers from other countries to this academy and also to send our golfers abroad to give them good exposure,” he said.

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