A long-proposed US$3.8bn (€3.4bn, £2.9bn) theme park at Hwaseong, 45km (30mi) from South Korea's capital Seoul, looks set to go ahead after the country's finance minister pledged the government's support. To be built by Shinsegae Property Consortium, the park will feature five hotels, an 18-hole golf course and three shopping malls. Reports suggest that huge Korean pop music (K-pop) and natural history areas will act as the centrepieces of the

Hyatt Hotels will bring the Alila brand to Europe for the first time by putting its name to the Golf Resort La Gruyère to create the Alila La Gruyère resort, which is set to open in Switzerland in 2023. Overlooking a picturesque lake, Alila La Gruyère will offer an 85-bed hotel and wellness retreat as well as a golf course by Robert Trent Jones Jr and a range of residences.

Global design practice Oppenheim Architecture (OA) have completed the Ayla Golf Academy & Clubhouse in Aqaba, Jordan. The 1,200 sq m building, which is situated opposite an 18-hole golf course, designed by Greg Norman, also has putting and swing studios, a pro shop and a gourmet restaurant. The golf course forms part of the vast Ayla Oasis development, a US$1.4bn (€1.2bn, £1.1bn) destination resort which features a Hyatt Regency hotel,

The Biltmore Hotel, located at Coral Gables, near Miami, has announced that it has commissioned two architects to redesign all of its accommodations and corridors, as well as one more architect to oversee the restoration of its 18-hole golf course. D’Shakil Designs and Studio 5 Design + Architecture will undertake the work to redesign the hotel, with a brief to create a “fresh take on the hotel’s history of old-world

Global sports architects Populous have designed a flat-pack 18-hole putting course that can be disassembled and moved from city to city. The touring facility is the brainchild of Canadian firm MSOP Entertainment Inc, which has launched a new tournament called the Major Series of Putting (MSOP). The sport of putting, developed and largely controlled by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, is a much-simplified version of golf, in which players

Golf course architect Tom Doak has designed “North America’s first reversible course” for the Forest Dunes resort in Michigan. Called The Loop, Doak’s design features two distinct layouts that use the same 18 greens and fairways. Players move clockwise on one day, and counterclockwise the next. The course – developed on a relatively flat, sand-based stretch of land to the west of the resort’s pre-existing course – is due to

A new 60,000-capacity stadium, a velodrome and a tennis complex will be built if Budapest wins its bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games. The City Council for the Hungarian capital has approved the list of venues, which include seven cluster and five stand-alone arenas within the city. Most of the Games events have been earmarked for the new athletics stadium – which will be scaled down to 15,000 seats

US tycoon Donald Trump is aiming to step up the £200m refurbishment of the Turnberry golf resort in South Ayrshire, Scotland, bringing in a team of constructors and designers to realise his vision for the hotel element. Trump bought the resort for a reported £36m in April 2014 and has pledged the Turnberry will be ‘a canvas like no other’ when redevelopment work is complete. To that end, he has

Aman is opening a new resort in Q4 2015 in the Dominican Republic, set on a clifftop overlooking the crescent-shaped Playa Grande beach and framed by the dramatic Cordillera Septentrional mountain range. The resort is set to become the hotel group's first golf-integrated property. The Amanera resort is named after the Sanskrit word for peace – Aman – and the word era, which means water in Taino – the language

Donald Trump is progressing with long-delayed proposals to expand his hotel and leisure development at Menie Estate, Aberdeenshire, UK, with new construction planned alongside the five-star Trump International Golf Links. Trump has submitted new planning applications, which cite Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) at the project's designers. The new plans include the construction of hundreds of houses and nearly 2,000 holiday homes and lodges, in a major step towards completing

A development group led by tennis coach Judy Murray, mother of star Andy Murray, has been dealt a blow after a prominent member of Stirling Council’s planning office said that it could not support plans for the creation of the Park of Keir sporting hub in Scotland. Led by Murray and the King Group, the project is also backed by her son Andy and former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie,

Planning permission for a luxury golf and spa resort development for Northern Ireland’s North Antrim coast has been upheld by the High Court, following a challenge by the National Trust. Northern Ireland environment minister Alex Attwood has welcomed the decision on the Bushmills Dunes Golf Resort and Spa, which he granted approval for in February 2012. The £100m development will include a 120-room hotel with spa and conference facilities and

Plans have been unveiled to turn the former Loudoun Castle theme park site in East Ayrshire, Scotland, into an environmentally-friendly, £300m golf resort. Project management company Vicon UK has joined forces with investor FML to launch the ambitious masterplan, which proposes a world class championship standard 18-hole golf course, club house and educational golf academy as well as a new whisky distillery, homes, retail and a food and drink 'centre

The Belfry Hotel and Golf Resort in Warwickshire is set to undergo a £30m refurbishment. The Belfry was bought in August by American investment firm KSL Capital Partners, which appointed The De Vere Group to manage the property. It is expected that work will begin on the resort early next year. The renovations will include updating the guestrooms and function suites as well as a revamp of the restaurants and

Wirral Council has launched its vision for an international golf resort in Hoylake. The council is currently seeking potential developers it could partner with on the project, which - according to initial plans - would include a signature golf course and a luxury spa hotel with extensive wellness, leisure and restaurant facilities. There is currently no such resort in the area and a recent report by consultants Capita Symonds suggests

Trump International Golf Links - the first phase of US tycoon Donald Trump's proposed £750m investment at the Menie Estate, Aberdeenshire - has opened to the public. More than £100m has already been invested in creating the new championship golf course, together with associated facilities such as a 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) short game area. A 22-acre (9-hectare) driving range, a 3,000sq m (32,291sq ft) putting green also feature as

Image: The hotel element is designed by Archial Wyndham Hotel Group is to operate a new hotel as part of a £60m (US$93m, EUR77m) golf resort scheme near Dundee under a franchise deal with MAP Property and Leisure Developments (Mappld). The 187-bedroom property - Wyndham Grand The Angus - will be the first in Scotland to open under the group's flagship Wyndham Hotels and Resorts brand. It has been designed

European Golf Design (EGD) has announced that preliminary course design work is now underway at the host of the 2018 Ryder Cup, Le Golf National in Paris, France. The company will work with the European Tour and the French Golf Federation in order to prepare the Albatross Course and is currently assessing masterplans for the venue. EGD was behind the design of the Twenty Ten Course at the Celtic Manor

London Golf Club in Ash, Kent, has unveiled plans for the development of a new hotel and spa as part of its ambition to establish a 'world-class' golf resort in south east England. The club - host venue of the 2008 and 2009 European Open events - has received planning consent from Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council for the £35m scheme. Designed by MacKenzie Wheeler, the new development will include

Work has started on the development of a new 18-hole golf course at the US$300 (£185m, EUR215m) Kittitian Hill Resort in St Kitts. The new par-72 course has been designed by European Golf Design (EGD) in association with US Masters winner and 2006 Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam. A range of social and environmental issues have been addressed in the design of the 6,825-yard venue, which is due for completion

A historic Grade II-listed manor house in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, is to be converted into a 95-bedroom luxury golf hotel after the scheme was approved. Humberts Leisure is behind the planned refurbishment of Broxbournebury Manor, which is set to serve Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club. A report conducted by Humberts' consulting team found that there was "strong corporate" demand for the hotel, with the country club providing the preferred option. Former

The independently-owned Mere Golf and Country Club near Knutsford in Cheshire has launched a £4m day spa as part of a £15m rebrand. The club will be rebranded as simply The Mere and will be marketed as Cheshire's first five-star golf and spa resort. The Spa at The Mere will boast seven treatment rooms, a large indoor pool, hammam, rasul, a hydrotherapy area, an aroma steamroom, a caldarium and a

Outline planning permission has been granted for the development of a new £55m golf, hotel and residential development near Broughty Ferry, Dundee. Local entrepreneur Mike Forbes' proposals for The Angus, which have been drawn up by architects Archial, have been given the green light by planning officials at Angus Council. An international competition-standard, 18-hole championship golf course designed by Darren Clarke is at the heart of the scheme, along with

The independently-owned Mere Golf and Country Club near Knutsford in Cheshire will launch a £4m day spa early next year. The Spa at The Mere will boast seven treatment rooms, a large indoor pool, hammam, rasul, a hydrotherapy area, an aroma steamroom, a caldarium and a salt infusion room. The holistic treatments will be supplied by Carita and Aromatherapy Associates and packages include facials, massages, body wraps, hot stones, mud

Surrey-based design practice Thomson Perrett and Lobb (TPL) has been selected to draw up plans for a new golf academy for Moscow, Russia. The academy will be located at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, which is one of largest sports facilities in Europe and caters for more than 40 different activities. A nine-hole, par three golf course will be included as part of the TPL-designed academy, along with a driving range,

Elstree Golf and Country Club in Hertfordshire will undergo a £2.5m redevelopment after Hertsmere Borough Council approved plans submitted by architects Bell Phillips Kimble. Work on the site will begin in March 2010 and will include the construction of a new two-storey clubhouse incorporating a bar and restaurant, changing facilities, a pro-shop and offices to replace the existing clubhouse. The club’s 30-bay driving range will also be refurbished, with new

Emirates Golf Club has appointed London-based architects Thomson Perrett & Lobb (TPL) to modernise its flagship Majlis Course, home of the Dubai Desert Classic. TPL will carry out an audit of the course's bunkering as part of a wider modernisation programme, overseeing the repositioning and reconstruction of bunkers to upgrade the course for professional events as well as day-to-day club and visitor play. The 7,301-yard, par-72 layout, which opened in