Ernie Els To Design Cabo’s Newest Golf Course, In Between Tiger And Norman Properties

Ernie Els has always been a global golfer, winning professional tournaments in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and in his home country of South Africa in addition to his victories in the U.S. on the PGA Tour. Els has taken a similar approach to his course design career, building in almost a dozen countries worldwide, from the Bahamas to Vietnam. Els has current design projects underway in Cambodia, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt and Indonesia.

And now the Hall of Fame golfer known as the “Big Easy” is headed to Mexico for the first time, creating an 18-hole links layout in Cabo that’s the centerpiece to a new 860-acre oceanfront resort community called OLEADA Pacific Living & Golf. The property is situated on the southern point of the Baja Peninsula, along a one-mile stretch of beach about 15 minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas.

The Els course at OLEADA is the newest addition to the growing golf portfolio in Cabo, which is approaching 20 courses in total. The property sits directly between two other notable golf developments – Diamante, with courses from Tiger Woods and Davis Love III; and the newer Grand Solmar at Rancho San Lucas with its Greg Norman-designed course. The routing will start high up in the cactus land on the hillside and weave down through windswept dunes and sandy ridges, with expansive views of the Pacific Ocean.

“We had to bend the developer’s arm to get the golf course down into the sand, near the beach and near the ocean,” said Els. “It’s got the most beautiful ocean views from the top of the site. Our developer wanted to build a desert course up against the hill, which would have been pretty nice, but when you see that site near the beach – the sand and dunes – I begged him to build a golf course down there. We can definitely create a links-style course there. It’s absolutely pure sand. The last time I worked in pure sand was in Dubai, but there was no ocean view. You can imagine how excited me and (senior design associate) Greg Letsche got when we saw that for the first time.”

Most of the core golf holes will be close to the beach, which itself is almost 500 to 600 yards wide. Only holes 1, 9, 10 and 18 will play down from and back up to the clubhouse, where the property’s other development – homesites and a village – will also be built. The course probably won’t open until early 2026, with Els saying he expects it to be 2 to 2 ½ years until it’s even grassed.

Earth-moving will likely start this summer, but the natural landforms won’t require much work as the native contours and dune formations offer sheltered valleys and winding corridors perfect for golf holes.

“It’s amazing how nature has already done the work for us in many instances,” Els said. “We want to try to keep the feel of what nature has done over centuries to be a part of the playability.”

The one thing Els and his team will have to pay close mind to as they proceed is the wind, a persistent presence on the western tip of the peninsula. Els says his site is even windier than the neighboring golf courses. And Els knows windswept links, having won British Open titles in 2002 at Muirfield and in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes (two of his four major titles).

“My experience playing just about every links golf course in the world, I truly believe this sets our site apart from the others around us,” Els said. “We’re going to spend a lot of time – myself and Greg – finding the right feel for the dunes. I want it to feel like this golf course has been there for a very long time. I want to have the dunes play a big part in strategy. We’re going to have to be very careful because the two times I was down there the wind blew pretty strongly. We have a couple of long holes in the routing currently going back into the wind. We’re going to have to be careful with how these holes play yardage-wise. We’re going to spend a lot of time getting the actual shot values to where they really work with the environment.”

There won’t be any trees, or houses for that matter, on the golf course. The full development broke ground in 2023 and is expected to open in early 2026, with phase one of the gated community comprised of three luxury beachfront resorts and the golf course, which will be open to public play in its first season.

“It’s going to be pure linksland, pure dunesland golf,” Els added. “It’s just a fantastic opportunity for us to actually work in sand and right on the ocean. I can’t wait to start. It’s not desert golf. It’s not estate housing golf. It’s just pure, core golf.”