Fazio to Design Rams Hill Course

BORREGO SPRINGS, CA-Noted golf architect Tom Fazio has been brought on board to design a course at Rams Hill Country Club. The project is part of an $80 million project being developed by The Wiles Group, which specializes in upscale private golf communities and golf resorts. Design of the course is underway and is set for completion by next January. A second course that will be adjacent to the Fazio course will begin design in about 18 months. Michael Wiles, president of TWG, says his firm is in negotiations with a renowned golf architect to design the second course.As part of the master planned Rams Hill development project, TWG will also develop a clubhouse, a spa and between 600 and 800 homes, Wiles tells Globest.com. The firm will raze a current 12,000-sf clubhouse and build a 25,000-sf facility that will include dining and a pro shop. The project will also include a 10,000-sf spa/fitness center. “We’re negotiating with four architectural firms right now for the clubhouse and spa,” says Wiles.As for housing, the project will include golf cottages starting at 2,400 sf and $800,000; fairway homes at 3,000 sf and $1M; and luxury custom homes at 6,000 sf and listed at between $3M-$5M. “We will build the cottages ourselves and will have guest builders for the fairway homes and will have custom home builders for the luxury homes,” Wiles says. “The homes will follow a Southwestern architectural theme similar to Scottsdale and Santa Fe.”TWG acquired the property last December for an undisclosed amount from Spokane, WA-based Western Union Assurance Co., a lender who took the land over in a bankruptcy. “The property has had a checkered past,” says Wiles.DiGiorgio Development Corp first started the Rams Hill development in the early 80s. The site counts 3,500 acres, 1,800 acres of which have been dedicated as open space, leaving 1,700 acres for development. The land is located in the desert in an unincorporated part of San Diego County, according to Wiles. “The development’s surrounded by Anza Borrego State Park, 650,000 square acres,” Wiles says. “This is a desert sanctuary.”