Ernie Els has begun work on an 18-hole golf course in Mexico that will form part of a new 860-acre resort development, the first phase of which is due to open in early 2026.

The layout by Ernie Els Design is for Oleada Pacific Living & Golf, a new resort community located on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.

The resort and golf course are being built on a coastal site 15 minutes from Cabo San Lucas. Oleada Golf Links will be a links-style course offering views of the Pacific Ocean and a desert landscape of dunes and sandy ridges, providing sheltered valleys and winding corridors for Els’s team to use in their design.

Els said: “Our goal at Oleada will be to build a core golf course that harmonises with nature. We envision a compact design that drapes naturally on the land, steps lightly on nature’s toes and functions as an environmental steward of the site’s indigenous flora and fauna. 

With its rolling dunes, elevation changes and majestic desert-meets-ocean setting, I believe we can produce a versatile test that will rank among the best and most beautiful courses we’ve ever built. Because the natural contours and dune formations are so good, very little earthmoving will be required to build the course.”

Federico Gaxiola, project director at Oleada Pacific Living & Golf, said: “As we create a destination founded in responsible luxury, we selected Ernie because of his true understanding of sustainable development and sound environmental practices.”

The Els course at Oleada is the newest addition to the growing portfolio of golf courses in the Cabo San Lucas region, which is approaching 20. The property sits directly between two other golf developments – Diamante, with courses from Tiger Woods and Davis Love III,  and the newer Grand Solmar at Rancho San Lucas which boasts a Greg Norman-designed layout.