Construction of a major new Middle East golf and real estate development - New Giza, Egypt - is underway.

Staking has been completed and bulk construction of the golf course has commenced. Tim Lobb, of the Thomson Perrett & Lobb golf course design practice, said: "The site for the golf course is part of one of the most dramatic landscapes we have worked on, with hilltop views to the Pyramids and 50m high cliffs which have been incorporated into the golf course design."

In addition to the golf course, the 1,500-acre development will feature an MGM Grand Resort, a hospital; a medical school; a university; two schools; a sporting club; two mixed use areas with restaurants, shopping malls and office spaces; a second hotel and 5,500 villas, townhouses and apartments in ten individual neighbourhoods, all surrounded by greenery, parks and lakes. The golf course at New Giza is scheduled to open in 2012, while the MGM Grand @ New Giza is expected to open in 2013.

Pic: The site of the golf course's 13th green, a par-3 played over a ravine from a tee on top of the cliffs