Work of art, Trent Jones says of Summit Point

"It sits on a naturally beautiful piece of property with such a dramatic site," said noted golf course designer Robert Trent Jones, Jr. "It’s quite interesting, it’s up on a hill which is very unusual here. The view is fantastic."

Such is the appeal of Summit Point, a scenic course which promises to offer a swathe of great golf, not to mention a unique design concept wherein each hole gets an inspiration from famous holes of courses all over the world.

In short, Summit Point, a joint venture project of Sta. Realty and Development, Inc. and Summit Point Realty Corp. and situated 1,100 feet above sea level, simply points out the attraction of mountain golf. When talking about using the land’s natural contours in course design, mountainous terrain provides a built-in guarantee of the concept. Although most courses can be manicured and renovated, they generally have an ebb tide which cannot be said of, say desert layouts. Displacing large volumes of soil to build these courses would involve, well, moving a mountain, so to speak.

That only makes this latest Sta. Lucia Realty’s project and Trent Jones’ latest masterpiece a gem of a layout.

"Every golf course is different but Summit Point is something special," said Jones. "It is also a little unusual because you get to play around a hill, a summit."

Jones, along with 50 other guests, actually played the backside of the course in Lipa City, Batangas yesterday and the 64-year-old son of an equally-renowned golf architect liked what he saw.

"It’s called golf art. When you see the beauty of a golf course, then we feel we did a good job at it," added Jones of his 219th creation worldwide.

Summit Point will be Jones Jr.’s sixth creation in the country and he expects completion of work in the front nine by July and a truly operational golf course this December.

The world-class clubhouse will be completed early next year, according to Sta. Lucia officials.

Of the famous courses worldwide, Jones will be putting two holes of Augusta National and two of Seminole in Summit, and one each from such courses as Spyglass Hill, Winged Foot, Cypress Point, Soto Grande, Carnoustie, St. Andrews and Pebble Beach.

Summit Point’s finishing hole could go down as one of the best in the world, as it has a striking resemblance of Sotogrande’s No. 12, where a breathtaking view of the mountains beside it would make one want to not mind a huge lagoon guarding the narrow fairway.

"We have a good marriage with the owners (Sta. Lucia)," Jones added. "The owner of a golf course must have trust in his architect because you don’t know what you will get until after a while when the job is finished."

Jones’ company has been listed as the No. 1 golf course designer in the world, and when he affixes his signature on anyone of his creations, you can be sure that what you have is one piece of work.