La Réserve Golf Links awarded GEO Certified Development Status

La Réserve Golf Links at Heritage Golf Club, Mauritius, has become the first course in the African region to be awarded GEO Certified Development Status.

Recognizing developments that exemplify sustainability through fostering nature and enhancing local ecosystems, conserving resources and supporting their communities, the GEO Certified Development status honors projects that have integrated sustainability into their decision-making processes, from initial site selection through to becoming operational.

La Réserve Golf Links, which opened for play in December and immediately hosted the DP World Tour’s Mauritius Open — won by the course’s co-designer and Open champion, Louis Oosthuizen — is inspired by the wild open spaces of the world’s great seaside links courses. With panoramic views from every hole, it’s the first and only contemporary links course in the Indian Ocean, and plays hand-in-hand with nature alongside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

“To bring this project to fruition, it took vision, time and determination, said Thierry Montocchio, CEO of Rogers Hospitality, which owns Heritage Golf Club. “We were fortunate to be accompanied by people who had the right skills, a similar passion, and a desire to bring about significant change. La Réserve Golf Links is a venture that not only inspired us, but also required us to understand the land, the nature, the elements and their connection with us, and us with them.”

GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation developments director Sam Thomas added that, “It is rewarding to see La Réserve Golf Links among a leading group of golf developments globally. The golf course was created from a nature reclamation project, turning sugarcane grounds back to a native grassland environment stretching over 65 hectares — and its success is a testament to the vision and hard work from the entire team.”

104 hectares of sugarcane monoculture have been regenerated into a rich mosaic of native habitats throughout the course, with natural resources, local to Mauritius, a key part of the development. Improvement in the vegetation cover and drainage allows the irrigation system to run efficiently by relying on gravity to carry water from hole to hole.