Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports www.discoveryreports.com Sprouting amid lush hardwood trees and equipped with world-class amenities, golf courses and clubs have attracted players and fans, professional athletes and amateurs alike all over the world; but not all golf courses are created equal. Tucked within the Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate in Canlubang – a nature sanctuary of forests, fairways, natural habitats and river streams – the Sta. Elena Golf Club has been included twice in the list of 100 Best Golf Courses Outside the United States by Golf Digest Magazine. Premier golf course architect Robert Trent Jones designed the all-weather Sta. Elena Golf Club’s 27-hole course sprawled over around 100 hectares of land, which has challenged and captivated members for more than a decade. Garnering numerous awards in Asia and in the Philippines, Sta. Elena Golf Club is one of around 600 golf clubs globally certified by the National Audubon Society as a bird and wildlife sanctuary. “We work with the original golf course planner to constantly tweak the design and improve it,” says Bienvenido Tantoco, executive vice-president of Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate. “The technology, equipment and physical condition of athletes continue to improve, so we design the course to cater to the younger players who like to hit over 300 yards, but ensure that it is also enjoyable for players who don’t hit that long. Our designer is a veteran, and he still has a long list of ideas to implement, so it’s a continuous process.” The well-thought-out and zoned community was once part of Hacienda Sta. Elena, the sugar estate of the Yulo-Quiros family. When the global market slowed down in the 1980s, part of the Sta. Elena property in Canlubang was offered to Tantoco. Tantoco, who is an avid golfer, forester, nature lover and environmental advocate, envisioned Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate as a quick nature escape from the fast-paced, highly stressful life in the city. At Sta. Elena, residents and guests can enjoy peace and relaxation within beautiful homes on generously sized lots that allow families to connect with loved ones and with nature as a backdrop. Tantoco’s plan of creating a country escape consisted of the five things he is passionate about: family, golf, trees and wildlife, water and fresh air. “Sta. Elena is like a home away from home,” Tantoco says. “The beauty of the outdoors set in a luxurious and comfortable environment takes centre stage as the nature of pure living begs to be discovered. It is a modern sanctuary; a space with soul.” Living spaces with soul With more than 20 years of experience as a premier golf destination, Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate has expanded its development to include residences with world-class amenities. Enveloping the exclusive members-only club are a bevy of luxury residential, social and leisure amenities tailored for the entire family and created to nurture the soul. Located a mere 40-minute drive away from the central business district of Makati, the 200-hectare estate showcases five verdant and scenic villages composed of lot cuts ranging from 350 to 2,200 square metres. The beauty of the outdoors set in a luxurious and comfortable environment takes centre stage as the nature of pure living begs to be discovered Bienvenido Tantoco, executive vice-president Its flagship community Banahaw Circle is a 13-hectare “island village” that is perfectly surrounded by the Banahaw fairways of the golf course. Residents can revel driving through a scenic 500-metre road that cuts across the golf course and ends at a stone bridge that serves as the entrance to the village. Banahaw Circle is composed of 107 lot cuts ranging from 600 to 1,000 square metres. For people who value more privacy and exclusivity, Gliceria Place is a single row of 12 lots that offer fairway views at the front and back part of each lot. Land cuts range from 1,700 to 2,100 square metres. The Marina Grove is another exclusive 2.1-hectare cluster of 14 lots with panoramic views of holes 20, 21, 22, 23 and 25 of the course’s third nine. Lot cuts range from 1,000 to 1,400 square metres. Situated on the first nine holes of the Sta. Elena golf course, Makiling Reserve offers the biggest available lot cuts ranging from 1,100 to 2,200 square metres. Distinguished by lagoons and forests, the 22-hectare development headlines 88 sellable fairways and village lots. Homes in this enclave can set up larger gardens with more clearance in between lots. Distinctively designed with service roads that are separate from the main road, the 20-hectare Sierra Madre village offers lots with cuts ranging from 350 to 750 square metres. Located on the east side of Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate, Sierra Madre also features amenities that are exclusively available to residents of the village. One such amenity is the village clubhouse Club 22, which overlooks the green of hole 22, and is a perfect venue for residents to connect and spend leisure time with family. It serves food and beverages from the renowned golf club’s Veranda. Blending flavours to create new dishes that satisfy club members’ diverse palates, the head chef whips up delicious twists to food that is familiar and comforting. A nearby park where a small river runs was also designed to give residents an intimate experience to commune with nature. Apart from the idyllic outdoor setting, other amenities available to residents and golf club members include The Big Lake, which is a place for fishing and boating trips, and underscores one of the most breathtaking views of Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate; the Banahaw Fairway Park, an adult exercise park right along the fairway of hole 16 that features a 500-metre forest trail with outdoor exercise equipment and benches; the Banahaw Clubhouse, with a four-storey tower that overlooks the Banahaw enclave, and set in an exotic garden surrounded by pools and ponds; and the Banahaw Children’s Playground, laid with a rubber surface for safety, and designed to teach kids the mechanics of Filipino games such as piko , tumbang preso , patintero and agawan base . “The better the golf course, the more it becomes a destination,” Tantoco says. “We continue to maintain the golf course as one of the best in the region to encourage more people to travel and play here. We also maximised the space so that it complements the residential developments and relaxing mountain views around it. We first built the golf course, developed the residential areas, which are almost fully sold, and now we plan to expand the country club.” Fun and intimate ‘naturescapes’ for all The estate also features spaces that are open to the public. Children especially relish playing at the Fun Farm where they are free to run wild in open spaces and connect with animals in a safe farm-like setting. Kids and grown-ups can experience herding sheep, saddling a horse, chasing chickens, petting bunnies and climbing a tree. It showcases party and picnic areas with pockets of natural playgrounds, and features a small lagoon, a gigantic sandbox, animal feeding stations and an amphitheatre. An ideal venue for family day trips, weddings, birthday parties, field trips and team building activities, the Fun Farm is open daily from 8am to 4pm. Hundreds of bird species live in their natural habitats here. Sta. Elena is special because we dedicate two-thirds of the development to green space Katrina Tantoco-Lobregat, vice-president For a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, the Sta. Elena Guesthouse offers immersive and breathtaking views and relaxation as it seamlessly blends the natural environment with modern hospitality conveniences. The four-bedroom villa is strategically situated to give guests the best views of the estate’s lagoon and nature sanctuary. Guests can bask in luxury amenities such as the nature infinity pool, indoor and outdoor dining areas, security detail, and a spacious garden including cable television and internet access. Extra care has been given to the development of the Sta. Elena golf course and its surrounding properties. The developer planted pockets of rainforest trees across the 200-hectare space, giving birth to migratory bird havens and environments where flora and fauna flourish. Continuously evolving, the Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate is steadily gaining a sterling repute as a place of fairways, forests, lagoons, river streams and good food. “Sta. Elena is a boutique developer, and we are known as a nature sanctuary,” says Tantoco’s daughter Katrina Tantoco-Lobregat, vice-president of Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate. “The moment the land was turned over to my father, he was immediately on nature conservation mode. When we build roads, and there is a tree, we build around the tree. Hundreds of bird species live in their natural habitats here. Sta. Elena is special because we dedicate two-thirds of the development to green space.” In the pipeline are plans to expand the Sta. Elena Golf country club and to build vertical dwellings while maintaining the community’s natural state. Tantoco-Lobregat emphasises the company’s focus on finding the balance between cultivating the land and allotting more spaces for green developments. Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate works with leading consultants and real estate specialists to ensure that Tantoco’s vision of a natural country escape is never compromised. A sublime masterpiece where nature was not rushed, Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate invites partners and joint ventures to help further enhance the property’s value by protecting the soul of the land and working diligently with the spirited people who tilled it. www.staelena.com