Six time Major winner, Nick Faldo, tees off on the 7th hole of the Lough Erne Golf course which he is currently designing at the Lough Erne Golf Resort.

Faldo paid a visit to the Resort at the weekend to assess the progress of the course and play nine of the ten completed holes with a few select members. In an interview with the Irish Time Faldo explained the enjoyment he has attained from working in the Fermanagh countryside and how he relished the challenge of creating the course from the moment he stood on the site in 2002.

"I've played golf on every continent and I can honestly say I am overwhelmed by the location and beauty of the Lough Erne project," he stated.

From his first minute on site Faldo was struck by the potential of the location and admitted to having grand intentions form the word go.

"We thought WOW! This has got serious five star potential. So we twisted Jim's arm so that he had to go for it. The original concept was that it was going to be a hotel and a hotel course. We said, 'No, this could be potentially European Tour destination.'"

Jim of course is Jim Treacy the owner and developer of the Lough Erne Golf Resort and Jim was also present to watch Faldo play the course of his design. A course which the Englishman explains has a lot of natural beauty.

"We had a lot of jiggling with the routing. There are some wonderful natural features out there in terms of vistas and atmosphere, some beautiful natural spots, like down on the 8th tee. You have to put a park bench down there, you are in a world of your own."

And of course being the county that we are it is fitting that water plays such an important part as Faldo alludes to.

"You've got Lough Erne and Castle Hume Lake literally 300 degrees around you and you won't see a building. There are some wonderful natural features out here in terms of vistas and atmosphere, some beautiful natural spots like down on the eighth. Separation is something wonderful when each hole has its own individuality; that's really important to our design team"

The Faldo course finishes with a par three, which is somewhat controversial for a Championship course but the two times US Masters champion defended his decision.

"I came up with the idea of 18 being a par three when I saw the Lough and the Hotel. A lot of people think, 'Well is that strong enough?' When we stood on that point for the first time I believed that it was going to be a fabulous finishing hole. It fits really well."

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