GULF SHORES-ORANGE BEACH, Alabama – Jan. 13, 2005 – The Gulf Shores Golf Association with 10 signature golf courses and 32 miles of sugar-white-sand beaches has announced that GSGA-member and world-renowned Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Club is expanding and has broken ground on The Village at Kiva Dunes.

This is the latest of several achievements made post Hurricane Ivan, which made landfall here in mid-September, and has area officials eager to show golf and beach tourists that Alabama’s Gulf Coast is becoming better than ever. Other achievements include the almost daily renewal of businesses, accommodations and other area attractions. It is expected that nearly 95% of all lodging units will be open when peak season arrives in June, many brand new or newly refinished.

Kiva Dunes is a multi-amenity resort-residential community that offers both private condominiums and rental lodging opportunities, including the Kiva Lodge Clubhouse and Condominium. Kiva Lodge, which opened in 2000, is the centerpiece of this acclaimed, unique seaside golf and residential community. Among other luxury amenities, it features Kiva Dunes Golf Club, a Jerry Pate-designed golf course which is rated among the top 100 courses in the U.S.

Like Kiva Lodge, units at The Village are designed with golf groups in mind. Plans call for some of the 4-bedroom units to comfortably accommodate up to eight golfers. This phase of Kiva’s development includes 30 additional 2-, 3- or 4-bedroom luxury condominiums, in two buildings located along the lake that runs adjacent to the 18th hole at Kiva Dunes. Presales of additional units, including a Gulf-front tower have already begun.

Kiva Dunes offers a full-service clubhouse, meeting facilities, fitness area, three swimming pools, 3,000 feet of private gulf beach, and on-site rental management of luxurious condominiums and beach homes. The golf club was recently ranked No. 44 in “America’s Best Resort Courses” by Golfweek magazine (December 2004) and No. 56 in “The Sublime 75: The Best Golf Resorts in North America” by Golf Digest magazine (November 2004).

“We are thrilled to have broken ground on The Village at Kiva Dunes,” says Mark Stillings, Kiva Dunes Director of Golf and President of the Gulf Shores Golf Association. “We are committed to offering the very finest in golf-and-beach resort and residential living experiences to our guests and residents, and The Village at Kiva Dunes will allow us to do this better than ever.”

The Village continues Kiva Dunes’ soothing architectural style with a combination of Caribbean and Southern influences. The Master plan also calls for a tennis center and expanded facilities for meetings, conventions and corporate retreats.

“Golfers say that our group of 10 member courses – all of which are outstanding as Kiva Dunes’ widespread acclaim helps demonstrate – is the equal to virtually any golf and beach destination in the country,” says Mike McArthur, Executive Director of the Gulf Shores Golf Association (www.golfgulfshores.com). “The Village at Kiva Dunes will further showcase the Alabama Gulf Coast and its many attractions.”

Kiva Dunes, designed by former U.S. Open Champion and Alabama native Jerry Pate, is rated No. 58 in Golf Digest’s “100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” in the United States. For more information about Kiva Dunes, call toll-free (866) 540-7100 or visit www.kivadunes.com.

For more information about the Alabama Gulf Coast, please contact the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800-745-SAND (7263) or www.gulfshores.com. For more information about the Gulf Shores Golf Association and its easy golf vacation planning, visit www.golfgulfshores.com or by call 1-888-815-1902.

Contacts:
Dan Shepherd, Buffalo Communications, 703-891-3320
dshepherd@billycaspergolf.com
Mike McArthur, Gulf Shores Golf Association, Executive Director
251-968-5319, m2links@golfgulfshores.com