Bordered by five other countries on the west coast of South America, Peru has a rich and varied heritage. The Inca empire flourished in the 15th century before the nation gained Independence from Spain in 1824, flirting with democracy and dictatorship ever since.

The Andes divide the country into three distinct regions; a long, narrow coastal plain to the west, highlands formed by the mighty mountain range that runs north to south and interior jungle, where some 60% of the land mass is covered by Amazon rainforest.

Football, volleyball, surfing and sailing are sports where Peruvians have excelled on the world stage in the modern era, but with golf the preserve of a select few in a largely poor country, there’s not much chance of Peru making a mark on the golfing world… apart, that is, from claiming to have the 9-hole La Oroya course as the highest in the world at more than 12,000 feet above sea level.

We currently don’t feature the course at Lima Golf Club but the layout has recently undergone a significant upgrade in recent times thanks to Mackenzie & Ebert associate Mike Howard. He installed a new double ended driving range which also incorporates three double greens, allowing a 6-hole short par three course to be played at certain times.

To create space for this facility, a new green was fashioned at the 8th, the short par four 9th was replaced with a new par three hole and both the 1st and 10th were realigned. In a further phase of work, bunkers were rebuilt, lakes were adjusted, tees were reconstructed and fairways were re-grassed with Bermuda Tifway 419.