HAVANA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A 1.23-billion-U.S.-dollar luxury golf resort featuring an ocean hole is expected to put western Cuba's Punta Colorada Beach on the tourist map, the state-run daily Granma reported Friday.

Situated in Pinar del Rio province, the megaproject named after the Caribbean beach it sits on, in the city of Sandino, has just entered the construction phase.

"Right now it is just a lost way stop ... but in a few years the area of Punta Colorada will have the biggest golf-related residential resort complex in the whole country and probably Latin America," the daily said.

The first phase of the project, which will take up to seven years to complete, contains 1,250 rooms distributed in three hotels and 1,700 residential units, from bungalows to villas and apartments, on 7 square km.

When complete in some 25 years' time, the Punta Colorada Golf and Marina resort will feature two 18-hole golf courses, a marina for 300 boats and yachts, and sports facilities for football, tennis, baseball and sailing, spread over 37 square km.

Jaume Roma, president of the private-public enterprise heading the project, said the idea is to provide top-level athletes and competitors with a place to practice, "because there are countries where it's cold certain times of the year, and you can't train."

Each year, some 40 million golfers travel to play on different courses, and Cuba hopes to capture part of that segment, the daily said.