The second golf course at Bahia del los Suenos will be designed by ... Gil Hanse.
It’s not a done deal yet and won’t be announced until later this summer, but the Malvern, Pennsylvania-based architect has been selected to design a walkable 18-hole track (not an executive-length course, as originally planned) at the 4,270-acre resort community on Baja California Sur.
Bahia del los Suenos, the home of Tom Doak’s first course in Mexico, is being developed by PCS Development, Inc., a residential developer based in Los Angeles, California.
"We were looking for an architect who respects the land and was interested in creating an enjoyable golf course," says Charles Freedman, the president of PCS. "It was important to us that people would look forward to playing the course again and again, and that it would be intellectually challenging."
At build-out, Bahia del los Suenos will have 818 single-family houses, 1,143 condos, eight hotels, a beach club, an equestrian center, a private airport, and a possible third golf course.
PCS hopes to break ground on Hanse’s course in late 2010 or early 2011.
BahiaSuenos.com
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
scotland Trump's Dune Deal
Donald Trump has re-named a slice of northeastern Scotland.
Trump International Golf Links Scotland was supposed to have been built on property called Menie Dunes, a name that clearly doesn't satisfy its owner's marketing imperatives.
Trump is now calling the property, near Balmedie in Aberdeenshire, "the Great Dunes of Scotland," a name that, for me at least, conjures up images of thrill rides and amusement parks. Trump believes the new name will resonate with prospective
home buyers, especially those who might associate the original name with a mean, nasty person, or perhaps a bully.
“I think it’s a more appropriate name,” he said in a story posted at the Times Online. “I think it’s a bigger name, I think it’s a better name, and I think it’s a name people can really understand and relate to in Scotland.”
The name change did not endear Trump to any of his Scottish neighbors or weaken the resolve of his critics. But hey, he owns the property. He can call it anything he wants to call it.
The first 18-hole track at Trump International Golf Links Scotland, Trump's piece de resistance, has been designed by Martin Hawtree. Trump has promised that it'll be the finest golf course in the world, and he hopes it'll one day host the British Open.
The course is currently under construction and is expected to open in the spring of 2012.
Here's a link to the Times' story, called "Great Dunes of Scotland!"
Trump International Golf Links Scotland was supposed to have been built on property called Menie Dunes, a name that clearly doesn't satisfy its owner's marketing imperatives.
Trump is now calling the property, near Balmedie in Aberdeenshire, "the Great Dunes of Scotland," a name that, for me at least, conjures up images of thrill rides and amusement parks. Trump believes the new name will resonate with prospective
home buyers, especially those who might associate the original name with a mean, nasty person, or perhaps a bully.
“I think it’s a more appropriate name,” he said in a story posted at the Times Online. “I think it’s a bigger name, I think it’s a better name, and I think it’s a name people can really understand and relate to in Scotland.”
The name change did not endear Trump to any of his Scottish neighbors or weaken the resolve of his critics. But hey, he owns the property. He can call it anything he wants to call it.
The first 18-hole track at Trump International Golf Links Scotland, Trump's piece de resistance, has been designed by Martin Hawtree. Trump has promised that it'll be the finest golf course in the world, and he hopes it'll one day host the British Open.
The course is currently under construction and is expected to open in the spring of 2012.
Here's a link to the Times' story, called "Great Dunes of Scotland!"
Thursday, May 27, 2010
finance Gary Player, Mr. Moneybags
Gary Player is sitting on a veritable king's ransom, and he's going to spend it on some of the planet's premier golf properties.
Player says that he's collected $500 million -- generously provided by investors from Abu Dhabi -- and that he plans to raise another $500 million from sources described as "private and institutional investors."
Marc Player, the eldest son of the Travelers Rest, South Carolina-based golf designer, reports that the $1 billion will buy "iconic resorts where there are existing hotel, residential, golf amenities that have been over-capitalized."
In other words, Player and his partners plan to buy high-profile resort properties at bargain prices.
It's the same old story: In a depressed economy, cash is king.
The fund's first targets have been identified. The National reports that Player's fund is already trying to buy the iconic Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire, Scotland and the luxurious Sea Island resort just outside Brunswick, Georgia (in the United States).
In 2008, Leisurecorp paid more than $100 million for Turnberry, a 45-hole complex that's hosted British Open four times, most recently in 2009. Shortly after the purchase, Leisurecorp's fortunes went south, and its owner, government-based Dubai World, transferred ownership of the resort to another of its subsidiaries and put it on the market.
Turnberry isn't Dubai World's only golf holding. Through various subsidiaries, the cash-strapped company also owns a golf course in South Africa and Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, the site of the richest golf tournament on earth (the Dubai World Championship). It also owns small pieces of Troon Golf and GPS Industries.
Sea Island, which has a pair of 18-hole golf courses, hosted the G8 Summit in 2004, but it laid off something like 500 employees (about a quarter of its staffers) in 2008, and its owners, a group led by Bill Jones III, defaulted on loans in both 2009 and 2010. It used to have a third 18-hole course, but a lender now controls it.
"We see this as a perfect storm," Marc Player said at the recent KPMG Golf Business Forum in Belek, Turkey. "There may not be a lot of guys hiring us to design golf courses, but maybe we can acquire the ones that are distressed."
Here's a link to the National's story, "Golf Fund Tees Off in Capital."
Player says that he's collected $500 million -- generously provided by investors from Abu Dhabi -- and that he plans to raise another $500 million from sources described as "private and institutional investors."
Marc Player, the eldest son of the Travelers Rest, South Carolina-based golf designer, reports that the $1 billion will buy "iconic resorts where there are existing hotel, residential, golf amenities that have been over-capitalized."
In other words, Player and his partners plan to buy high-profile resort properties at bargain prices.
It's the same old story: In a depressed economy, cash is king.
The fund's first targets have been identified. The National reports that Player's fund is already trying to buy the iconic Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire, Scotland and the luxurious Sea Island resort just outside Brunswick, Georgia (in the United States).
In 2008, Leisurecorp paid more than $100 million for Turnberry, a 45-hole complex that's hosted British Open four times, most recently in 2009. Shortly after the purchase, Leisurecorp's fortunes went south, and its owner, government-based Dubai World, transferred ownership of the resort to another of its subsidiaries and put it on the market.
Turnberry isn't Dubai World's only golf holding. Through various subsidiaries, the cash-strapped company also owns a golf course in South Africa and Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, the site of the richest golf tournament on earth (the Dubai World Championship). It also owns small pieces of Troon Golf and GPS Industries.
Sea Island, which has a pair of 18-hole golf courses, hosted the G8 Summit in 2004, but it laid off something like 500 employees (about a quarter of its staffers) in 2008, and its owners, a group led by Bill Jones III, defaulted on loans in both 2009 and 2010. It used to have a third 18-hole course, but a lender now controls it.
"We see this as a perfect storm," Marc Player said at the recent KPMG Golf Business Forum in Belek, Turkey. "There may not be a lot of guys hiring us to design golf courses, but maybe we can acquire the ones that are distressed."
Here's a link to the National's story, "Golf Fund Tees Off in Capital."
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
talking points Tom Fazio on Golf and its Discontents
In an interview posted at GolfTheMidAtlantic.com in April, Tom Fazio talked with Jeffrey Randall about the current state of golf development in the United States.
Fazio isn't hopeful about the near term and won't predict when things will get better. Nonetheless, he believes the industry will work its way through the hard times and, with the economy improving, he's looking forward to designing more courses both in the United States and around the world
Here's a little of what Fazio had to say.
On whether the golf market will improve anytime soon: No. No. And the reason for that is, we have an oversupply of golf courses. We're not going to go back to where we were several years ago, where we had a couple hundred golf courses opening every year. Do the math. From 1992 to 2006 or 2007, we had an average of probably 250 golf courses opening up every year. In that 15 or so years, that's about 3,750 golf courses of some fashion or form.
If you look at the marketplace, you only need so many. And if you look at the economics, we have this supply of them, and now we have to fill them up. And that's what it's going to take in order for there to be any demand to build more.
On reports that as many as 20 percent of the existing U.S. golf facilities will close over the next five years: It's probably possible. It's close to it. Again, that's a very negative way to look at it, but that's also the real world. It's not because golf is bad. Yeah, maybe it's because golf is expensive, but it's our society, it's our timing.
Or maybe golf isn't for everybody. Maybe we don't need to grow the game, because it doesn't fit.
On when the golf business will recover: I don't know. I think it'll recover, but . . . I don't think we're going to go back to a couple hundred golf courses being built every year. I don't think we're going to go back to the boom of what we saw for a long period of time.
On where golf development goes from here: I don't see what we're going through as being a serious problem in the big-picture scheme of things. I think it's just one of the cycles we're in. We're going to have these downturns, and we're going to have these problem places, but we're going to work through it because of the oversupply. I just don't see it all as doom and gloom.
Okay, let's assume that not many new courses are going to be designed in the near future, so golf course architects . . . won't have as many golf courses to design. Well, so what? That's just the way it is.
Fazio isn't hopeful about the near term and won't predict when things will get better. Nonetheless, he believes the industry will work its way through the hard times and, with the economy improving, he's looking forward to designing more courses both in the United States and around the world
Here's a little of what Fazio had to say.
On whether the golf market will improve anytime soon: No. No. And the reason for that is, we have an oversupply of golf courses. We're not going to go back to where we were several years ago, where we had a couple hundred golf courses opening every year. Do the math. From 1992 to 2006 or 2007, we had an average of probably 250 golf courses opening up every year. In that 15 or so years, that's about 3,750 golf courses of some fashion or form.
If you look at the marketplace, you only need so many. And if you look at the economics, we have this supply of them, and now we have to fill them up. And that's what it's going to take in order for there to be any demand to build more.
On reports that as many as 20 percent of the existing U.S. golf facilities will close over the next five years: It's probably possible. It's close to it. Again, that's a very negative way to look at it, but that's also the real world. It's not because golf is bad. Yeah, maybe it's because golf is expensive, but it's our society, it's our timing.
Or maybe golf isn't for everybody. Maybe we don't need to grow the game, because it doesn't fit.
On when the golf business will recover: I don't know. I think it'll recover, but . . . I don't think we're going to go back to a couple hundred golf courses being built every year. I don't think we're going to go back to the boom of what we saw for a long period of time.
On where golf development goes from here: I don't see what we're going through as being a serious problem in the big-picture scheme of things. I think it's just one of the cycles we're in. We're going to have these downturns, and we're going to have these problem places, but we're going to work through it because of the oversupply. I just don't see it all as doom and gloom.
Okay, let's assume that not many new courses are going to be designed in the near future, so golf course architects . . . won't have as many golf courses to design. Well, so what? That's just the way it is.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
australia Norman Closes His Australian Shop
Greg Norman Golf Course Design has closed its office in Sydney, Australia.
"The closure of the golf course design office," writes Nick Tabakoff of the Daily Telegraph, "signals that Norman's company no longer sees Australia as its key Asia-Pacific hub."
The empire's new Asia-Pacific hub is China, where Greg Norman, the conglomerate's legendary boss, has spent considerable time over the past year or so. Great White Shark Enterprises recently opened a sales and marketing office in Beijing.
As of Wednesday night, the news about the shut-down in Sydney hadn't yet been posted on Norman's website, shark.com, where a nice collection of men's polo shirts and jackets are on sale at 50 percent off. The website still prominently lists the Sydney office as one of its design centers.
Practically speaking, the downsizing means that Norman has said good-bye to Harley Kruse, one of his longtime (10 years) Australian designers, and two other staffers. Last year, Norman cut his ties with Bob Harrison, who'd been on the payroll for 22 years.
All of Norman's designers will now operate out of the company's office West Palm Beach, Florida.
The news comes just days after Norman received a "lifetime achievement award" at the KPMG Golf Business Forum in Belek, Turkey. Though he's closed his design office, Norman continues to operate a beef export business and a wine-related enterprise in Australia.
Here's a link to "The Shark Greg Norman Chases the Golf Dollar in Asia."
"The closure of the golf course design office," writes Nick Tabakoff of the Daily Telegraph, "signals that Norman's company no longer sees Australia as its key Asia-Pacific hub."
The empire's new Asia-Pacific hub is China, where Greg Norman, the conglomerate's legendary boss, has spent considerable time over the past year or so. Great White Shark Enterprises recently opened a sales and marketing office in Beijing.
As of Wednesday night, the news about the shut-down in Sydney hadn't yet been posted on Norman's website, shark.com, where a nice collection of men's polo shirts and jackets are on sale at 50 percent off. The website still prominently lists the Sydney office as one of its design centers.
Practically speaking, the downsizing means that Norman has said good-bye to Harley Kruse, one of his longtime (10 years) Australian designers, and two other staffers. Last year, Norman cut his ties with Bob Harrison, who'd been on the payroll for 22 years.
All of Norman's designers will now operate out of the company's office West Palm Beach, Florida.
The news comes just days after Norman received a "lifetime achievement award" at the KPMG Golf Business Forum in Belek, Turkey. Though he's closed his design office, Norman continues to operate a beef export business and a wine-related enterprise in Australia.
Here's a link to "The Shark Greg Norman Chases the Golf Dollar in Asia."
Monday, May 24, 2010
japan Abiko Golf Club's Makeover
Brian Silva is working up a master plan for renovations of Abiko Golf Club in suburban Tokyo.
Abiko, one of Japan’s oldest clubs (it opened in 1930), is probably best known as the place where Isao Aoki, the Japanese golf star, learned to play. Aoki was born in Abiko, a northeastern suburb of Tokyo, and he caddied at Abiko.
The club’s 6,500-yard course was designed by Rokuro Akaboshi, a Princeton grad and a golf pro who won the inaugural Japan Open, in 1927. After making the obligatory pilgrimage to Scotland and building some courses in Japan for C. H. Alison, Akaboshi designed something like 60 golf courses in Japan and Southeast Asia, although most of them were destroyed during World War II.
“He really studied golf courses,” says Silva. “Abiko has some of the greatest strategic potential of any course I’ve seen in a long time.”
Silva, who’s based in Dover, New Hampshire, was particularly struck by the quality of Akaboshi’s routing (“he didn’t fight the land in a single spot”) and the quality of his greens complexes (“interesting to play without being goofy”).
The course has summer and winter greens on each hole, as do many of the earliest courses built in Japan. Silva will reduce the layout to 18 greens, all of them to be rebuilt and regrassed and, in some cases, relocated. He also plans to lengthen the course by at least 200 yards, rebuild its tees, greens, and bunkers, and maybe install a new irrigation system.
Silva, who doesn’t get out of the country much -– he’s designed four courses in Italy and one in Guatemala, all of them more than a decade ago -– was recommended for the job by Sho Tobari, a course rater for Golf magazine and a member at Abiko. The renovation is expected to begin in 2010, but, as Silva notes, “you never really know.”
s-gc.net/club_old/abiko
Abiko, one of Japan’s oldest clubs (it opened in 1930), is probably best known as the place where Isao Aoki, the Japanese golf star, learned to play. Aoki was born in Abiko, a northeastern suburb of Tokyo, and he caddied at Abiko.
The club’s 6,500-yard course was designed by Rokuro Akaboshi, a Princeton grad and a golf pro who won the inaugural Japan Open, in 1927. After making the obligatory pilgrimage to Scotland and building some courses in Japan for C. H. Alison, Akaboshi designed something like 60 golf courses in Japan and Southeast Asia, although most of them were destroyed during World War II.
“He really studied golf courses,” says Silva. “Abiko has some of the greatest strategic potential of any course I’ve seen in a long time.”
Silva, who’s based in Dover, New Hampshire, was particularly struck by the quality of Akaboshi’s routing (“he didn’t fight the land in a single spot”) and the quality of his greens complexes (“interesting to play without being goofy”).
The course has summer and winter greens on each hole, as do many of the earliest courses built in Japan. Silva will reduce the layout to 18 greens, all of them to be rebuilt and regrassed and, in some cases, relocated. He also plans to lengthen the course by at least 200 yards, rebuild its tees, greens, and bunkers, and maybe install a new irrigation system.
Silva, who doesn’t get out of the country much -– he’s designed four courses in Italy and one in Guatemala, all of them more than a decade ago -– was recommended for the job by Sho Tobari, a course rater for Golf magazine and a member at Abiko. The renovation is expected to begin in 2010, but, as Silva notes, “you never really know.”
s-gc.net/club_old/abiko
Sunday, May 23, 2010
moldova Made for Each Other
Moldova is the least happy nation on the planet.
That’s not me talking. That’s the conclusion reached by Eric Weiner, who made the case for the former Soviet republic’s distress in The Geography of Bliss, the account of his world-wide search for happiness. Weiner, an admittedly grumpy fellow, visited Moldova -– it’s stuck between Romania and the Ukraine, two other dreary places -– in order to confront the “depths of misery to which I have not yet sunk.”
A nation’s prevailing mood can’t be reduced to a single source, of course, but Weiner blames at least part of Moldova’s gloom on a lack of money. He points out, for example, that there’s a McDonald’s in Chisinau, the nation’s capital, but it’s “prohibitively expensive for ordinary Moldovians.”
That statement says a lot about Moldova. And it’s not surprising, because the average per-capita income in Moldova is just $880, or about what we’d pay in my neighborhood for a decent set of golf clubs.
Not that it’s easy to find golf clubs in Moldova, unless you’re lucky enough to have internet service and can shop online. You see, Moldova doesn’t have any golf stores. It doesn’t need any, because it doesn’t have any golf courses.
Can you predict what’s coming next?
Yes, that’s right: The world’s most exasperating sport may soon arrive in the world's most dispirited place!
And if that’s not a reason to put a smile on a Moldovan’s sad face, I don’t know what is.
Last week, Moldova’s government announced that a group of Italian businessmen have acquired a 100-acre parcel near Chisinau, the nation’s capital, where they plan to build a resort-style hotel, a pair of sports centers, and a golf course. The facility would, I suppose, cater mostly to the tourists who visit Moldova, presuming there are any.
I don't suppose there are. The Wikipedia entry for tourism in Moldova is, literally, a mostly blank page. A travel-related website I stumbled across says that Chisinau has “a weighty Soviet feel” and “a distinctly dodgy criminal undertone,” while another says that a trip to Moldova will make you feel as though you’ve “stepped back in time.”
Maybe the Italians aren't up to speed on current travel literature.
They talked up their plan with Moldova’s prime minister and with Nicolae Juravschi, the head of Moldova’s Olympic committee. (Bet you didn’t realize there was one.)
“The construction of a golf field has been mooted for a long time, and we would like that things start moving,” Juravschi said after the meeting.
You heard it right. Moldova has actually been trying to build a golf course for years.
Back in 2003, the Golf Association of Moldova (bet you didn’t realize there was one of those, either) floated a plan to build the nation’s first golf course. The association, which had been founded in 1995, hired what it described as a “famous” Italian architect (someone named Azioli who I can’t find anywhere) to design an 8,472-yard course. (The idea, presumably, was to torture Moldova’s neophyte golfers.) The association also planned to build a golf school, a hotel, and other recreational attractions.
The association’s project was supposed to have been built on part of a 450-acre parcel in suburban Chisinau. It’s possible that the Italians will use this property, or at least part of it, for their golf course.
I can’t say for sure, because the Italians haven’t been identified -– Moldova has many state secrets -– and because I can’t find the golf association. Like much of Moldova, its website no longer operates.
My guess is that the association was created to build a golf course, and it fizzled out when its development plans lost traction. I hope I’m wrong, of course, and that the association's members are still out there somewhere, working to introduce golf’s inherent frustrations to their countrymen.
Because it somehow seems that Moldova is an ideal place for golf.
That’s not me talking. That’s the conclusion reached by Eric Weiner, who made the case for the former Soviet republic’s distress in The Geography of Bliss, the account of his world-wide search for happiness. Weiner, an admittedly grumpy fellow, visited Moldova -– it’s stuck between Romania and the Ukraine, two other dreary places -– in order to confront the “depths of misery to which I have not yet sunk.”
A nation’s prevailing mood can’t be reduced to a single source, of course, but Weiner blames at least part of Moldova’s gloom on a lack of money. He points out, for example, that there’s a McDonald’s in Chisinau, the nation’s capital, but it’s “prohibitively expensive for ordinary Moldovians.”
That statement says a lot about Moldova. And it’s not surprising, because the average per-capita income in Moldova is just $880, or about what we’d pay in my neighborhood for a decent set of golf clubs.
Not that it’s easy to find golf clubs in Moldova, unless you’re lucky enough to have internet service and can shop online. You see, Moldova doesn’t have any golf stores. It doesn’t need any, because it doesn’t have any golf courses.
Can you predict what’s coming next?
Yes, that’s right: The world’s most exasperating sport may soon arrive in the world's most dispirited place!
And if that’s not a reason to put a smile on a Moldovan’s sad face, I don’t know what is.
Last week, Moldova’s government announced that a group of Italian businessmen have acquired a 100-acre parcel near Chisinau, the nation’s capital, where they plan to build a resort-style hotel, a pair of sports centers, and a golf course. The facility would, I suppose, cater mostly to the tourists who visit Moldova, presuming there are any.
I don't suppose there are. The Wikipedia entry for tourism in Moldova is, literally, a mostly blank page. A travel-related website I stumbled across says that Chisinau has “a weighty Soviet feel” and “a distinctly dodgy criminal undertone,” while another says that a trip to Moldova will make you feel as though you’ve “stepped back in time.”
Maybe the Italians aren't up to speed on current travel literature.
They talked up their plan with Moldova’s prime minister and with Nicolae Juravschi, the head of Moldova’s Olympic committee. (Bet you didn’t realize there was one.)
“The construction of a golf field has been mooted for a long time, and we would like that things start moving,” Juravschi said after the meeting.
You heard it right. Moldova has actually been trying to build a golf course for years.
Back in 2003, the Golf Association of Moldova (bet you didn’t realize there was one of those, either) floated a plan to build the nation’s first golf course. The association, which had been founded in 1995, hired what it described as a “famous” Italian architect (someone named Azioli who I can’t find anywhere) to design an 8,472-yard course. (The idea, presumably, was to torture Moldova’s neophyte golfers.) The association also planned to build a golf school, a hotel, and other recreational attractions.
The association’s project was supposed to have been built on part of a 450-acre parcel in suburban Chisinau. It’s possible that the Italians will use this property, or at least part of it, for their golf course.
I can’t say for sure, because the Italians haven’t been identified -– Moldova has many state secrets -– and because I can’t find the golf association. Like much of Moldova, its website no longer operates.
My guess is that the association was created to build a golf course, and it fizzled out when its development plans lost traction. I hope I’m wrong, of course, and that the association's members are still out there somewhere, working to introduce golf’s inherent frustrations to their countrymen.
Because it somehow seems that Moldova is an ideal place for golf.
Friday, May 21, 2010
talking points Tighten Your Belts
Here's what they were saying about the current state of golf development at KPMG's Golf Business Forum in Belek, Turkey:
Andrea Sartori, the head of KPMG's Golf Advisory Practice -- "It is our opinion that it will take some time for the golf industry to recover. Many developments have stopped, been delayed, or even canceled due to the global economic crisis, and this is being driven by a lack of confidence, liquidity in the market, and a change in consumer demand."
Giovanni Gregoratti, director of Citigroup's real estate investment banking in Europe -- "It has been a tough couple of years for real estate finance.... Golf, in particular, has been hit badly, and it may take longer than most industries to return to where it was."
Greg Norman, "signature" golf designer -- "The era of unlimited budgets for golf developments, as we experienced in the 1980s and 1990s, are gone. I've told people in countries such as China that we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, because that has a lot to do with the situation we are in now."
Andrea Sartori, the head of KPMG's Golf Advisory Practice -- "It is our opinion that it will take some time for the golf industry to recover. Many developments have stopped, been delayed, or even canceled due to the global economic crisis, and this is being driven by a lack of confidence, liquidity in the market, and a change in consumer demand."
Giovanni Gregoratti, director of Citigroup's real estate investment banking in Europe -- "It has been a tough couple of years for real estate finance.... Golf, in particular, has been hit badly, and it may take longer than most industries to return to where it was."
Greg Norman, "signature" golf designer -- "The era of unlimited budgets for golf developments, as we experienced in the 1980s and 1990s, are gone. I've told people in countries such as China that we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, because that has a lot to do with the situation we are in now."
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
talking points Top Modeling
Mike Young, an Athens, Georgia-based designer, in an interview conducted last fall by Golf Club Atlas:
The international golf market will be profitable in the future, but I do wonder if golf in other countries will face some of the same problems as golf in America. I have seen $5 to $8 million golf courses that end up having only 3,000 rounds played per year. This is done in the name of developing resorts and housing projects modeled after American designs, and although they can build the courses for a reasonable price, they lose money through the annual costs of upkeep. Golf courses are being built in countries where there may not even be a thousand golfers.
The international golf market will be profitable in the future, but I do wonder if golf in other countries will face some of the same problems as golf in America. I have seen $5 to $8 million golf courses that end up having only 3,000 rounds played per year. This is done in the name of developing resorts and housing projects modeled after American designs, and although they can build the courses for a reasonable price, they lose money through the annual costs of upkeep. Golf courses are being built in countries where there may not even be a thousand golfers.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
worth reading A Solution to One of Golf's Big Problems?
Here's what the Wall Street Journal calls "the scariest number for the golf business," and it comes from the National Golf Foundation's most recent report on golf participation: between 2005 and 2008, the number of U.S. golfers aged 6 to 17 declined by 24 percent, from 3.8 million to 2.9 million.
Yes, while celebrity architects and PGA Tour officials roam the world to "grow the game," the game of golf is dying here at home -- and has been for years.
Matthew Futterman of the Journal addresses this issue in "Golf's Big Problem: No Kids." He recommends that golf take a cue from tennis, which is experiencing a revival among children. From 2003 to 2009, Futterman says, the number of U.S. children aged 6 to 17 playing tennis increased from 6.8 million to 9.5 million.
Why is tennis flourishing while golf languishes?
Because the people who run tennis made their game "easier to learn and easier to stick with," Futterman writes. And they did it with solutions that "were so simple and inexpensive that in retrospect it seems downright silly that no one had pursued them before."
"When it comes to kids," Futterman concludes, "tennis clearly knows something that golf does not."
Here's a link to "Golf's Big Problem: No Kids."
Yes, while celebrity architects and PGA Tour officials roam the world to "grow the game," the game of golf is dying here at home -- and has been for years.
Matthew Futterman of the Journal addresses this issue in "Golf's Big Problem: No Kids." He recommends that golf take a cue from tennis, which is experiencing a revival among children. From 2003 to 2009, Futterman says, the number of U.S. children aged 6 to 17 playing tennis increased from 6.8 million to 9.5 million.
Why is tennis flourishing while golf languishes?
Because the people who run tennis made their game "easier to learn and easier to stick with," Futterman writes. And they did it with solutions that "were so simple and inexpensive that in retrospect it seems downright silly that no one had pursued them before."
"When it comes to kids," Futterman concludes, "tennis clearly knows something that golf does not."
Here's a link to "Golf's Big Problem: No Kids."
Monday, May 17, 2010
vietnam Making a Pointe
A California-based financier has set out to develop what could eventually be one of the largest master-planned communities in Vietnam.
The community is called Philand Ranch, and it’ll eventually spread over 8,000 acres in Chu Lai (in Quang Nam Province). Chu Lai, the home of a U.S. Marine Corps base during the Vietnam War, is located along Vietnam’s eastern coast, roughly 55 miles down the coast from Danang.
Like any other huge planned community, Philand Ranch will include houses, hotels, retail and commercial areas, and other attractions. It’s being developed by a subsidiary of PHI Group, Inc., a publicly traded firm in Huntington Beach (the “Surf City” immortalized by the Beach Boys). The subsidiary, Philand Ranch Limited, is currently traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and it could start trading on U.S. stock exchanges later this year.
The first phase of Philand Ranch is a resort community called Pointe 91, which will take shape on bluffs overlooking the South China Sea. Pointe 91 will consist of 227 single-family houses and villas, a 180-room beachfront hotel with a spa, 30 cabana units that will be part of a private residence club, a marina with a yacht club, a 250-seat outdoor amphitheater, a management training center, a shopping area, a farmers’ market, and hiking trails.
All those elements will be located on 118 acres. In the next phase of development, Pointe 91 will grow to 300 acres and include an 18-hole golf course.
PHI Group’s principal, Henry Fahman, is currently trying to secure financing for Pointe 91. Fahman, who was born in Vietnan, believes he’ll have it in place sometime this summer.
These days Fahman is also trying to round up financing for a resort community in Da Lat City, one of Vietnam’s favorite vacation destinations and the capital of Lam Dong Province. The to-be-named community is being developed by Camly Mangling Company, Ltd., a subsidiary of Linh Thanh Group. It’ll have villas, time-share condos, two or three hotels, an entertainment complex, a retail/commercial area, and an 18-hole golf course.
PHIglobal.com, PhilandRanch.com
The community is called Philand Ranch, and it’ll eventually spread over 8,000 acres in Chu Lai (in Quang Nam Province). Chu Lai, the home of a U.S. Marine Corps base during the Vietnam War, is located along Vietnam’s eastern coast, roughly 55 miles down the coast from Danang.
Like any other huge planned community, Philand Ranch will include houses, hotels, retail and commercial areas, and other attractions. It’s being developed by a subsidiary of PHI Group, Inc., a publicly traded firm in Huntington Beach (the “Surf City” immortalized by the Beach Boys). The subsidiary, Philand Ranch Limited, is currently traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and it could start trading on U.S. stock exchanges later this year.
The first phase of Philand Ranch is a resort community called Pointe 91, which will take shape on bluffs overlooking the South China Sea. Pointe 91 will consist of 227 single-family houses and villas, a 180-room beachfront hotel with a spa, 30 cabana units that will be part of a private residence club, a marina with a yacht club, a 250-seat outdoor amphitheater, a management training center, a shopping area, a farmers’ market, and hiking trails.
All those elements will be located on 118 acres. In the next phase of development, Pointe 91 will grow to 300 acres and include an 18-hole golf course.
PHI Group’s principal, Henry Fahman, is currently trying to secure financing for Pointe 91. Fahman, who was born in Vietnan, believes he’ll have it in place sometime this summer.
These days Fahman is also trying to round up financing for a resort community in Da Lat City, one of Vietnam’s favorite vacation destinations and the capital of Lam Dong Province. The to-be-named community is being developed by Camly Mangling Company, Ltd., a subsidiary of Linh Thanh Group. It’ll have villas, time-share condos, two or three hotels, an entertainment complex, a retail/commercial area, and an 18-hole golf course.
PHIglobal.com, PhilandRanch.com
Friday, May 14, 2010
talking points Is the Market Warming Up?
The chill is gone. At least for Greg Norman.
Norman, the Florida-based celebrity designer, recently told the National that financing is becoming available for golf projects.
“I think improvement in conditions is definitely there," the Florida-based designer told Abu Dhabi's English-language newspaper. "A lot of the projects that have been mothballed are starting up again.”
Norman, the Florida-based celebrity designer, recently told the National that financing is becoming available for golf projects.
“I think improvement in conditions is definitely there," the Florida-based designer told Abu Dhabi's English-language newspaper. "A lot of the projects that have been mothballed are starting up again.”
Thursday, May 13, 2010
switzerland Andermatt's Architect
Question: Who's designed the golf course at the Andermatt resort in the Swiss Alps?
Answer: Kurt Rossknecht, an architect based in Lindau, Germany.
Rossknecht is a former professional golfer who says he has a thing for "traditional English and Scottish links courses." His best-known course is probably the Son Muntaner track at Son Vida Golf Club in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He's also designed Chervo Golf San Vigilio in Pozzolengo, Italy and two courses in suburban Vienna, Austria, Colony Club Gutenhof and Schloss Schonborn Golf Club.
Rossknecht and Bernhard Langer, the German golf pro, co-designed Golf de Soufflenheim Baden-Baden, a 27-hole complex in Soufflenheim, France. Langer has also been known to put his "signature" on courses created with architects from European Golf Design.
Rossknecht-golfplan.de
Answer: Kurt Rossknecht, an architect based in Lindau, Germany.
Rossknecht is a former professional golfer who says he has a thing for "traditional English and Scottish links courses." His best-known course is probably the Son Muntaner track at Son Vida Golf Club in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He's also designed Chervo Golf San Vigilio in Pozzolengo, Italy and two courses in suburban Vienna, Austria, Colony Club Gutenhof and Schloss Schonborn Golf Club.
Rossknecht and Bernhard Langer, the German golf pro, co-designed Golf de Soufflenheim Baden-Baden, a 27-hole complex in Soufflenheim, France. Langer has also been known to put his "signature" on courses created with architects from European Golf Design.
Rossknecht-golfplan.de
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
vietnam Norman's Dunes Course Opens
Greg Norman’s first golf course in Vietnam, a private, links-style layout at Danang Golf Club in Danang, opened last month.
Howie Roberts, the club’s general manager, has said that the course “is going to look as if it’s been here for centuries,” and Harvey Kruse, one of the architects at Norman’s firm, has said it’ll be “the kind of golf course the likes of Old Tom Morris was playing on in Scotland almost 200 years ago.”
The Dunes course, as it’s being called, is the featured attraction of the 700-acre Danang Beach Resort, which will eventually include 190 villas, a J. W. Marriott hotel, and a second 18.
The course has been developed by VinaCapital Group, a big investment banking and development company, whose promotional materials say it’s “destined” -– I love that word -– to become “the premier golf club in Vietnam.”
VinaCapital has priced family memberships at $33,000, and corporate memberships range from $26,400 to $65,000.
DanangGolfClub.com, VinaCapital.com
Howie Roberts, the club’s general manager, has said that the course “is going to look as if it’s been here for centuries,” and Harvey Kruse, one of the architects at Norman’s firm, has said it’ll be “the kind of golf course the likes of Old Tom Morris was playing on in Scotland almost 200 years ago.”
The Dunes course, as it’s being called, is the featured attraction of the 700-acre Danang Beach Resort, which will eventually include 190 villas, a J. W. Marriott hotel, and a second 18.
The course has been developed by VinaCapital Group, a big investment banking and development company, whose promotional materials say it’s “destined” -– I love that word -– to become “the premier golf club in Vietnam.”
VinaCapital has priced family memberships at $33,000, and corporate memberships range from $26,400 to $65,000.
DanangGolfClub.com, VinaCapital.com
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
south korea A New Course Planned in Busan
A U.S. company is part of a group that aims to build a golf complex at a gigantic free economic zone along the southern coast of South Korea.
Las Vegas, Nevada-based Acrylic Tank Manufacturing is part of the Youngwon-STX Consortium, which has signed an agreement to build a sports- and recreation-themed community at the Busan-Jinhae FEZ in Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city (after Seoul). The 25,000-acre spread -– one of three FEZs that the nation has created to attract foreign investment –- will eventually have dozens of factories, industrial parks, and offices, along with houses, schools, medical centers, and entertainment venues for the thousands of people who work there.
The consortium is led by Jinhae-based STX Construction. STX’s primary partner is Youngwon Development Corporation, but several South Korean and U.S. companies are part of the group.
The consortium plans to develop the FEZ’s 5,184-acre Ungdong district. In the first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013, it’ll build several leisure-time attractions, including a water park, an aquarium, a marina, and a 30-hole golf complex. The complex will likely consist of an 18-hole regulation-length course, a nine-hole “short” course, and a practice center with three practice holes.
In the second phase of the project, which is scheduled to begin in 2016, the partners hope to build condos, a resort-style hotel along the waterfront, a casino, a shopping area, a hospital, and schools.
Acrylic Tank Manufacturing will be primarily responsible for the district’s water park and aquarium, but it’ll have a role in developing the golf complex as well. The partners expect to break ground on the golf complex until 2011.
Las Vegas, Nevada-based Acrylic Tank Manufacturing is part of the Youngwon-STX Consortium, which has signed an agreement to build a sports- and recreation-themed community at the Busan-Jinhae FEZ in Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city (after Seoul). The 25,000-acre spread -– one of three FEZs that the nation has created to attract foreign investment –- will eventually have dozens of factories, industrial parks, and offices, along with houses, schools, medical centers, and entertainment venues for the thousands of people who work there.
The consortium is led by Jinhae-based STX Construction. STX’s primary partner is Youngwon Development Corporation, but several South Korean and U.S. companies are part of the group.
The consortium plans to develop the FEZ’s 5,184-acre Ungdong district. In the first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013, it’ll build several leisure-time attractions, including a water park, an aquarium, a marina, and a 30-hole golf complex. The complex will likely consist of an 18-hole regulation-length course, a nine-hole “short” course, and a practice center with three practice holes.
In the second phase of the project, which is scheduled to begin in 2016, the partners hope to build condos, a resort-style hotel along the waterfront, a casino, a shopping area, a hospital, and schools.
Acrylic Tank Manufacturing will be primarily responsible for the district’s water park and aquarium, but it’ll have a role in developing the golf complex as well. The partners expect to break ground on the golf complex until 2011.
Monday, May 10, 2010
by the numbers Counting Courses
Here are some random facts about golf development all over the planet:
-- Citing statistics provided by the China Golf Association, the Independent says that China has 3 million golfers, a number that’s expected to increase to 20 million by 2020. (Now you know why some Chinese call golf the “green opium.”) The newspaper also says that China has 300 golf courses, enough to rank it fifth in the world and second in Asia.
-- In the mid 1970s, Vietnam had two golf courses. Today it has 13 to 18, according to various sources, and it’s expected to have 89 by 2010. The New York Times says the nation has 5,000 golfers.
-- Brazil has 107 golf courses, and GT Golfe says that 91 others will be built over the next 15 years.
-- A Vietnamese news service says that Thailand has more than 400 golf courses (nearly half of them in metropolitan Bangkok), while Hong Kong has 17 and Singapore has 15. The tally in Indonesia is 32.
-- Callaway Golf reports that India has roughly 250 golf courses, up from 80 or so in the mid 2000s.
-- The British introduced golf to Nigeria in the early 20th century, and today, according to the Daily Trust, Nigeria has 50 golf courses.
-- The Daily News Egypt reports that Egypt has 18 golf courses, 15 of which have been built in since 1997 as part of real estate or “tourist developments.” The number of rounds played on the nation’s courses in 2008 approached 200,000, about half of them played by tourists.
-- The Czech Golf Association, which has more than 41,000 members from 131 clubs, says that the Republic has 78 “standard” golf courses, whatever that means.
-- Citing statistics provided by the China Golf Association, the Independent says that China has 3 million golfers, a number that’s expected to increase to 20 million by 2020. (Now you know why some Chinese call golf the “green opium.”) The newspaper also says that China has 300 golf courses, enough to rank it fifth in the world and second in Asia.
-- In the mid 1970s, Vietnam had two golf courses. Today it has 13 to 18, according to various sources, and it’s expected to have 89 by 2010. The New York Times says the nation has 5,000 golfers.
-- Brazil has 107 golf courses, and GT Golfe says that 91 others will be built over the next 15 years.
-- A Vietnamese news service says that Thailand has more than 400 golf courses (nearly half of them in metropolitan Bangkok), while Hong Kong has 17 and Singapore has 15. The tally in Indonesia is 32.
-- Callaway Golf reports that India has roughly 250 golf courses, up from 80 or so in the mid 2000s.
-- The British introduced golf to Nigeria in the early 20th century, and today, according to the Daily Trust, Nigeria has 50 golf courses.
-- The Daily News Egypt reports that Egypt has 18 golf courses, 15 of which have been built in since 1997 as part of real estate or “tourist developments.” The number of rounds played on the nation’s courses in 2008 approached 200,000, about half of them played by tourists.
-- The Czech Golf Association, which has more than 41,000 members from 131 clubs, says that the Republic has 78 “standard” golf courses, whatever that means.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
scotland Loch Lomond's Greens Are Dead
Tomorrow's Scotsman reports that Loch Lomond Golf Club is facing a race against time to get the course in shape for this summer's Barclays Scottish Open after all 18 greens were damaged by the severe winter weather.
After calling in turf experts to address the problem, four of the putting surfaces have been completely returfed while 14 temporary greens are in operation as a result of much of the course being under a sheet of ice in December and January.
"This is an unfortunate situation but is a consequence of the serious damage wrought by the most severe winter witnessed in the area for 30 years," said the club yesterday. "The situation has also been exacerbated by cool spring temperatures which have delayed the start of the growing season."
The European Tour are monitoring the situation but say they are not contemplating a contingency plan for the Scottish Open, which takes place on 8-11 July with a field headed by Masters champion Phil Mickelson. . . .
The Scotsman's story is called "Loch Lomond in Race To Fix Greens After Ice Damage."
After calling in turf experts to address the problem, four of the putting surfaces have been completely returfed while 14 temporary greens are in operation as a result of much of the course being under a sheet of ice in December and January.
"This is an unfortunate situation but is a consequence of the serious damage wrought by the most severe winter witnessed in the area for 30 years," said the club yesterday. "The situation has also been exacerbated by cool spring temperatures which have delayed the start of the growing season."
The European Tour are monitoring the situation but say they are not contemplating a contingency plan for the Scottish Open, which takes place on 8-11 July with a field headed by Masters champion Phil Mickelson. . . .
The Scotsman's story is called "Loch Lomond in Race To Fix Greens After Ice Damage."
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
talking points Selling the Sizzle
Kyle Phillips, a Granite Bay, California-based golf designer, in a recent interview with Jay Flemma:
What have we done to golf in America? . . . We have taken golf design [and] made it like McDonald's. We’ve packaged it and sold it around the world at ridiculous prices. Now the world is choking on Big Macs.
What have we done to golf in America? . . . We have taken golf design [and] made it like McDonald's. We’ve packaged it and sold it around the world at ridiculous prices. Now the world is choking on Big Macs.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
croatia Smokin' Aces
The biggest tobacco company in Croatia has received permission to build a golf resort along the Adriatic Sea on the Istrian peninsula, the nation’s favorite vacation destination.
Adris Group sells several brands of cigarettes, including Ronhill, Walter Wolf, and Avangard. It also owns a publicly traded hotel and golf travel company, Maistria, Ltd., that plans to build a 200-room hotel with a 27-hole golf complex on 265 acres near Vrsar, a village along Istria’s western coast.
The golf complex, which will include a learning center, will be designed by Jose Maria Olazabal, the Spanish golf star. Olazabal, who’s based in San Sebastian, Spain, designed a golf course for the giant Mission Hills complex in Shenzhen, China and more than a dozen courses in Spain, including Club de Golf Masia Bach in Barcelona and Golf Los Retamares in Madrid.
Maistria, one of Croatia’s top hotel companies, operates more than a dozen hotels and resorts with a total of nearly 11,000 rooms. Most of its properties are located in the northwestern part of Istria, near the towns of Rovinj and Vrsar.
The company plans to break ground on the golf complex at Maistria Stancija Grande in early 2011.
Maistra.com, OlazabalDesign.com
Adris Group sells several brands of cigarettes, including Ronhill, Walter Wolf, and Avangard. It also owns a publicly traded hotel and golf travel company, Maistria, Ltd., that plans to build a 200-room hotel with a 27-hole golf complex on 265 acres near Vrsar, a village along Istria’s western coast.
The golf complex, which will include a learning center, will be designed by Jose Maria Olazabal, the Spanish golf star. Olazabal, who’s based in San Sebastian, Spain, designed a golf course for the giant Mission Hills complex in Shenzhen, China and more than a dozen courses in Spain, including Club de Golf Masia Bach in Barcelona and Golf Los Retamares in Madrid.
Maistria, one of Croatia’s top hotel companies, operates more than a dozen hotels and resorts with a total of nearly 11,000 rooms. Most of its properties are located in the northwestern part of Istria, near the towns of Rovinj and Vrsar.
The company plans to break ground on the golf complex at Maistria Stancija Grande in early 2011.
Maistra.com, OlazabalDesign.com
Sunday, May 2, 2010
switzerland Putting on the Glitz
Sometime this month, one of the world's wealthiest people expects to start transforming a sleepy Swiss village into the next great ski destination in the Alps.
Samih Sawiris is an Egyptian hotel developer who’s said to be worth $1.5 billion –- enough to rank him as number 655 on Forbes' list of the world’s richest people. He made his money running the fast-growing resort division of Orascom Group, a conglomerate founded by his father, Onsi Sawiris. Under Samih's direction, Orascom built the famed El Gouna golf resort on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
For the past couple of years, Sawiris has trained his attention on Andermatt, a village in central Switzerland. Andermatt has lots of snow, challenging terrain, and plenty of Old World charm, but it lacks pizzazz. For the last 50 years or so, it’s served as a training center for the Swiss army, and its tourist business has consisted mostly of hard-core skiers.
Sawiris believes Andermatt can attract people who want to do more than ski -– people who currently vacation in glitzier places like Gstaad and St. Moritz, which have both a day and a night life. So he’s purchased 247 acres from the army and leased more land from local residents.
By 2014, he hopes to build a "carbon-neutral" resort with more than 500 villas and apartments, a half-dozen hotels (844 total rooms), a shopping area, a spa, a sports center, an indoor pool with a “beach,” and an 18-hole golf course with a six-hole practice course.
Of course, Sawiris isn’t completely focused on Andermatt. His company, publicly traded Orascom Development Holding AG, is currently working on two resort projects in Oman (Jebel Sifah and Salalah Beach, each of which will have golf courses), and it plans to build a pair of golf courses at the Chbika Sahara Atlantique resort in Oued Chbika, Morocco. It also plans to build a waterfront resort with a golf course on the Lustica peninsula in Montenegro.
The golf course in Switzerland is scheduled to open in 2013.
Andermatt-SwissAlps.com, OrascomDH.com
Samih Sawiris is an Egyptian hotel developer who’s said to be worth $1.5 billion –- enough to rank him as number 655 on Forbes' list of the world’s richest people. He made his money running the fast-growing resort division of Orascom Group, a conglomerate founded by his father, Onsi Sawiris. Under Samih's direction, Orascom built the famed El Gouna golf resort on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
For the past couple of years, Sawiris has trained his attention on Andermatt, a village in central Switzerland. Andermatt has lots of snow, challenging terrain, and plenty of Old World charm, but it lacks pizzazz. For the last 50 years or so, it’s served as a training center for the Swiss army, and its tourist business has consisted mostly of hard-core skiers.
Sawiris believes Andermatt can attract people who want to do more than ski -– people who currently vacation in glitzier places like Gstaad and St. Moritz, which have both a day and a night life. So he’s purchased 247 acres from the army and leased more land from local residents.
By 2014, he hopes to build a "carbon-neutral" resort with more than 500 villas and apartments, a half-dozen hotels (844 total rooms), a shopping area, a spa, a sports center, an indoor pool with a “beach,” and an 18-hole golf course with a six-hole practice course.
Of course, Sawiris isn’t completely focused on Andermatt. His company, publicly traded Orascom Development Holding AG, is currently working on two resort projects in Oman (Jebel Sifah and Salalah Beach, each of which will have golf courses), and it plans to build a pair of golf courses at the Chbika Sahara Atlantique resort in Oued Chbika, Morocco. It also plans to build a waterfront resort with a golf course on the Lustica peninsula in Montenegro.
The golf course in Switzerland is scheduled to open in 2013.
Andermatt-SwissAlps.com, OrascomDH.com
Saturday, May 1, 2010
australia Allied Farmers Sells Troubled Nicklaus Course
The beleaguered Jack Nicklaus signature golf course at Kinloch has changed hands for the second time in two years, the New Zealand Herald reports.
The deal is good news for shareholders in rural services company Allied Farmers, which has now managed to extract itself from the troubled Kinloch mortgage it inherited when it bought the loan book of Hanover Finance last year.
"We have no further association with Kinloch and I'm very happy," Allied managing director Rob Alloway said.
To read the entire story, go to Kinloch Goes to Poultry Family.
The deal is good news for shareholders in rural services company Allied Farmers, which has now managed to extract itself from the troubled Kinloch mortgage it inherited when it bought the loan book of Hanover Finance last year.
"We have no further association with Kinloch and I'm very happy," Allied managing director Rob Alloway said.
To read the entire story, go to Kinloch Goes to Poultry Family.
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