Fresh off the opening of its new resort in Cyprus, one of the golf world’s best-known management companies now aims to build a similar resort in Italy.
Palmerston Hotels & Resorts plans to build Santa Teresa Golf Resort & Spa on a 550-acre parcel near the northern coast of Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean. The resort will feature 150 villas, a 147-room hotel, a pair of restaurants, meeting space, a wellness spa, a private helipad, and an 18-hole golf course.
The project’s first phase -– consisting of some villas, the hotel, and the golf course –- is scheduled to break ground in late 2010.
Palmerston is led by Dieter Klostermann, the chairman of CCA International, Ltd. The company owns Palmerston Golf Resort in Woodham Village, England, which features an 18-hole golf course designed by James Hamilton Stutt, and just weeks ago it opened Elea Golf & Spa Resort near Paphos in Cyprus. Elea features a golf course designed by Nick Faldo as well as 200 villas, a resort village, a boutique hotel, and a spa.
These days, the company has one other golf project in the works in Italy, a sports-oriented resort near Florence. Castello di Sammezzano, as it’s known, will also have apartments, a boutique hotel, and a spa.
Hong Kong-based Palmerston also hopes to develop a resort on one of the islands in the Jardines del Rey chain of Cuba. Cayo Coco will have two 18-hole “championship” courses, one of them by Faldo.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Week That Was: November 28, 2010
india Nicklaus Has Grand Designs for India
Jack Nicklaus has designed one golf course in India and is working on two others, but those are apparently just the tip of the iceberg. Within the next three or four years, the company expects to put its name on as many as 10 golf courses in the world's second most-populous nation.
And Nicklaus’ mission in India doesn’t begin and end with course design. His company hopes to capitalize on a variety of development and marketing opportunities, notably in equipment and apparel sales, wine distribution, and real estate development.
To monitor all those activities, Nicklaus Design has opened its first office in India, in Mumbai. The office will be managed by Nicklaus’ Indian partner, Shivas Nath of Evolution Golf. Nath will coordinate what’s been described as a grass-roots effort to establish and grow the Nicklaus brand, with the first step in the process being the creation of a chain of golf academies that will provide a foundation for everything that follows.
Paul Stringer, Nicklaus’ executive vice president, discussed the India strategy in a lengthy press release. Some of his statements read like poor translations of what might have been original Indian material (perhaps material penned by Nath), but I think you’ll get the gist. I’ve also taken the liberty of tightening some loose syntax.
Here’s a little of what Stringer had to say:
Our strategy to grow the brand in India will be the bottom-up approach. We believe in initiating grass-root programs that will help create a permanent brand name in the country. . . .
We are looked at as the leaders in golf course design globally. People in India are brand-conscious, and they want the best brands. . . . We know we won’t get 100 percent of the market share, but we do intend to have a strong presence in India. We have been leaders in the countries in which we have set a market. Hence, we are sure we would get more business opportunities in India than our competitors. . . .
We see a huge growth and awareness for the sport in the next five to 10 years in countries like Russia, China, and India, which are under-developed golf markets. We see potential development of training centers, academies, [and] smaller golf courses in places where land is a constraint as well as . . . in some of the reserved markets in India, for example Goa and such others. . . .
In the next three to four years, you would see 10 more golf courses by Nicklaus Design. . . . At present, we are looking at developing golf courses in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Goa.
egypt A New Course for a Red Sea Resort
The first nine holes of the Tim Lobb-designed golf course at El Ein El Sukhna Beach Resort are scheduled to open in the spring of 2011.
Lobb, a principal of Thomson Perrett & Lobb, said in a press release that the resort-style track would be "a golfer's golf course" that provides "a challenge for all levels of player without being too daunting."
The second nine and a practice center are expected to open in 2012.
When completed, the 6,671-yard course will spread over 237 acres at El Ein El Sukhna, which is taking shape on a 400-acre parcel along the Red Sea, roughly 80 miles southeast of Cairo. The rest of the resort will include 600 housing units, a 120-room hotel, a tennis academy, and other attractions.
El Ein El Sukhna is being developed by Galalah, an affiliate of the company that's developing the 1,500-acre New Giza community in suburban Cairo. New Giza, which is expected to open in 2013, will consist of 2,500 houses, three hotels (one of them an MGM Grand), a shopping mall, and another 18-hole course designed by Thomson Perrett & Lobb.
The golf course at El Ein El Sukhna doesn't aim to do anything more than it needs to do: offer a pleasurable round to an urban duffer on a weekend holiday. Lobb, who operates out of TPL's office in suburban London, England, said his goal was "to design a course that allowed visitors and residents a friendly environment in which to play golf, with an emphasis on delivering a memorable, positive experience that will encourage them to return."
Easy peasy.
california What Brown Can Do for You
In recent years, as the price of water has increased, many golf course superintendents have been wondering exactly how green their fairways need to be. This week, the Desert Sun checks in with a report on water-reduction efforts currently taking place at a popular resort in California, and how local golfers are taking to the changes.
Over the past two years, the 18-hole Dunes and Mountain courses at La Quinta Resort, just a short drive from Palm Springs, have reduced their water usage by 25 percent. The result: Firmer, faster, drier layouts that appear to be playing every bit as well as they did when they were lush and green.
“We have gotten to a point where I think we have gotten lazy as an industry,” said Mike Kelly, the resort’s director of golf. “I have to be careful how I say this. We don't need as much water as we are putting out on these golf courses.”
At La Quinta’s Dunes and Mountain tracks, more efficient sprinkler heads have been installed, 40 acres of turf have been replaced with less-thirsty native vegetation, and fewer acres are being over-seeded. None of this is new or unique, of course, but it’s nice to see the resort’s efforts featured in the mainstream press.
La Quinta feared that its customers and the resort’s home owners wouldn’t accept a browner course, but so far that doesn’t seem to be a significant problem.
“It didn't seem brown to me,” said a golfer. “I noticed the longer grass and even had to hit out of it twice. But the course looked fine.”
As a result of comments like that, the resort is sticking with the program. Its owners will probably begin a similar program at PGA West, probably the premier golf resort in the desert.
“We have to go in this direction, because it is the right thing to do,” Kelly told the newspaper. “It's the right thing to do for this brand, the right thing to do for the industry, and the right thing to do for the environment.”
By 2020, all of California’s golf courses must cut their water usage by 20 percent.
australia Tiger Trap
Over the years, Tiger Woods has muttered many things during tournament play that can't be printed in a family-friendly blog. But did you hear what he said at the recent Australian Masters?
While strolling to the seventh tee during the opening round of the event, played at Victoria Golf Club, Woods asked, “Why can’t we build golf courses like this in America?”
And then, for emphasis: “This is cool. This is so cool.”
So what is this “so cool” golf course?
By today's standards, and especially by today's professional tournament standards, it's a short track, just 6,886 yards. It's also old, as it opened just after the turn of the century -- the 20th century. And it hasn't been “modernized,” unless you consider Alister MacKenzie to be a “modern” architect.
Tiger Woods isn't the first golfer to wish contemporary architects would design shorter golf courses with classic character. But he very well may be the first golfer-turned-architect to say so publicly.
Maybe someone should remind Woods that he's designed a course that's currently being built in suburban Asheville, North Carolina. When completed, it's supposed to stretch to a nearly inhuman 7,500 yards.
If Woods really believes shorter courses are cooler, why doesn't he design them?
Jack Nicklaus has designed one golf course in India and is working on two others, but those are apparently just the tip of the iceberg. Within the next three or four years, the company expects to put its name on as many as 10 golf courses in the world's second most-populous nation.
And Nicklaus’ mission in India doesn’t begin and end with course design. His company hopes to capitalize on a variety of development and marketing opportunities, notably in equipment and apparel sales, wine distribution, and real estate development.
To monitor all those activities, Nicklaus Design has opened its first office in India, in Mumbai. The office will be managed by Nicklaus’ Indian partner, Shivas Nath of Evolution Golf. Nath will coordinate what’s been described as a grass-roots effort to establish and grow the Nicklaus brand, with the first step in the process being the creation of a chain of golf academies that will provide a foundation for everything that follows.
Paul Stringer, Nicklaus’ executive vice president, discussed the India strategy in a lengthy press release. Some of his statements read like poor translations of what might have been original Indian material (perhaps material penned by Nath), but I think you’ll get the gist. I’ve also taken the liberty of tightening some loose syntax.
Here’s a little of what Stringer had to say:
Our strategy to grow the brand in India will be the bottom-up approach. We believe in initiating grass-root programs that will help create a permanent brand name in the country. . . .
We are looked at as the leaders in golf course design globally. People in India are brand-conscious, and they want the best brands. . . . We know we won’t get 100 percent of the market share, but we do intend to have a strong presence in India. We have been leaders in the countries in which we have set a market. Hence, we are sure we would get more business opportunities in India than our competitors. . . .
We see a huge growth and awareness for the sport in the next five to 10 years in countries like Russia, China, and India, which are under-developed golf markets. We see potential development of training centers, academies, [and] smaller golf courses in places where land is a constraint as well as . . . in some of the reserved markets in India, for example Goa and such others. . . .
In the next three to four years, you would see 10 more golf courses by Nicklaus Design. . . . At present, we are looking at developing golf courses in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Goa.
egypt A New Course for a Red Sea Resort
The first nine holes of the Tim Lobb-designed golf course at El Ein El Sukhna Beach Resort are scheduled to open in the spring of 2011.
Lobb, a principal of Thomson Perrett & Lobb, said in a press release that the resort-style track would be "a golfer's golf course" that provides "a challenge for all levels of player without being too daunting."
The second nine and a practice center are expected to open in 2012.
When completed, the 6,671-yard course will spread over 237 acres at El Ein El Sukhna, which is taking shape on a 400-acre parcel along the Red Sea, roughly 80 miles southeast of Cairo. The rest of the resort will include 600 housing units, a 120-room hotel, a tennis academy, and other attractions.
El Ein El Sukhna is being developed by Galalah, an affiliate of the company that's developing the 1,500-acre New Giza community in suburban Cairo. New Giza, which is expected to open in 2013, will consist of 2,500 houses, three hotels (one of them an MGM Grand), a shopping mall, and another 18-hole course designed by Thomson Perrett & Lobb.
The golf course at El Ein El Sukhna doesn't aim to do anything more than it needs to do: offer a pleasurable round to an urban duffer on a weekend holiday. Lobb, who operates out of TPL's office in suburban London, England, said his goal was "to design a course that allowed visitors and residents a friendly environment in which to play golf, with an emphasis on delivering a memorable, positive experience that will encourage them to return."
Easy peasy.
california What Brown Can Do for You
In recent years, as the price of water has increased, many golf course superintendents have been wondering exactly how green their fairways need to be. This week, the Desert Sun checks in with a report on water-reduction efforts currently taking place at a popular resort in California, and how local golfers are taking to the changes.
Over the past two years, the 18-hole Dunes and Mountain courses at La Quinta Resort, just a short drive from Palm Springs, have reduced their water usage by 25 percent. The result: Firmer, faster, drier layouts that appear to be playing every bit as well as they did when they were lush and green.
“We have gotten to a point where I think we have gotten lazy as an industry,” said Mike Kelly, the resort’s director of golf. “I have to be careful how I say this. We don't need as much water as we are putting out on these golf courses.”
At La Quinta’s Dunes and Mountain tracks, more efficient sprinkler heads have been installed, 40 acres of turf have been replaced with less-thirsty native vegetation, and fewer acres are being over-seeded. None of this is new or unique, of course, but it’s nice to see the resort’s efforts featured in the mainstream press.
La Quinta feared that its customers and the resort’s home owners wouldn’t accept a browner course, but so far that doesn’t seem to be a significant problem.
“It didn't seem brown to me,” said a golfer. “I noticed the longer grass and even had to hit out of it twice. But the course looked fine.”
As a result of comments like that, the resort is sticking with the program. Its owners will probably begin a similar program at PGA West, probably the premier golf resort in the desert.
“We have to go in this direction, because it is the right thing to do,” Kelly told the newspaper. “It's the right thing to do for this brand, the right thing to do for the industry, and the right thing to do for the environment.”
By 2020, all of California’s golf courses must cut their water usage by 20 percent.
australia Tiger Trap
Over the years, Tiger Woods has muttered many things during tournament play that can't be printed in a family-friendly blog. But did you hear what he said at the recent Australian Masters?
While strolling to the seventh tee during the opening round of the event, played at Victoria Golf Club, Woods asked, “Why can’t we build golf courses like this in America?”
And then, for emphasis: “This is cool. This is so cool.”
So what is this “so cool” golf course?
By today's standards, and especially by today's professional tournament standards, it's a short track, just 6,886 yards. It's also old, as it opened just after the turn of the century -- the 20th century. And it hasn't been “modernized,” unless you consider Alister MacKenzie to be a “modern” architect.
Tiger Woods isn't the first golfer to wish contemporary architects would design shorter golf courses with classic character. But he very well may be the first golfer-turned-architect to say so publicly.
Maybe someone should remind Woods that he's designed a course that's currently being built in suburban Asheville, North Carolina. When completed, it's supposed to stretch to a nearly inhuman 7,500 yards.
If Woods really believes shorter courses are cooler, why doesn't he design them?
Friday, November 26, 2010
worth reading The Only Architect You'll Ever Need
Attention, golf developers in the United States and around the world: If you need a celebrity architect to design your next golf course, think outside the box that's filled with names like Faldo, Montgomerie, Langer, and Sorenstam.
Instead, I urge you to consider Darius Oliver.
I know you've probably never heard of him. That's because his firm, Darius Oliver Golf Course Design, is new, small, and, well, Australian. And because it's never actually designed a single golf course.
But none of those things really matter, do they? Everyone has to start somewhere. Once upon a time, Paul Casey, Thomas Bjorn, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Ian Woosnam, Paul Lawrie, and K. J. Choi hadn't yet designed a golf course. That didn't stop them from entering the design business.
And, thank goodness, it's not going to stop Darius Oliver.
Besides, as much as any golf pro turned golf designer, Oliver knows exactly what qualities developers are looking for in an architect.
“Like Alister MacKenzie at Augusta National,” he writes in the press release announcing his company's creation, “Darius Oliver Golf Course Design works with the earth to harness the spirit of Old Tom Morris and the Old Course at St. Andrews to create timeless, sustainable golf masterpieces.”
Enticing, isn't it? Such noble ideals!
But don't pull out your checkbook just yet. You're being taken for a ride.
Darius Oliver is the architecture editor of Australian Golf Digest and a blogger at Planet Golf. His phony press release aims to spoof the self-aggrandizing announcements that golf pros make when they decide they need to leave a legacy. It's directed, he writes, “at golf clubs and developers who wish to build courses without genuine golf architects.”
Is that you, Bubba?
“With a recent spate of B-, C-, and even D-grade golf celebrities now offering so-called ‘design services,’ I figured it was time for me to also get in on the act and try to exploit my limited media profile for additional coin,” Oliver confesses.
Such refreshing honesty!
The way Oliver sees it, the places where golf is just now establishing a presence are especially fertile territories for celebrity designers. That's why, he says, he aims to secure commissions wherever “a disconnect exists between client ambition and architect ability.”
The good news for fledgling course “designers” like me is that in developing regions it apparently doesn’t matter if you can’t route a course, build a hole, float a green, or solve drainage problems. You don’t even need to understand the principles of true strategic design. If you have won important championships or (hopefully) written well-received golf articles, then you are more than qualified to advise and design.
So don't hesitate! Get in on the ground floor! Hire Darius Oliver today!
Instead, I urge you to consider Darius Oliver.
I know you've probably never heard of him. That's because his firm, Darius Oliver Golf Course Design, is new, small, and, well, Australian. And because it's never actually designed a single golf course.
But none of those things really matter, do they? Everyone has to start somewhere. Once upon a time, Paul Casey, Thomas Bjorn, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Ian Woosnam, Paul Lawrie, and K. J. Choi hadn't yet designed a golf course. That didn't stop them from entering the design business.
And, thank goodness, it's not going to stop Darius Oliver.
Besides, as much as any golf pro turned golf designer, Oliver knows exactly what qualities developers are looking for in an architect.
“Like Alister MacKenzie at Augusta National,” he writes in the press release announcing his company's creation, “Darius Oliver Golf Course Design works with the earth to harness the spirit of Old Tom Morris and the Old Course at St. Andrews to create timeless, sustainable golf masterpieces.”
Enticing, isn't it? Such noble ideals!
But don't pull out your checkbook just yet. You're being taken for a ride.
Darius Oliver is the architecture editor of Australian Golf Digest and a blogger at Planet Golf. His phony press release aims to spoof the self-aggrandizing announcements that golf pros make when they decide they need to leave a legacy. It's directed, he writes, “at golf clubs and developers who wish to build courses without genuine golf architects.”
Is that you, Bubba?
“With a recent spate of B-, C-, and even D-grade golf celebrities now offering so-called ‘design services,’ I figured it was time for me to also get in on the act and try to exploit my limited media profile for additional coin,” Oliver confesses.
Such refreshing honesty!
The way Oliver sees it, the places where golf is just now establishing a presence are especially fertile territories for celebrity designers. That's why, he says, he aims to secure commissions wherever “a disconnect exists between client ambition and architect ability.”
The good news for fledgling course “designers” like me is that in developing regions it apparently doesn’t matter if you can’t route a course, build a hole, float a green, or solve drainage problems. You don’t even need to understand the principles of true strategic design. If you have won important championships or (hopefully) written well-received golf articles, then you are more than qualified to advise and design.
So don't hesitate! Get in on the ground floor! Hire Darius Oliver today!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
canada Saline Solution
The Rotary Club of Fort McMurray hopes to break ground on an 18-hole, Les Furber-designed golf course next year, in the hope of opening it in 2012.
The championship-length track, which could someday be joined by another nine, will take shape on part of a municipally owned 500-acre parcel near the airport in Fort McMurray, in northeastern Alberta.
The course is being built in conjunction with a large community called Saline Creek, in the southern part of the city. Saline Creek will have 6,800 houses, a village center, four schools, and other attractions.
Furber, who apprenticed with Robert Trent Jones, is based in Canmore, Alberta. He’s designed several courses in Canada, including the first course at the Predator Ridge resort in Kelowna, along with Varadero Golf Course in Varadero, Cuba, two courses in the Czech Republic, and another in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
The championship-length track, which could someday be joined by another nine, will take shape on part of a municipally owned 500-acre parcel near the airport in Fort McMurray, in northeastern Alberta.
The course is being built in conjunction with a large community called Saline Creek, in the southern part of the city. Saline Creek will have 6,800 houses, a village center, four schools, and other attractions.
Furber, who apprenticed with Robert Trent Jones, is based in Canmore, Alberta. He’s designed several courses in Canada, including the first course at the Predator Ridge resort in Kelowna, along with Varadero Golf Course in Varadero, Cuba, two courses in the Czech Republic, and another in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Week That Was: November 21, 2010
cyprus Another Golf Course for Parched Cyprus
Early next year, MedGolf Group is expected to finally break ground on a long-awaited resort community outside Larnaca in Cyprus.
Seven years in the making, Larnaca Golf Resort & Country Club will occupy 370 acres in the village of Tersefanou. Its 6,157-yard golf course has been designed by Stanford Eby of European Golf Design, a British firm that's co-owned by the PGA European Tour. Accompanying the course will be a PGA-branded golf academy, the first of its kind on the island, that will include some practice holes.
Demes Karapatakis, the chairman of DJK Corporation and one of MedGolf's principals, told Cyprus Property News, “The aim is to put Cyprus on the golden map of the professional golfers.”
If anyone out there knows where “the golden map” is, will you please let me know?
Besides the golf course, Larnaca will include 250 villas, 150 apartments, a village center with stores and restaurants, a spa, meeting space, and a recreation center.
It’ll also have a desalination plant, to provide water for the resort. Such plants are common in Europe, particularly in and around Greece. The area is known for its droughts, and in recent years the major reservoirs in Cyprus have essentially dried up.
“I would like to see Cyprus as a golf destination,” Karapatakis added. “I’d be happy to see more golf clubs coming up.”
Despite the water shortage, other development groups are doing their best to make Karapatakis' wish come true. Just weeks ago, Palmerston Hotels & Resorts opened the island's fourth 18-hole golf course, a Nick Faldo-designed track at Elea Golf Club in Paphos.
scotland A Likely Approval for Darren Clarke
Next week, Scottish officials are expected to approve a golf community outside Dundee that will include a Darren Clarke “signature” golf course.
The Irish pro's course will be the centerpiece of the Angus, a resort community that's set to be built on 315 acres of farmland in Wellbank. In addition to the golf course, the Angus will feature 160 houses, 18 “holiday lodges,” a hotel, a spa, and a golf academy for kids.
The golf course will be “ghost-designed” by Graeme Webster of Niblick Golf Design in Moss, Norway. The academy will be managed by Rudy Duran, a Californian who, many years ago, served as one of Tiger Woods’ teachers.
The Angus is being built by Mike Forbes, a former farmer and fly-fishing champion who owns the Forbes of Kingennie country resort in Dundee. Forbes is familiar with Webster’s work, as Webster designed the nine-hole track at Forbes of Kingennie.
Nick Hunter, the chairman of Golf Tourism Scotland, believes the Angus will nicely complement the area's existing courses -- Wellbank is just a few miles west of Carnoustie -- as well as planned Scottish golf courses such as Donald Trump's 36-hole complex at the Menie Estate in Aberdeen, an hour's drive north.
“The Scottish golf tourism market has not really moved since 2009,” Hunter told the Aberdeen Press & Journal, “but as we start to pull ourselves out of the recession, we’re starting to see some big developments being put in motion which could attract golfers from further afield.”
Two-thirds of the comments that local officials have received about the Angus have been favorable. The project has been recommended for approval.
australia A Minimalist Course in Wilton
Unique and minimalist are two of the words that Graham Marsh recently used to describe the golf course he's designed for the Bingara Gorge community in New South Wales.
“Its style is unique,” Marsh told the Camden Advertiser. “It will be a minimalistic course, meaning we disturb the least amount of land rather than make it look like a resort-style course.”
Bingara Gorge is taking shape in Wilton, a town that's roughly 60 miles southwest of Sydney. At build-out, the 1,125-acre community will include 1,165 houses, an elementary school, and other community amenities.
Delfin, one of Australia's biggest home builders, expects to open the first nine holes of Marsh's course in the spring of 2012. The company had originally tapped Ernie Els to design the track.
Marsh has designed the recently opened Kalgoorlie-Boulder Golf Club in Kalgoorlie, his home town, and at least 20 other courses in Australia. He's also designed courses in China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, the United States, and other nations.
“Sometimes the courses with the smaller budgets create the most interest,” Marsh said of the course at Bingara Gorge, “and it's pleasing to build a course crafted out of nothing, because you have got nothing to work with.”
scotland A Ryder Cup for Trump?
When Sandy Jones talks, people listen. And last week Jones said some absolutely wonderful things about the golf course that Donald Trump is building in Aberdeen.
Jones, the CEO of the British PGA and a senior member of its Ryder Cup board, believes the course will host a major international tournament within a decade of its expected opening in 2012.
“When this course is complete,” he told the Aberdeen Press & Journal, “there is no doubt in my mind . . . that it will be one of the great golf courses in the world.”
As most everyone knows, Trump International Golf Club Scotland will eventually consist of two 18-hole golf courses, 500 single-family houses, 950 "holiday" houses, and a posh hotel.
Jones gushed about the club's setting, calling the property “a fantastic site” that will be “a great venue” for golf. He also noted that Trump is plenty capable of delivering the key ingredient that a big-time tournament needs: corporate money.
His conclusion: “I'll be amazed if there is not a really major world event here within a decade.”
Early next year, MedGolf Group is expected to finally break ground on a long-awaited resort community outside Larnaca in Cyprus.
Seven years in the making, Larnaca Golf Resort & Country Club will occupy 370 acres in the village of Tersefanou. Its 6,157-yard golf course has been designed by Stanford Eby of European Golf Design, a British firm that's co-owned by the PGA European Tour. Accompanying the course will be a PGA-branded golf academy, the first of its kind on the island, that will include some practice holes.
Demes Karapatakis, the chairman of DJK Corporation and one of MedGolf's principals, told Cyprus Property News, “The aim is to put Cyprus on the golden map of the professional golfers.”
If anyone out there knows where “the golden map” is, will you please let me know?
Besides the golf course, Larnaca will include 250 villas, 150 apartments, a village center with stores and restaurants, a spa, meeting space, and a recreation center.
It’ll also have a desalination plant, to provide water for the resort. Such plants are common in Europe, particularly in and around Greece. The area is known for its droughts, and in recent years the major reservoirs in Cyprus have essentially dried up.
“I would like to see Cyprus as a golf destination,” Karapatakis added. “I’d be happy to see more golf clubs coming up.”
Despite the water shortage, other development groups are doing their best to make Karapatakis' wish come true. Just weeks ago, Palmerston Hotels & Resorts opened the island's fourth 18-hole golf course, a Nick Faldo-designed track at Elea Golf Club in Paphos.
scotland A Likely Approval for Darren Clarke
Next week, Scottish officials are expected to approve a golf community outside Dundee that will include a Darren Clarke “signature” golf course.
The Irish pro's course will be the centerpiece of the Angus, a resort community that's set to be built on 315 acres of farmland in Wellbank. In addition to the golf course, the Angus will feature 160 houses, 18 “holiday lodges,” a hotel, a spa, and a golf academy for kids.
The golf course will be “ghost-designed” by Graeme Webster of Niblick Golf Design in Moss, Norway. The academy will be managed by Rudy Duran, a Californian who, many years ago, served as one of Tiger Woods’ teachers.
The Angus is being built by Mike Forbes, a former farmer and fly-fishing champion who owns the Forbes of Kingennie country resort in Dundee. Forbes is familiar with Webster’s work, as Webster designed the nine-hole track at Forbes of Kingennie.
Nick Hunter, the chairman of Golf Tourism Scotland, believes the Angus will nicely complement the area's existing courses -- Wellbank is just a few miles west of Carnoustie -- as well as planned Scottish golf courses such as Donald Trump's 36-hole complex at the Menie Estate in Aberdeen, an hour's drive north.
“The Scottish golf tourism market has not really moved since 2009,” Hunter told the Aberdeen Press & Journal, “but as we start to pull ourselves out of the recession, we’re starting to see some big developments being put in motion which could attract golfers from further afield.”
Two-thirds of the comments that local officials have received about the Angus have been favorable. The project has been recommended for approval.
australia A Minimalist Course in Wilton
Unique and minimalist are two of the words that Graham Marsh recently used to describe the golf course he's designed for the Bingara Gorge community in New South Wales.
“Its style is unique,” Marsh told the Camden Advertiser. “It will be a minimalistic course, meaning we disturb the least amount of land rather than make it look like a resort-style course.”
Bingara Gorge is taking shape in Wilton, a town that's roughly 60 miles southwest of Sydney. At build-out, the 1,125-acre community will include 1,165 houses, an elementary school, and other community amenities.
Delfin, one of Australia's biggest home builders, expects to open the first nine holes of Marsh's course in the spring of 2012. The company had originally tapped Ernie Els to design the track.
Marsh has designed the recently opened Kalgoorlie-Boulder Golf Club in Kalgoorlie, his home town, and at least 20 other courses in Australia. He's also designed courses in China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, the United States, and other nations.
“Sometimes the courses with the smaller budgets create the most interest,” Marsh said of the course at Bingara Gorge, “and it's pleasing to build a course crafted out of nothing, because you have got nothing to work with.”
scotland A Ryder Cup for Trump?
When Sandy Jones talks, people listen. And last week Jones said some absolutely wonderful things about the golf course that Donald Trump is building in Aberdeen.
Jones, the CEO of the British PGA and a senior member of its Ryder Cup board, believes the course will host a major international tournament within a decade of its expected opening in 2012.
“When this course is complete,” he told the Aberdeen Press & Journal, “there is no doubt in my mind . . . that it will be one of the great golf courses in the world.”
As most everyone knows, Trump International Golf Club Scotland will eventually consist of two 18-hole golf courses, 500 single-family houses, 950 "holiday" houses, and a posh hotel.
Jones gushed about the club's setting, calling the property “a fantastic site” that will be “a great venue” for golf. He also noted that Trump is plenty capable of delivering the key ingredient that a big-time tournament needs: corporate money.
His conclusion: “I'll be amazed if there is not a really major world event here within a decade.”
Thursday, November 18, 2010
talking points Is Another Lousy Year on the Horizon?
The attendees at last spring's KPMG-sponsored Golf Business Forum were conspicuously glum about golf's economic prospects.
According to an electronic poll taken during the event, 40 percent of the attendees said a turnaround wouldn't begin until 2011, but a whopping 44 percent said they don’t expect the hard times to end until 2012 or -– gulp -– later.
Their gloomy outlook has been echoed by Wally Uihlein, the CEO of Acushnet Company, the maker of Titleist and Footjoy products. In the current issue of South Central Golf Magazine, Uihlein says that the U.S. golf business has fallen to just 75 percent of what it was in 2007 and -- gulp again -- isn't likely to start growing again anytime soon.
"It's a game of limited opportunity here," Uihlein told the magazine. "The first thing we have to do is hold on to the golfers we have. If you can do that, then you have a chance to grow."
Of course, these days golf's true growth markets are on the other side of the oceans, particularly, Uihlein says, in the nations along the Pacific Rim. He singles out China as an especially ripe opportunity, as long as -- and here the magazine paraphrases -- "the middle class continues to grow and courses are built for others besides visiting businessmen."
According to an electronic poll taken during the event, 40 percent of the attendees said a turnaround wouldn't begin until 2011, but a whopping 44 percent said they don’t expect the hard times to end until 2012 or -– gulp -– later.
Their gloomy outlook has been echoed by Wally Uihlein, the CEO of Acushnet Company, the maker of Titleist and Footjoy products. In the current issue of South Central Golf Magazine, Uihlein says that the U.S. golf business has fallen to just 75 percent of what it was in 2007 and -- gulp again -- isn't likely to start growing again anytime soon.
"It's a game of limited opportunity here," Uihlein told the magazine. "The first thing we have to do is hold on to the golfers we have. If you can do that, then you have a chance to grow."
Of course, these days golf's true growth markets are on the other side of the oceans, particularly, Uihlein says, in the nations along the Pacific Rim. He singles out China as an especially ripe opportunity, as long as -- and here the magazine paraphrases -- "the middle class continues to grow and courses are built for others besides visiting businessmen."
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Shameless Self-Promotion, November 2010
One of the biggest developers in South America has hired Arnold Palmer's company to design golf courses in Uruguay and Brazil, and a massive resort featuring golf courses by Tom Fazio and David McLay Kidd is about to take shape on the Alentejo coast of Portugal.
Those are among the stories that appear in November's World Edition of the Golf Course Report, the publication that serves as the source for much of the material in this blog.
November's World Edition also reports on a Chinese company's attempt to create "the first, the best, and the largest golf chain in China," a community outside Kuala Lumpur that will feature golf courses by Padraig Harrington and K. J. Choi, and a brownfield in Poland that's being transformed into a golf oasis.
This month's issue also has articles about one of the first golf communities in Kenya, Sergio Garcia's first solo "signature" course (it's in China), and an unusual joint development venture that Kelly Blake Moran is doing with a golf entrepreneur in India.
There's a lot more, of course, including other new golf projects in Russia, Croatia, Switzerland, Montenegro, and Namibia, along with renovations by Rees Jones in Japan and Greg Norman in Australia.
If your business depends on timely, detailed news about international golf development and construction, you really should be reading the World Edition. There's literally no other publication like it.
If you'd like to see this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send me an e-mail at WorldEdition@aol.com.
Those are among the stories that appear in November's World Edition of the Golf Course Report, the publication that serves as the source for much of the material in this blog.
November's World Edition also reports on a Chinese company's attempt to create "the first, the best, and the largest golf chain in China," a community outside Kuala Lumpur that will feature golf courses by Padraig Harrington and K. J. Choi, and a brownfield in Poland that's being transformed into a golf oasis.
This month's issue also has articles about one of the first golf communities in Kenya, Sergio Garcia's first solo "signature" course (it's in China), and an unusual joint development venture that Kelly Blake Moran is doing with a golf entrepreneur in India.
There's a lot more, of course, including other new golf projects in Russia, Croatia, Switzerland, Montenegro, and Namibia, along with renovations by Rees Jones in Japan and Greg Norman in Australia.
If your business depends on timely, detailed news about international golf development and construction, you really should be reading the World Edition. There's literally no other publication like it.
If you'd like to see this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send me an e-mail at WorldEdition@aol.com.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
australia Geelong's Course Will Shrink
One of Australia’s best-known golf developers aims to downsize the oldest golf course in Victoria.
I'm talking about Geelong Golf Club, which is in the town of Geelong, about 40 miles southwest of Melbourne. The club was founded in 1892, fell on financial hard times just after the turn of the 21st century, and went out of business in 2004. Its 18-hole course will be reduced to nine holes, along with a golf academy that’s to be created by the PGA of Australia.
Links Group has owned the 115-acre club since 2003. The company’s redevelopment plan calls for 191 single-family houses and 120 housing units for seniors, along with a “big box” store.
Geelong will be Links Group’s third golf community in greater Melbourne. The company owns Sandhurst Club, which features a 36-hole complex designed by Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett, and Sanctuary Lakes, which has an 18-hole, Greg Norman-designed course. Both clubs anchor large communities (1,850 houses at Sandhurst, 2,500 at Sanctuary Lakes) that haven’t yet sold out.
Two other Links Group communities have been in the works for several years, delayed by a sluggish housing market and difficulties in securing approvals.
The company owns 700 acres in Airlie Beach, Queensland, where it plans to build a community called Whitsunday Springs. The community, which was approved in 2006 (Links Group had planned to break ground on it in 2009), will have up to 2,200 residences, a 200-room hotel, and an 18-hole golf course.
And, as it’s doing at Geelong, Links Group plans to downsize the 18-hole golf course at Illawarra Golf Club in Madden Plains, New South Wales. The course will be shrunk to nine holes and become the centerpiece of Illawarra Ridge, a community with houses, a hotel, and a recreation center.
The golf courses at Whitsunday Springs and Illawarra Ridge will be designed by Graham Papworth, an architect based in Hastings Point, New South Wales.
The new nine at Geelong Golf Club will be tailored to beginners. Links Group hasn’t yet identified the designer, but last summer it told the Age, an Australian newspaper, that it’ll be “a professional golf architect” who’s been “endorsed” by the PGA of Australia.
I'm talking about Geelong Golf Club, which is in the town of Geelong, about 40 miles southwest of Melbourne. The club was founded in 1892, fell on financial hard times just after the turn of the 21st century, and went out of business in 2004. Its 18-hole course will be reduced to nine holes, along with a golf academy that’s to be created by the PGA of Australia.
Links Group has owned the 115-acre club since 2003. The company’s redevelopment plan calls for 191 single-family houses and 120 housing units for seniors, along with a “big box” store.
Geelong will be Links Group’s third golf community in greater Melbourne. The company owns Sandhurst Club, which features a 36-hole complex designed by Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett, and Sanctuary Lakes, which has an 18-hole, Greg Norman-designed course. Both clubs anchor large communities (1,850 houses at Sandhurst, 2,500 at Sanctuary Lakes) that haven’t yet sold out.
Two other Links Group communities have been in the works for several years, delayed by a sluggish housing market and difficulties in securing approvals.
The company owns 700 acres in Airlie Beach, Queensland, where it plans to build a community called Whitsunday Springs. The community, which was approved in 2006 (Links Group had planned to break ground on it in 2009), will have up to 2,200 residences, a 200-room hotel, and an 18-hole golf course.
And, as it’s doing at Geelong, Links Group plans to downsize the 18-hole golf course at Illawarra Golf Club in Madden Plains, New South Wales. The course will be shrunk to nine holes and become the centerpiece of Illawarra Ridge, a community with houses, a hotel, and a recreation center.
The golf courses at Whitsunday Springs and Illawarra Ridge will be designed by Graham Papworth, an architect based in Hastings Point, New South Wales.
The new nine at Geelong Golf Club will be tailored to beginners. Links Group hasn’t yet identified the designer, but last summer it told the Age, an Australian newspaper, that it’ll be “a professional golf architect” who’s been “endorsed” by the PGA of Australia.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Week That Was: November 14, 2010
china 'Otherworldly' Golf Complex Opens Near Kunming
An unnamed Chinese development group has opened a trio of 18-hole golf courses in the magical Stone Forest of southwestern China.
The golf courses have been designed by Brian Curley of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Schmidt Curley Golf Design and are the featured attractions of the appropriately named Stoneforest International Country Club.
“This is one of the most unique sites ever made available for golf,” Curley said in a press release.
That's an understatement.
Stone Forest's breathtaking, haunting terrain spreads over a 135-square-mile area about 60 miles from Kunming, in Yunnan
Province, and has long been a favorite destination for people who love rocks. Curley describes the craggy landscape “otherworldly,” and it truly is hard to believe. The rocks appear to have grown out of the ground like trees, creating the illusion of a forest made of, well, stone. Some people consider the place to be one of the true wonders of the world.
Curley says his golf courses “promise to soon be regarded among the world's best,” but they'll never match the drama of their setting. For the record, the Leaders Peak track is the longest (7,565 yards), the Yufeng Ridge track has the best views, and the Masters, the club's tournament track, is the toughest.
Curley says the site is “so astonishing that we did not want to distract from the surroundings with bunkering or any other architectural elements that said look at me. We kept all three courses very natural to fit the site. There are subtle differences in each, but nothing that jumps out. We wanted the stone to be the show.”
canada Another Course for ClubLink
ClubLink's shopping spree continues.
The King City, Ontario-based company, the largest owner/operator of golf properties in Canada, has agreed to acquire Glendale Golf & Country Club in Hamilton. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the month, according to the Hamilton Spectator.
Glendale, which features an 18-hole golf course and six sheets of curling ice, opened in 1919. Score Golf says the course “will calm the nerves and quiet the passions of the most casual of golfers” but will also “challenge the most avid golfer.”
Be still, my fluttering heart!
Already this year, ClubLink has purchased seven golf courses in Florida: six at the Sun City Center retirement community in suburban Tampa and Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs.
The company's portfolio also includes roughly 30 golf properties in Canada, most of them in metropolitan Toronto.
england Cornwall Course Has New Owner
A Canadian-born entrepreneur has purchased Roserrow Golf & Country Club for an undisclosed amount.
Randy Sohnchen, the purchaser, told BBC News that the sale “will secure current employment in the area and provide additional jobs in the future.”
The 18-hole, 6,507-yard golf course is part of a 405-acre resort community in Wadebridge, North Cornwall. The course, which opened in 1997, must be fairly nondescript, because I can't find any reviews of it anywhere. A golf directory boldly reports that it's “been designed to appeal to golfers of all abilities.”
The community is located about a mile from Polzeath Beach. It has a variety of housing types, a spa, an airstrip, and other attractions. Some sources say that the golf club also has a nine-hole practice course.
oregon Golf Is Worth Billions
The golf business was worth $2.5 billion to the state of Oregon in 2008.
That's the conclusion of an economic-impact study funded by the Golf Alliance of Oregon, a group of the state's major trade and consumer golf associations. The study says that golf generated direct revenues of $1.2 billion and supported more than 27,000 jobs.
“The sheer size of the game of golf makes it a major industry in its own right and a significant contributor to Oregon's economy,” said Peter Ryan, who conducted the study.
Sales of golf equipment and supplies, led by Beaverton-based Nike Golf, amounted to roughly $465 million. Golf courses and other golf facilities generated about $362 million, while golf-related hospitality and tourism companies generated $222 million.
“In order to get the attention of decision-makers, it is important that we be able to quantify the contributions of our industry to those that may be affected,” said Barb Trammell, the CEO of the Oregon Golf Association, in a press release reprinted by Club & Resort Business. “The continued health and growth of the golf industry has a direct bearing on future jobs, commerce, economic development, and tax revenues for a large number of Oregon's communities and industries.”
An unnamed Chinese development group has opened a trio of 18-hole golf courses in the magical Stone Forest of southwestern China.
The golf courses have been designed by Brian Curley of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Schmidt Curley Golf Design and are the featured attractions of the appropriately named Stoneforest International Country Club.
“This is one of the most unique sites ever made available for golf,” Curley said in a press release.
That's an understatement.
Stone Forest's breathtaking, haunting terrain spreads over a 135-square-mile area about 60 miles from Kunming, in Yunnan
Province, and has long been a favorite destination for people who love rocks. Curley describes the craggy landscape “otherworldly,” and it truly is hard to believe. The rocks appear to have grown out of the ground like trees, creating the illusion of a forest made of, well, stone. Some people consider the place to be one of the true wonders of the world.
Curley says his golf courses “promise to soon be regarded among the world's best,” but they'll never match the drama of their setting. For the record, the Leaders Peak track is the longest (7,565 yards), the Yufeng Ridge track has the best views, and the Masters, the club's tournament track, is the toughest.
Curley says the site is “so astonishing that we did not want to distract from the surroundings with bunkering or any other architectural elements that said look at me. We kept all three courses very natural to fit the site. There are subtle differences in each, but nothing that jumps out. We wanted the stone to be the show.”
canada Another Course for ClubLink
ClubLink's shopping spree continues.
The King City, Ontario-based company, the largest owner/operator of golf properties in Canada, has agreed to acquire Glendale Golf & Country Club in Hamilton. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the month, according to the Hamilton Spectator.
Glendale, which features an 18-hole golf course and six sheets of curling ice, opened in 1919. Score Golf says the course “will calm the nerves and quiet the passions of the most casual of golfers” but will also “challenge the most avid golfer.”
Be still, my fluttering heart!
Already this year, ClubLink has purchased seven golf courses in Florida: six at the Sun City Center retirement community in suburban Tampa and Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs.
The company's portfolio also includes roughly 30 golf properties in Canada, most of them in metropolitan Toronto.
england Cornwall Course Has New Owner
A Canadian-born entrepreneur has purchased Roserrow Golf & Country Club for an undisclosed amount.
Randy Sohnchen, the purchaser, told BBC News that the sale “will secure current employment in the area and provide additional jobs in the future.”
The 18-hole, 6,507-yard golf course is part of a 405-acre resort community in Wadebridge, North Cornwall. The course, which opened in 1997, must be fairly nondescript, because I can't find any reviews of it anywhere. A golf directory boldly reports that it's “been designed to appeal to golfers of all abilities.”
The community is located about a mile from Polzeath Beach. It has a variety of housing types, a spa, an airstrip, and other attractions. Some sources say that the golf club also has a nine-hole practice course.
oregon Golf Is Worth Billions
The golf business was worth $2.5 billion to the state of Oregon in 2008.
That's the conclusion of an economic-impact study funded by the Golf Alliance of Oregon, a group of the state's major trade and consumer golf associations. The study says that golf generated direct revenues of $1.2 billion and supported more than 27,000 jobs.
“The sheer size of the game of golf makes it a major industry in its own right and a significant contributor to Oregon's economy,” said Peter Ryan, who conducted the study.
Sales of golf equipment and supplies, led by Beaverton-based Nike Golf, amounted to roughly $465 million. Golf courses and other golf facilities generated about $362 million, while golf-related hospitality and tourism companies generated $222 million.
“In order to get the attention of decision-makers, it is important that we be able to quantify the contributions of our industry to those that may be affected,” said Barb Trammell, the CEO of the Oregon Golf Association, in a press release reprinted by Club & Resort Business. “The continued health and growth of the golf industry has a direct bearing on future jobs, commerce, economic development, and tax revenues for a large number of Oregon's communities and industries.”
Thursday, November 11, 2010
finland Tim Nugent, Designing & Building
A few weeks ago, after nearly 10 years of planning and preparation, ground was finally broken on Tim Nugent’s golf course in suburban Helsinki, Finland.
Tapiola Golf Club is taking shape on a 135-acre, city-owned landfill in Espoo, and it’s expected to open in the summer of 2012. Nugent, who’s based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, not only designed the 6,660-yard course but, according to a report in Golf Course Architecture, is personally shaping it.
“I hope Tapiola will be a good example of the direction new courses should be headed -– fun and playable for everyone, but with just enough to keep good golfers interested,” Nugent told the magazine.
The site has been leased (for 40 years) by a group called Tapiola Golf, Ltd., which is funding the construction via the sale of stock.
Nugent, the son of golf architect Dick Nugent, has designed several courses in the United States -– among them Prairie Green Golf Course in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and White Deer Run Golf Course in Vernon Hills -– but this is his first overseas project.
Tapiola Golf Club is taking shape on a 135-acre, city-owned landfill in Espoo, and it’s expected to open in the summer of 2012. Nugent, who’s based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, not only designed the 6,660-yard course but, according to a report in Golf Course Architecture, is personally shaping it.
“I hope Tapiola will be a good example of the direction new courses should be headed -– fun and playable for everyone, but with just enough to keep good golfers interested,” Nugent told the magazine.
The site has been leased (for 40 years) by a group called Tapiola Golf, Ltd., which is funding the construction via the sale of stock.
Nugent, the son of golf architect Dick Nugent, has designed several courses in the United States -– among them Prairie Green Golf Course in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and White Deer Run Golf Course in Vernon Hills -– but this is his first overseas project.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
japan The Shape of Things To Come?
The popularity of golf in Japan, the world’s second-largest golf market (after the United States), reached its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s but has been going downhill steadily ever since. The nation currently has 2,450 golf courses and 10 million golfers, but Jeff Hays, a writer based in Japan, says the number of golfers will fall to 6.7 million by 2015, as older golfers die or give up the game.
Last summer, Hays’ prediction was echoed by Leo Lewis, a business correspondent in Asia for the Times of London.
“The Japanese are losing interest in golf much faster than investors are losing interest in stocks,” Lewis wrote in a story published by the Ottawa Citizen. “Companies no longer see the point in paying membership fees for their executives, and individuals no longer need to play as part of some corporate ritual. The average green fees across Japan remain more than $200 per round, which is driving away many of even those with a genuine passion for the game.”
Last summer, Hays’ prediction was echoed by Leo Lewis, a business correspondent in Asia for the Times of London.
“The Japanese are losing interest in golf much faster than investors are losing interest in stocks,” Lewis wrote in a story published by the Ottawa Citizen. “Companies no longer see the point in paying membership fees for their executives, and individuals no longer need to play as part of some corporate ritual. The average green fees across Japan remain more than $200 per round, which is driving away many of even those with a genuine passion for the game.”
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Week That Was: November 7, 2010
nicaragua A Green Light for Kidd's Course
Pellas Development Group has started selling houses at its “eco-luxe” resort community in southwestern Nicaragua, and it says that it plans to break ground on the property's golf course next year.
The resort is called Guacalito de la Isla, and it's taking shape on 1,670 acres outside Rivas, a city of 28,000 located between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Nicaragua. Rivas is part of a 30-mile stretch of coastline that’s mostly known for its surfing but is primed for development. Nicaragua's real estate interests have taken to calling it “the Emerald Coast.”
At build-out, according to a press release gratefully reprinted by the Victoria Times Colonist, Guacalito de la Isla will consist of houses (52 lots and 32 villas are currently for sale), a boutique hotel, a marina, a beach club, an equestrian center, a “world-class” spa (jeez, is there any other kind?), and other attractions.
The community's 18-hole course has been designed by David McLay Kidd, the “purist” architect whose best-known layouts include the first course at the Bandon Dunes resort in Bandon, Oregon and two highly regarded tracks in Scotland, the Castle Course at St. Andrews in St. Andrews and Machrihanish Dunes in Machrihanish.
Pellas Development is controlled by Don Carlos Pellas, Nicaragua's richest and most powerful individual. His Grupo Pellas includes about 50 companies, including Nicaragua Sugar Estates, Ltd., the nation’s leading sugar producer, and BAC International Bank, which operates in every Central American nation as well as in Coral Gables, Florida. Grupo Pellas also owns a Toyota dealership, the company that makes Flor de Cana rum, and firms that produce electricity and ethanol.
Pellas says that Guacalito de la Isla is merely the first of several “socially and environmentally sustainable communities” that it plans to build in Central America.
“This new generation of green destinations will be in some of the world’s most unspoiled locations,” Pellas says in the press release. “Each will cater to homeowners and guests who wish to make a difference in their families, their communities and their environment.”
Pellas didn't say whether his new communities would have golf courses, but if Nicaragua is going to develop as a golf destination, it needs deep-pocketed people like him to lead the way. Nicaragua currently has just one golf course, a nine-hole, Neal Oldenburg-designed track at Hacienda Iguana Golf & Beach Club in Tola. At least two other courses are reported to be under construction, including a Mike Young-designed course at Montecristo Golf Club in Leon, and Jack Nicklaus has been hired to design a “signature” course at Seaside Mariana in San Rafael del Sur.
argentina Another First for Greg Norman
Last month, a company controlled by one of the richest people in the United States broke ground on Greg Norman's first golf course in South America.
Norman's 18-hole, 7,100-yard course will be the centerpiece of El Desafio, a 2,500-acre resort community that’s emerging in the Andes Mountains just outside San Martin de los Andes, in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina.
"It's going to be a spectacular golf course," Norman said in a press release.
I'm sure that the community's well-heeled residents expect nothing less.
El Desafio is being developed by Hicks Trans American Partners LLC, an entity created by Tom Hicks, the principal of Dallas, Texas-based Hicks Holdings LLC and a long-time member of the Forbes 400. Hicks has his fingers in a lot of investment pies -– satellite television, steel-making, professional sports, real estate development -– but he's probably best known in the United States as the former owner of the Texas Rangers. Hicks is the guy who signed Alex Rodriguez, now of the New York Yankees, to what was at the time (in 2000) the biggest contract in the history of sports (10 years, $252 million).
The press release doesn't say how much Norman is being paid.
"I have designed mountain courses before, but this course will be unique with its dramatic backdrops and rugged beautiful terrain," said Norman. "We spent a lot of time trying to ensure the best routing for this beautiful piece of property. We wanted to use a least-disturbance approach and create great golf at the same time."
Hicks is developing El Desafio with Terra Patagonia, an Argentine developer. At build-out, the community will include houses, a mountain lodge with the obligatory spa, an equestrian center, and a pair of professional polo fields, one of which has already opened for play.
Those Argentines, they have their priorities.
west virginia A Battle at the Greenbrier
When it comes to building and rebuilding golf courses, disputes over construction-related problems are common. These disputes are rarely made public, however, because they're ultimately bad for business. Nobody benefits.
Unfortunately, that fact hasn't stopped some of the golf industry's best-known personalities from airing their dirty laundry in West Virginia newspapers.
The fight involves the historic, world-famous Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, which last year hired Lester George, a Virginia-based golf designer, and Aspen Corporation, a West Virginia-based construction company, to prepare its Old White course to host the inaugural Greenbrier Classic.
This fall, George and Aspen sued the Greenbrier, claiming that they weren't paid for services rendered. George said he was owed nearly $200,000, and Aspen said it was owed $1.275 million. Aspen also put a lien on the Greenbrier's 6,500-acre property.
“All work requested of Aspen by the Greenbrier was completed on time and prior to the Greenbrier Classic,” said Aspen, according to a story in the Charleston Daily Mail. “The Old White Golf Course received rave reviews during and following the Greenbrier Classic.”
When news of the suits was made public, Jim Justice, the Greenbrier's owner, came out with guns blazing. The work done by George and Aspen, he told the Beckley Register-Herald, “was so sub-par, it was off the chart.” He also accused George and Aspen of “extreme over-charging -- ridiculous over-charging.”
Justice, a wealthy landowner who bought the failing Greenbrier last year, also vowed to file a counter-suit against Aspen “in the very near future,” and he noted that the amount would be “for approximately 10 times the amount of their suit.”
As best I can determine, Justice hasn't yet filed his counter-suit. But last week George amended his complaint against the Greenbrier, charging Justice with defamation. George called Justice's comments “malicious, spurious, unfounded, false statements” that were designed to harm his reputation.
Here's some news, guys: Lester George's isn't the only reputation that's being harmed.
venezuela A Message from the President
Once again, Hugo Chavez is saying unkind things about golf.
During a recent edition of his weekly television show (it's called “Alo, Presidente”), Chavez reiterated his belief that Venezuela's golf courses should be expropriated and converted to more socially beneficial uses.
“That’s an injustice, that someone should have the luxury of having I don’t know how many hectares to play golf and drink whiskey and, next door, there’s misery and children dying when there are landslides,” Chavez said.
Chavez was referring to recent landslides caused by heavy rains. The landslides destroyed many houses, killing dozens of people and exacerbating an already acute housing shortage.
His comment was the second time in about a year that Chavez has taken a shot at golf. Last summer, you'll recall, he famously called golf “a bourgeois sport” -- which, honesty compels me to admit, is true -- and asked the timeless question, “Do you mean to tell me this is a people’s sport?”
Pellas Development Group has started selling houses at its “eco-luxe” resort community in southwestern Nicaragua, and it says that it plans to break ground on the property's golf course next year.
The resort is called Guacalito de la Isla, and it's taking shape on 1,670 acres outside Rivas, a city of 28,000 located between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Nicaragua. Rivas is part of a 30-mile stretch of coastline that’s mostly known for its surfing but is primed for development. Nicaragua's real estate interests have taken to calling it “the Emerald Coast.”
At build-out, according to a press release gratefully reprinted by the Victoria Times Colonist, Guacalito de la Isla will consist of houses (52 lots and 32 villas are currently for sale), a boutique hotel, a marina, a beach club, an equestrian center, a “world-class” spa (jeez, is there any other kind?), and other attractions.
The community's 18-hole course has been designed by David McLay Kidd, the “purist” architect whose best-known layouts include the first course at the Bandon Dunes resort in Bandon, Oregon and two highly regarded tracks in Scotland, the Castle Course at St. Andrews in St. Andrews and Machrihanish Dunes in Machrihanish.
Pellas Development is controlled by Don Carlos Pellas, Nicaragua's richest and most powerful individual. His Grupo Pellas includes about 50 companies, including Nicaragua Sugar Estates, Ltd., the nation’s leading sugar producer, and BAC International Bank, which operates in every Central American nation as well as in Coral Gables, Florida. Grupo Pellas also owns a Toyota dealership, the company that makes Flor de Cana rum, and firms that produce electricity and ethanol.
Pellas says that Guacalito de la Isla is merely the first of several “socially and environmentally sustainable communities” that it plans to build in Central America.
“This new generation of green destinations will be in some of the world’s most unspoiled locations,” Pellas says in the press release. “Each will cater to homeowners and guests who wish to make a difference in their families, their communities and their environment.”
Pellas didn't say whether his new communities would have golf courses, but if Nicaragua is going to develop as a golf destination, it needs deep-pocketed people like him to lead the way. Nicaragua currently has just one golf course, a nine-hole, Neal Oldenburg-designed track at Hacienda Iguana Golf & Beach Club in Tola. At least two other courses are reported to be under construction, including a Mike Young-designed course at Montecristo Golf Club in Leon, and Jack Nicklaus has been hired to design a “signature” course at Seaside Mariana in San Rafael del Sur.
argentina Another First for Greg Norman
Last month, a company controlled by one of the richest people in the United States broke ground on Greg Norman's first golf course in South America.
Norman's 18-hole, 7,100-yard course will be the centerpiece of El Desafio, a 2,500-acre resort community that’s emerging in the Andes Mountains just outside San Martin de los Andes, in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina.
"It's going to be a spectacular golf course," Norman said in a press release.
I'm sure that the community's well-heeled residents expect nothing less.
El Desafio is being developed by Hicks Trans American Partners LLC, an entity created by Tom Hicks, the principal of Dallas, Texas-based Hicks Holdings LLC and a long-time member of the Forbes 400. Hicks has his fingers in a lot of investment pies -– satellite television, steel-making, professional sports, real estate development -– but he's probably best known in the United States as the former owner of the Texas Rangers. Hicks is the guy who signed Alex Rodriguez, now of the New York Yankees, to what was at the time (in 2000) the biggest contract in the history of sports (10 years, $252 million).
The press release doesn't say how much Norman is being paid.
"I have designed mountain courses before, but this course will be unique with its dramatic backdrops and rugged beautiful terrain," said Norman. "We spent a lot of time trying to ensure the best routing for this beautiful piece of property. We wanted to use a least-disturbance approach and create great golf at the same time."
Hicks is developing El Desafio with Terra Patagonia, an Argentine developer. At build-out, the community will include houses, a mountain lodge with the obligatory spa, an equestrian center, and a pair of professional polo fields, one of which has already opened for play.
Those Argentines, they have their priorities.
west virginia A Battle at the Greenbrier
When it comes to building and rebuilding golf courses, disputes over construction-related problems are common. These disputes are rarely made public, however, because they're ultimately bad for business. Nobody benefits.
Unfortunately, that fact hasn't stopped some of the golf industry's best-known personalities from airing their dirty laundry in West Virginia newspapers.
The fight involves the historic, world-famous Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, which last year hired Lester George, a Virginia-based golf designer, and Aspen Corporation, a West Virginia-based construction company, to prepare its Old White course to host the inaugural Greenbrier Classic.
This fall, George and Aspen sued the Greenbrier, claiming that they weren't paid for services rendered. George said he was owed nearly $200,000, and Aspen said it was owed $1.275 million. Aspen also put a lien on the Greenbrier's 6,500-acre property.
“All work requested of Aspen by the Greenbrier was completed on time and prior to the Greenbrier Classic,” said Aspen, according to a story in the Charleston Daily Mail. “The Old White Golf Course received rave reviews during and following the Greenbrier Classic.”
When news of the suits was made public, Jim Justice, the Greenbrier's owner, came out with guns blazing. The work done by George and Aspen, he told the Beckley Register-Herald, “was so sub-par, it was off the chart.” He also accused George and Aspen of “extreme over-charging -- ridiculous over-charging.”
Justice, a wealthy landowner who bought the failing Greenbrier last year, also vowed to file a counter-suit against Aspen “in the very near future,” and he noted that the amount would be “for approximately 10 times the amount of their suit.”
As best I can determine, Justice hasn't yet filed his counter-suit. But last week George amended his complaint against the Greenbrier, charging Justice with defamation. George called Justice's comments “malicious, spurious, unfounded, false statements” that were designed to harm his reputation.
Here's some news, guys: Lester George's isn't the only reputation that's being harmed.
venezuela A Message from the President
Once again, Hugo Chavez is saying unkind things about golf.
During a recent edition of his weekly television show (it's called “Alo, Presidente”), Chavez reiterated his belief that Venezuela's golf courses should be expropriated and converted to more socially beneficial uses.
“That’s an injustice, that someone should have the luxury of having I don’t know how many hectares to play golf and drink whiskey and, next door, there’s misery and children dying when there are landslides,” Chavez said.
Chavez was referring to recent landslides caused by heavy rains. The landslides destroyed many houses, killing dozens of people and exacerbating an already acute housing shortage.
His comment was the second time in about a year that Chavez has taken a shot at golf. Last summer, you'll recall, he famously called golf “a bourgeois sport” -- which, honesty compels me to admit, is true -- and asked the timeless question, “Do you mean to tell me this is a people’s sport?”
Friday, November 5, 2010
talking points On Getting Paid in China
These days, most every course designer on the planet wants to work in China. But is a commission in the People's Republic all it's cracked up to be?
Here's what Brian Curley, a principal of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Schmidt-Curley Design, has to say about doing business in China. His comments were originally posted in an interview with Golf Club Atlas.
Asia is different on multiple levels. On one hand, jobs can go fast, although very few ever go as fast as they first promise. As most know, China is in the midst of a moratorium on golf construction, and illegally built courses do get shut down on occasion. So not only are developers taking major risks, but architects need to be aware the job they were promised can vanish in a heartbeat.
Farmland and villager issues are huge and not going away. It is very common to begin construction on a project only to be told that land first planned for development has disappeared and the property line has changed, causing a total change of plans -- and “we need it yesterday.”
Essentially all clients expect and demand a lot of up-front work -- for free -- before they decide who to use. They will use these plans to work competing bids and can make promises that often go unfulfilled.
A number of architects get concerned that their plans will be used with no contract or payment, and they will. We had a client who, despite my radar telling me to stay away when we first negotiated, was cordial for most of the project but later built a second course that we provided plans for yet never were paid. He turned into the guy I first met, and I felt lucky to make it out of his office with a substantially reduced final payment offered on a “take it or leave it” basis.
We found a project selling memberships touting us as the designers although we had nothing to do with the course.
Then, you want to get paid. Sometimes you have to wait a long time, sometimes you may never see a dime. We have been largely very fortunate, as we have many five-star clients. But there can be major hiccups. We are large enough to ride the ups and downs.
In the U.S., you have legal avenues when all these issues arise. But in Asia, are you going to sue? We have decided a few times to take our lumps and move on.
Here's what Brian Curley, a principal of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Schmidt-Curley Design, has to say about doing business in China. His comments were originally posted in an interview with Golf Club Atlas.
Asia is different on multiple levels. On one hand, jobs can go fast, although very few ever go as fast as they first promise. As most know, China is in the midst of a moratorium on golf construction, and illegally built courses do get shut down on occasion. So not only are developers taking major risks, but architects need to be aware the job they were promised can vanish in a heartbeat.
Farmland and villager issues are huge and not going away. It is very common to begin construction on a project only to be told that land first planned for development has disappeared and the property line has changed, causing a total change of plans -- and “we need it yesterday.”
Essentially all clients expect and demand a lot of up-front work -- for free -- before they decide who to use. They will use these plans to work competing bids and can make promises that often go unfulfilled.
A number of architects get concerned that their plans will be used with no contract or payment, and they will. We had a client who, despite my radar telling me to stay away when we first negotiated, was cordial for most of the project but later built a second course that we provided plans for yet never were paid. He turned into the guy I first met, and I felt lucky to make it out of his office with a substantially reduced final payment offered on a “take it or leave it” basis.
We found a project selling memberships touting us as the designers although we had nothing to do with the course.
Then, you want to get paid. Sometimes you have to wait a long time, sometimes you may never see a dime. We have been largely very fortunate, as we have many five-star clients. But there can be major hiccups. We are large enough to ride the ups and downs.
In the U.S., you have legal avenues when all these issues arise. But in Asia, are you going to sue? We have decided a few times to take our lumps and move on.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
costa rica The Rush Is On
Remember when Rush Limbaugh, during the U.S. health-care debate, threatened to go to Costa Rica for medical treatment? Well, get in line, Rush.
A lot of U.S. citizens routinely head south for medical care -– 25,000 every year, according to the Christian Science Monitor. As a result, what’s known as “medical tourism” has become a thriving industry in Costa Rica.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that a development group wants to build a “destination” medical center in Liberia, the capital of Guanacaste Province. Sun Ranch, as it’s being called, is to take shape on 2,350 acres conveniently located less than two miles from Daniel Oduber International Airport.
The medical side of the project will include a “world-class” hospital, an assisted-living center, a long-term care facility, a wellness center, and a 200-room “airport/medical” hotel, part of which will be reserved for folks who are recovering from surgery.
Sun Ranch will also have a casino, a spa, restaurants, and a shopping area, not to mention a resort-style hotel, a “branded” luxury hotel, and a convention center.
And for those who’d like to settle down for a while, it’ll have a 500-acre community with single-family houses, townhouses, and condos (tailored mostly to seniors), along with an 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
Sun Ranch is being developed by Grupo Do It, which consists, at least in part, of Americans who’ve been working in Costa Rica since the late 1980s. Grupo Do It owns what it calls “the largest retail hardware and construction material business” in Costa Rica, and one of its affiliates, the Do It Center Foundation, provides wheelchairs to people who can’t afford them.
The medical facilities at Sun Ranch will be run by Clinica Biblica Hospital, a non-profit that describes itself as “the largest and most prestigious private hospital in Costa Rica.”
Jones, who’s based in Palo Alto, California, says that the site at Sun Ranch has “the potential to produce a world-caliber layout that will attract golfers from around the globe.”
A lot of U.S. citizens routinely head south for medical care -– 25,000 every year, according to the Christian Science Monitor. As a result, what’s known as “medical tourism” has become a thriving industry in Costa Rica.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that a development group wants to build a “destination” medical center in Liberia, the capital of Guanacaste Province. Sun Ranch, as it’s being called, is to take shape on 2,350 acres conveniently located less than two miles from Daniel Oduber International Airport.
The medical side of the project will include a “world-class” hospital, an assisted-living center, a long-term care facility, a wellness center, and a 200-room “airport/medical” hotel, part of which will be reserved for folks who are recovering from surgery.
Sun Ranch will also have a casino, a spa, restaurants, and a shopping area, not to mention a resort-style hotel, a “branded” luxury hotel, and a convention center.
And for those who’d like to settle down for a while, it’ll have a 500-acre community with single-family houses, townhouses, and condos (tailored mostly to seniors), along with an 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
Sun Ranch is being developed by Grupo Do It, which consists, at least in part, of Americans who’ve been working in Costa Rica since the late 1980s. Grupo Do It owns what it calls “the largest retail hardware and construction material business” in Costa Rica, and one of its affiliates, the Do It Center Foundation, provides wheelchairs to people who can’t afford them.
The medical facilities at Sun Ranch will be run by Clinica Biblica Hospital, a non-profit that describes itself as “the largest and most prestigious private hospital in Costa Rica.”
Jones, who’s based in Palo Alto, California, says that the site at Sun Ranch has “the potential to produce a world-caliber layout that will attract golfers from around the globe.”
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