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?
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