The Week That Was, December 26, 2010

anguilla Staubach Makes a Play for Norman's Course

A group led by Roger Staubach, the one-time Dallas Cowboys quarterback, is closing in on the purchase of a troubled, half-built Caribbean resort that features a Greg Norman-designed golf course.

Cypress Equities expects to buy the 280-acre Temenos resort, on Anguilla, and turn over its management to Montage Hotels & Resorts. The resort has been dying a slow death since 2008, when its owners decided to quit throwing money at it.

Temonos' 7,063-yard golf course, the only course on Anguilla, opened in 2007 and was closed for at least part of 2009. It's currently being operated by the nearby Cap Juluca resort.

One of the island's government officials once called Temenos -- it's a Greek word that means sanctuary -- “the most important project Anguilla ever had.” The resort was begun by Robert Sillerman, a billionaire who made most of his money in the radio and television business. He also hit the jackpot when he invested in a blockbuster Broadway show (Mel Brooks' The Producers), and in 2005 he bought the company that produced “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance.” Simon Fuller, the creator of those shows, bought a pricey, as-yet-unbuilt vacation house in Temenos, as did Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code and other novels.

In late 2009, shortly after Temenos slipped into receivership, Sillerman admitted to the Wall Street Journal that resort development “was not my area of expertise by any stretch of the imagination” and confessed that his development plans “exhibited an element of hubris.”

Cypress Equities has 30 days to seal the deal for Temenos. Sillerman and his partner, Flag Luxury Properties LLC, reportedly invested more than $180 million in the resort, and they believe it'll cost as much as $120 million more to complete it.

Staubach had once planned to build a resort in the Caribbean from scratch -- Royal Island in the Bahamas, which was to feature the world's first Jack Nicklaus Golf Club -- but he's obviously decided it's cheaper to buy one than to build one.

india Goa Goes for Golf

Back in the 1960s, hippies beat a trail to Goa, making it one of India’s favorite vacation spots. Today, nearly 10 percent of the 5 million tourists who visit India each year pass through the state, whose tourism officials believe they could attract more vacationers if they had more golf courses.

As a result, Goa’s government is seeking a private-sector partner to help it build an 18-hole course in Pernem, a town in the northern part of the state, 20 miles north of Panaji. The state's tourism minister told the Economic Times that three groups have expressed an interest in building the course.

Goa is especially hoping to lure golf-crazy Japanese tourists, who can be found in large numbers at the Taj Mahal, the Ajanta Caves, the temples of Varanasi, and some of the other popular tourist attractions in other Indian states.

“We want to get them to Goa, too,” said Goa's tourism minister. “For that, the state needs to put up facilities required for them.”

It should be noted that Goa's government has been down this road before. Years ago, it was foiled in an attempt to build a golf course on a site overlooking Arambol beach and the Arabian Sea. The plan was opposed by a variety of community groups, and it died a quick death.

As a result, Goa currently has just one 18-hole course, a K. D. Bagga-designed layout at the Intercontinental resort in Canacona.

Incidentally, the state’s monsoon season stretches from July through the end of September. Wear your galoshes.

malaysia A 'Mockery' of a Golf Course Is Sold

LAND & General Berhad, a development firm based in Kuala Lumpur, has agreed to buy a golf resort in Seremban, the capital of the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan.

Tuanku Jaafar Golf & Country Resort features a 27-hole golf complex that was designed by an Australian, Rodger Davis, and opened in the early 1990s. It spreads over 400 acres and includes about 50 developable residential lots and an industrial site.

Land & General paid just over $8 million for the property, assuming that my currency converted is working properly.

The golf complex has apparently seen better days. An online critic has called it a “mockery of a course” that “you will probably play once and not come back” to. Though it hardly seems to matter, he added that its previous operators provided the “worst ever golf course service in Malaysia.”

Tuanku Jaafar is Land & General's second golf property, as the company co-owns an 18-hole, Craig Perry-designed track at the Hidden Valley golf community in suburban Melbourne, Australia.

scotland At Kingsbarns, It Was a Very Good Year

2010 may have been a downer at most of the world's golf courses, but not at Kingsbarns Golf Links.

The number of rounds played at the Kyle Phillips-designed track in St. Andrews, Scotland surpassed 27,000, an increase of 30 percent over the number played in 2009. There was enough demand to extend the course's season by two weeks.

So much for flat being the new up.

What's more, even better times could be ahead for Kingsbarns. In a press release, the course's general manager reports that bookings for 2011 are running 10 percent ahead of the marks recorded at this time last year.

If you're among those who plan to make a reservation for 2011, a round will cost you $293.