The Week That Was: February 27, 2011

cuba Has the Countdown Begun?

Don't get all hot and bothered, but CNN is reporting that “the bourgeois sport of the West” -- that would be golf, naturally -- “is poised for a comeback on the communist-run island” of Cuba.

I hate to sound like an old sourpuss, but haven't we heard this story numerous times before? Is there really any reason to believe golf will gain a foothold in Cuba anytime soon?

Well, maybe there is. If you believe CNN -- or if you believe what people are telling CNN -- Cuba may very well achieve lift-off in 2011.

Andrew MacDonald, the CEO of London, England-based Esencia Hotels and Resorts, tells the news service that he plans to break ground on Carbonera Country Club “in the next few months.”

“Golf is becoming a reality in Cuba this year,” he said boldly.

This is real news, especially when you consider that Carbonera has been in the works for something like seven years. And that MacDonald is in a position to make it happen.

But if MacDonald is so confident about the future of golf in Cuba, why didn't he mention that Esencia is working on a second golf project on the island? It's called Rancho Luna, and it's supposed to be built in the town of Cienfuegos, on Cuba’s southern coast.

Maybe it's because Rancho Luna isn't going to happen anytime soon.

And what about the other golf projects that are always mentioned in stories about golf in Cuba? Are they any closer to coming out of the ground?

I'm not holding my breath.

CNN reports that Vancouver-based Leisure Canada is “at advanced stages with three planned golf developments in the Pinar del Rio province on Cuba's west coast.” That's nice, but Leisure Canada has been working on its golf projects since the early 1990s.

CNN also reports that London-based Foster & Partners “has been commissioned by a Spanish developer to build a 2,000-unit golfing community with three courses” somewhere on the island. Again, that's nice. But Foster & Partners got the commission more than a year ago. It should have made a little progress by now.

MacDonald tells CNN that he's “impressed by the enthusiasm and golfing knowledge of the Cuban contractors and government officials” and is convinced that their vision of building 15 or 16 golf courses over the next five to seven years “will become a reality.”

“Golf just wasn't a priority in Cuba before, and now it is,” he said.

I hope that's true. When it comes to golf and Cuba, however, I'm taking my cues from the golf pro at Havana Golf Club. He was quoted in the story as saying, “When the new [courses] open, show them to me. Then I will know it is true.”

bahamas Baha Mar Finds Its Sugar Daddy

More good news from another island in the Caribbean: Baha Mar Resorts, Ltd. has broken ground on Baha Mar, its 1,000-acre resort along Nassau’s Cable Beach. The project had been in the tank for more than two years, ever since the developers’ original partner, Harrah’s Entertainment, bailed out on them.

The mega-resort is said to be the largest project of its kind in the Caribbean, even bigger than the gigantic Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. At build-out, Baha Mar is expected to have thousands of condos, a 100,000-square-foot casino, four hotels (a total of about 2,250 rooms), a convention center, a shopping area, an entertainment venue, a water park, and three spas. (Jeez, wouldn't two be enough?)

The work has begun because Baha Mar Resorts, a group led by Sarkis Izmirlian and Don Robinson, has persuaded a pair of Chinese companies -– Beijing-based Export-Import Bank of China and the government-owned China State Construction & Engineering Corporation -– to cough up $2.5 billion in funding.

I'd be remiss if I didn't note that Jack Nicklaus will create a “signature” golf course for the resort. The course will replace the developers’ Cable Bay Golf Club, the Bahamas’ first golf course. Some sources say the track, which opened in the late 1920s, was designed by Devereaux Emmet.

And here's another factoid worth noting: Baha Mar is expected to create about 4,000 construction jobs for Bahamian workers and about 7,000 jobs for Chinese workers.

“The great geographical distance between our two countries has not impeded our friendship,” the Chinese ambassador said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Baha Mar is scheduled to open in late 2014.

australia Eastern Golf Club Names Its Buyer

Eastern Golf Club has identified the preferred buyer of its 118-acre property in Doncaster, a suburb of Melbourne.

It's Mirvac Group, the company that owns Gainsborough Greens Golf Course in suburban Brisbane. Eastern didn't say how much Mirvac is going to shell out, but various sources believe the club's property is worth about $100 million.

Eastern was established in its current location in 1924. It's expected to relocate to a 605-acre tract in nearby Yering, where it'll have a new, Greg Norman-designed golf course. Mirvac plans to build houses on its current home.

Mirvac, which has been in business for nearly 40 years, is one of Australia’s biggest home builders. It's co-owned Gainsborough Greens since 2006 (it became the sole owner in 2009), and last year it commissioned Ross Watson to oversee a four-year makeover of the 6,637-yard track.

Eastern expects to provide more details about the sale in a couple of weeks.

spain The “Strip” Tease

The chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corporation wants to build a “mini Las Vegas” in Spain. He isn't too particular about where.

Sheldon Adelson hopes to build the little Vegas in Madrid or Barcelona, but he's looking for the best deal. He says the $20 billion venture could include as many as 20,000 hotel rooms, convention and meeting space, and a shopping area.

“We're very seriously considering this, we're very actively pursuing this,” Adelson said in a story originally reported by the Associated Press. “There's no reason why we can't do it.”

Las Vegas Sands operates two casinos on the Strip in Las Vegas, three in Macau, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Singapore.

Adelson didn't say anything about building a golf course at his “mini Las Vegas” in Spain, but I'm willing to bet he's got one penciled in somewhere. I mean, you can't gamble 24 hours a day.