Shameless Self-Promotion, March 2011

Full disclosure alert: I've come down with a case of March Madness. I've begun to see the world as a series of 16-element brackets.

Inspired by the commercial-filled television coverage of college basketball's championship, here's my breakdown of the top stories in this month's World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

1. Jamaica. Greg Norman was recently spotted on the island's southern coast, where he was scouting locations for a new golf course.
16. China. The makeover of Shenzhen Tycoon Golf Club is all but complete.

8. Ukraine. The nation's first 18-hole, championship-length course is being built in Kharkov.
9. Mexico. The best course to open outside the United States in 2010, according to Golf magazine, was the Davis Love III-designed Dunes course at Diamante Cabo San Lucas. Could the resort break ground on its second course next year?

5. Cyprus. Dolphin Capital Investors and its various affiliates have six golf projects planned in Cyprus, Greece, and Crete. They'll include courses by Tony Jacklin, Graham Marsh, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Hans-Georg Erhardt.
12. Australia. Speaking of Graham Marsh, he's been tapped to design a “no-compromise” course in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.

4. Canada. A small, struggling ski resort near Vancouver aims to super-size itself into one of the premier four-season destinations in British Columbia.
13. Croatia. The developers of the Croatian Dream have hired a designer for their first golf course.

6. Philippines. A “world-class” golf community will take shape at a resort town just a short drive from Manila.
11. Canada. Cabot Links in Nova Scotia has unofficially selected the designers for its second course.

3. Cameroon. A 18-hole course will be the featured attraction of an off-shore banking haven in Limbe that its proponents say will “fundamentally alter the way the rest of the world looks at Africa.”
14. Canada. Ian Andrew has been hired to reinvent a 1950s-era golf course in suburban Toronto.

7. India. A report on why a community called Smile City has an Indian home builder laughing all the way to the bank.
10. Philippines. Golfplan is designing a golf course in Bataan that will “set the standards for green golf courses” and have the potential to be ranked alongside “the best golf courses in the world.”

2. Mexico. A Spanish developer with “an obsession” plans to build the world's first golf course co-designed by Greg Norman and Lorena Ochoa.
15. Canada. Gary Player's first golf course in the Great White North could open this year.

If you'd like a copy of this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.