You probably already know that Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan despot famously described by Ronald Reagan as the “mad dog of the Middle East,” is fond of bunkers. He routinely builds them under the foundations of his many villas and houses. He does it as a precautionary measure, in case he needs to hunker down for a while during, say, a civil war or national calamity.
You may not know that Gaddafi also wants to build some bunkers, along with an entire 18-hole golf course, on the Costa del Sol. The course would be the centerpiece of a huge resort community that includes more than 1,900 houses, some hotels, meeting and convention space, restaurants, and only he knows what else.
Of course, nobody is going to be playing Gaddafi's golf course anytime soon. Spain has put his development dreams on ice, as part of the world-wide economic sanctions that have been imposed against his corrupt, evil regime.
Libya's oil reserves have made Gaddafi an extremely wealthy man. Besides the riches he's socked away in his own country, his Libyan Investment Authority reportedly has stakes in well-known companies all over the planet -- among them Fiat, the Italian auto manufacturer; Juventus, the Italian soccer team; and Pearson PLC, the company that publishes London's Financial Times.
The authority obviously also has some interest in high-profile real estate, like the 15,000 acres -- roughly 25 square miles -- Gaddafi controls in and around Benahavis, a mountain village in Malaga Province. Various sources say that Brother Leader has owned the property, roughly 10 miles west of Marbella, for 20 years. He reportedly last visited it in late 2007, mere months before the world's economy melted down and the golf business went belly up.
So, like so many other would-be developers, Gaddafi has a golf project on indefinite hold. Of course, it's possible that Spain is actually doing him a favor by putting his project in the deep freeze. Benahavis already has nine golf courses, says Wikipedia, with six more are in planning.
brazil Jack Nicklaus, Dealmaker
A couple of months ago, while doing some research on a golf course that Jack Nicklaus is designing in the Caribbean, I was told that his “signature” layouts still fetch about $2 million apiece, depending on the amount of face time that's required of him.
To be honest, I was surprised to hear it. Given the squeeze that's been put on golf development of late, I thought for sure that a Nicklaus course could be bought at a discount.
As it turns out, I was right. Yes, Nicklaus still charges a veritable king's ransom to put his name on a golf course. But it's become clear that he's also willing to cut a deal, as long as a prospective client offers either a legacy commission or a willingness to buy in bulk.
This week, we learned that Nicklaus normally charges $2.5 million to design a “signature” course. The price was posted by Jim Smith, Nicklaus' lobbyist in Florida.
That's right, I said lobbyist. When a fellow wants to pull some strings in government, he hires a lobbyist. We have a long and sordid history of it here in Washington. And Nicklaus didn't just pick a nobody out of a hat. He went to work with a fellow described by a Florida-based newspaper as “a former attorney general and secretary of state,” which is a measure of bona-fide quality in the lobbying business.
Nicklaus had good reason to seek professional help. This week, it was revealed that he hopes to design golf courses in five of Florida's state parks. Smith is apparently the guy who persuaded a pair of Republican state legislators to propose bills that would have required Florida's division of recreation and parks to build what's been named the Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail.
In the nation's capital, we call such legislation a boondoggle. But I'm sure the politicians in Florida, not to mention the lobbyists, aren't nearly so crass.
Here's the bad news: The trail had a public life of about a week. Newspaper columnists and environmentalists tore the idea to shreds, and even some people in the golf industry had trouble with it. A spokesperson for Arnold Palmer's design company advised the state to explore “alternative options” instead of “using our state parks for 'new' golf course development.”
The legislation has officially died.
But here's the good news: Nicklaus didn't plan to charge $2.5 million for each of the five courses. In fact, he offered the state of Florida a pretty sweet deal. According to his lobbyist, he'd design the first course for free, and he'd do the rest of them for $625,000 each.
In other words, Nicklaus was willing to deliver five “signature” courses for the price of one.
Get 'em while they're hot, folks!
The five-for-one discount wasn't the only can't-beat-our-prices deal that Nicklaus said he'd swing last week. During an interview with NBC, Nicklaus suggested that he and Annika Sorenstam are willing to take on the world's most coveted design project -- the golf course for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil -- at no charge.
“We're not interested in remuneration or anything else,” Nicklaus said.
Talk about a price being right! The notion was so unexpected, so out of the blue, that Geoff Shackelford asked Nicklaus Design for a clarification.
“Neither of them is seeking compensation,” came the reply.
So what happens next? Well, the team of Greg Norman and Lorena Ochoa will have to match Nicklaus' no-fee fee, as will the team of Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and Mario Gonzalez. Then, one by one, the individual applicants -- Palmer, Nick Faldo, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros -- will fall into line.
They'll take the high road, of course, even though it's no longer paved in gold. They'll say they're giving up the money for the good of the game. And, in the interest of full disclosure, they'll admit that they can afford to work for nothing. After all, they're among the richest people in our business.
You've got to hand it to Nicklaus, though. This week, he leveled the playing field. Too bad it's now at ground zero.
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