The state of Tamil Nadu aims to attract Japanese manufacturers with made-to-order industrial enclaves outfitted with golf courses.
One of these enclaves, to be known as Omega, is expected to take shape on 1,450 acres in Mahabalipuram, a town roughly 40 miles south of Chennai. The developers, a group led by Singapore-based Ascendas Group, believe that 60 percent of Omega’s factory space will be leased or purchased by Japanese companies, including auto and auto component manufacturers.
In addition to an industrial zone, Omega will consist of houses, office space, a school, a hospital, and an 18-hole golf course. The developers say that Omega’s 400-acre first phase could be completed in five years or less, the entire project in about 10 years.
Ascendas, one of Asia’s premier commercial developers, operates in more than 30 cities in 10 countries. It’s probably best-known for developing business and industrial parks in Singapore (Singapore Science Park), India (International Tech Park in Bangalore), China (Dalian Ascendas IT Park in Dalian), and the Philippines (Carmelray Industrial Park II in Laguna).
The company is developing Omega with Mizuho Bank and JGC Corporation, a publicly traded engineering services company based in Yokohama, Japan.
Tamil Nadu has become a go-to destination for Japanese companies looking to set up shop in India. Since 2006, the number of Japanese companies operating in the state has grown from 65 to 245, and the number is expected to crack 300 by the end of 2011. Roughly 30 percent of the Japanese firms currently operating in India are located in the port city of Chennai, which they view as a gateway to markets in Europe and Africa, not to mention others in Asia.
Some of the information in this post originally appeared in the September 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Week That Was, november 27, 2011
china Illegal Activities Continue
Moratoriums be damned: The first of four planned 18-hole golf courses at a big resort community in Yunnan Province is scheduled to open in early 2012.
That's the word from Troon Golf, which has been tapped to manage the 7,000-yard, Joe Obringer-designed track at Gaoligong Golf Club. Hengyi Group, the club’s developer, has promised that it’ll be “one of China’s finest golf courses.”
To be sure, the track won’t be a pushover. A press release issued earlier this year says it’s been “designed for strategic and creative shot-making, with forced carries and small target areas.”
The club will be part of Gaoligong International Tourist City, which is taking shape in Tengchong, a mountain town 250 miles west of Kunming. The city will eventually consist of “an ecological residential area,” a hotel, an equestrian center, a theme park, and three more 18-hole golf courses.
Obringer, the principal of Atlanta, Georgia-based JFO Design, has has designed more than a half-dozen courses in China. He's been working in the People's Republic for decades -– he served as one of Nicklaus Design’s field architects for nearly 15 years –- and he made news in late 2009, when he agreed to co-design the Mickelson “signature” course that will be part of the massive World community in Tianjin.
In a recent press release, Ryan Walls of Troon Golf characterized golf in China as a “growing game” but noted that development activity “has slowed over the last few months,” probably as a result of that aggravating moratorium on golf construction.
That being said, Walls believes that some “specific parts of Asia” -- Vietnam and Malaysia in particular -- continue to offer “significant development opportunity.”
“A lot of governments are seeing the value in tourism locations like Vietnam and Malaysia,” he said. “That will continue to grow.”
Walls also believes that “there’s a tremendous amount of demand for golf in Korea,” although a recent story in the Korea Times suggests otherwise. The Times reports that economic hard times are putting a financial squeeze on the nation's golf business and that “a slew of bankruptcies among the courses are imminent.”
Some information in this post originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
united states Will Trump Have a Boston Tee Party?
Donald Trump has kicked the tires on Boston Golf Club and “remains interested in the financially troubled property,” according to an online report.
The reality-TV star and erstwhile presidential candidate already owns posh golf properties in metropolitan New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, so the club in Hingham, Massachusetts, with its well-regarded Gil Hanse-designed golf course, could be the missing piece in an evolving Northeastern puzzle. The parties reportedly exchanged pleasantries earlier this year, but Trump concluded that the asking price ($9 million, it's said) far exceeded his estimate of the property's true value ($5.5 million).
The club's members have already passed on the $9 million price, most likely because of their familiarity with the pinch of the club's annual losses -- between $1.3 million and $2.5 million annually.
Of course, it's possible that Trump believes he can get a price that suits him by simply waiting, as the price of golf properties in New England is expected to continue to fall. “Over the next several years,” a golf consultant tells WaggleRoom.com, “we’ll see several courses not able to survive. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the reality of the economy today.”
Then again, the club's owner, John DeMatteo, isn't putting all his eggs in Trump's basket. According to the Hingham Journal, DeMatteo has agreed agreed to sell the club to another group, with the transaction expected to close sometime this winter.
And in Other News . . .
. . . united kingdom Speaking of imminent bankruptcies, roughly 100 golf properties are up for sale today in the United Kingdom -- a huge number, considering that the region typically sells 30 courses a year. “In the U.K. and other parts of Europe, such as Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, there are too many courses for too few golfers,” a golf course salesman tells the Wall Street Journal. The result: Prices are falling, and it doesn't appear that we'll hit the bottom of the market anytime soon. Says the executive director of the U.K. Golf Course Owners Association: “It's perfectly possible to lose money at every price point in the market.”
. . . isle of man The uncertainty has ended for Castletown Golf Club: The club, which has been in business since 1892 (originally with an Old Tom Morris-designed course), has found an owner who promises to move its 18-hole layout up the ranks of the United Kingdom's top 100. The new owner is Philip Vermeulen, a South African investor who's said to own a home on the island and, now, one of its most famous golf courses. The track, one of nine courses on the island, was redesigned in the late 1920s by Philip Mackenzie Ross, a Scottish architect who's probably best known for creating the Ailsa Course at the Turnberry resort in Ayr, Scotland. What Vermeulen didn't buy (at least not yet) is what a local newspaper calls “the dilapidated and long-closed” hotel that complements the club. But it's hard to imagine him operating Castletown as a stand-alone entity.
. . . canada ClubLink's Florida offensive continues: The Canadian golf operator has purchased yet another golf property, Palm-Aire Country Club in Pompano Beach, reportedly $7.2 million. ClubLink's 44 golf properties, the vast majority of them in the Great White North, are said to have more than 20,000 members, many of whom long to bask in the Sunshine State's warmth while their friends and neighbors hunker down for the winter. To satisfy their golf fix, Palm-Aire offers a trio of 18-hole courses, one designed by William F. Mitchell and two co-designed by George and Tom Fazio. ClubLink's holdings in Florida, all of which have been acquired over the past year or so, includes Woodlands Country Club in Tamarac, Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs, and seven courses in Sun City Center.
wild card click It's like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
Moratoriums be damned: The first of four planned 18-hole golf courses at a big resort community in Yunnan Province is scheduled to open in early 2012.
That's the word from Troon Golf, which has been tapped to manage the 7,000-yard, Joe Obringer-designed track at Gaoligong Golf Club. Hengyi Group, the club’s developer, has promised that it’ll be “one of China’s finest golf courses.”
To be sure, the track won’t be a pushover. A press release issued earlier this year says it’s been “designed for strategic and creative shot-making, with forced carries and small target areas.”
The club will be part of Gaoligong International Tourist City, which is taking shape in Tengchong, a mountain town 250 miles west of Kunming. The city will eventually consist of “an ecological residential area,” a hotel, an equestrian center, a theme park, and three more 18-hole golf courses.
Obringer, the principal of Atlanta, Georgia-based JFO Design, has has designed more than a half-dozen courses in China. He's been working in the People's Republic for decades -– he served as one of Nicklaus Design’s field architects for nearly 15 years –- and he made news in late 2009, when he agreed to co-design the Mickelson “signature” course that will be part of the massive World community in Tianjin.
In a recent press release, Ryan Walls of Troon Golf characterized golf in China as a “growing game” but noted that development activity “has slowed over the last few months,” probably as a result of that aggravating moratorium on golf construction.
That being said, Walls believes that some “specific parts of Asia” -- Vietnam and Malaysia in particular -- continue to offer “significant development opportunity.”
“A lot of governments are seeing the value in tourism locations like Vietnam and Malaysia,” he said. “That will continue to grow.”
Walls also believes that “there’s a tremendous amount of demand for golf in Korea,” although a recent story in the Korea Times suggests otherwise. The Times reports that economic hard times are putting a financial squeeze on the nation's golf business and that “a slew of bankruptcies among the courses are imminent.”
Some information in this post originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
united states Will Trump Have a Boston Tee Party?
Donald Trump has kicked the tires on Boston Golf Club and “remains interested in the financially troubled property,” according to an online report.
The reality-TV star and erstwhile presidential candidate already owns posh golf properties in metropolitan New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, so the club in Hingham, Massachusetts, with its well-regarded Gil Hanse-designed golf course, could be the missing piece in an evolving Northeastern puzzle. The parties reportedly exchanged pleasantries earlier this year, but Trump concluded that the asking price ($9 million, it's said) far exceeded his estimate of the property's true value ($5.5 million).
The club's members have already passed on the $9 million price, most likely because of their familiarity with the pinch of the club's annual losses -- between $1.3 million and $2.5 million annually.
Of course, it's possible that Trump believes he can get a price that suits him by simply waiting, as the price of golf properties in New England is expected to continue to fall. “Over the next several years,” a golf consultant tells WaggleRoom.com, “we’ll see several courses not able to survive. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the reality of the economy today.”
Then again, the club's owner, John DeMatteo, isn't putting all his eggs in Trump's basket. According to the Hingham Journal, DeMatteo has agreed agreed to sell the club to another group, with the transaction expected to close sometime this winter.
And in Other News . . .
. . . united kingdom Speaking of imminent bankruptcies, roughly 100 golf properties are up for sale today in the United Kingdom -- a huge number, considering that the region typically sells 30 courses a year. “In the U.K. and other parts of Europe, such as Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, there are too many courses for too few golfers,” a golf course salesman tells the Wall Street Journal. The result: Prices are falling, and it doesn't appear that we'll hit the bottom of the market anytime soon. Says the executive director of the U.K. Golf Course Owners Association: “It's perfectly possible to lose money at every price point in the market.”
. . . isle of man The uncertainty has ended for Castletown Golf Club: The club, which has been in business since 1892 (originally with an Old Tom Morris-designed course), has found an owner who promises to move its 18-hole layout up the ranks of the United Kingdom's top 100. The new owner is Philip Vermeulen, a South African investor who's said to own a home on the island and, now, one of its most famous golf courses. The track, one of nine courses on the island, was redesigned in the late 1920s by Philip Mackenzie Ross, a Scottish architect who's probably best known for creating the Ailsa Course at the Turnberry resort in Ayr, Scotland. What Vermeulen didn't buy (at least not yet) is what a local newspaper calls “the dilapidated and long-closed” hotel that complements the club. But it's hard to imagine him operating Castletown as a stand-alone entity.
. . . canada ClubLink's Florida offensive continues: The Canadian golf operator has purchased yet another golf property, Palm-Aire Country Club in Pompano Beach, reportedly $7.2 million. ClubLink's 44 golf properties, the vast majority of them in the Great White North, are said to have more than 20,000 members, many of whom long to bask in the Sunshine State's warmth while their friends and neighbors hunker down for the winter. To satisfy their golf fix, Palm-Aire offers a trio of 18-hole courses, one designed by William F. Mitchell and two co-designed by George and Tom Fazio. ClubLink's holdings in Florida, all of which have been acquired over the past year or so, includes Woodlands Country Club in Tamarac, Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs, and seven courses in Sun City Center.
wild card click It's like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
Friday, November 25, 2011
worth reading California Dreaming
I don't have to tell anyone who's landed on this blog that the golf business in the United States is in a world of hurt these days.
The reason, in large part, is that golf communities -- the main driver of golf development in recent decades -- have become an endangered species. When houses can't sell at even depressed prices, the nation's home builders can't afford to build and maintain multimillion-dollar golf courses.
Can U.S. golf construction thrive without a flourishing housing industry? And do home builders still need big-ticket amenities like golf courses to attract buyers?
Those were among the questions floated by home builders and golf consultants at a recent symposium outside Palm Springs, one of the most desirable areas of Southern California. Here's how one of the area's newspapers, the Desert Sun, covered the event:
The future of the Coachella Valley's golf course communities and private clubs is about as certain as a duffer's tee shot. . . .
The economic slump and painfully slow recovery and other factors have sapped club memberships, trimmed golfer rounds, and dramatically knocked down home prices across the valley and nationwide, said Rick Coyne, CEO of Club Mark Corp., which counsels private clubs nationwide from offices in Palm Desert and Dallas.
Somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 golf club memberships are available valley-wide, which if sold would provide valuable revenue to maintain some 120 desert golf courses and clubs. . . .
The financial slide for many golf communities and clubs is part of a nationwide trend, Coyne said, as 620 golf courses have closed down in the past five years. New course openings have dropped 63 percent.
Among reasons are an aging population and a general “cultural shift,” as members of Generation X think differently from their parents.
“The cracks in the foundation -- they haven't happened overnight,” Coyne said. “We need to look at things differently.” . . .
V. R. “Pete” Halter, chairman of The Halter Companies, which advises clients on strategic planning for home developments, said part of the problem for golf communities and clubs is the loss of the “wealth effect” that is both psychological and very real.
Many second-home buyers who had discretionary or real wealth have lost 30-35 percent of that wealth in stocks or the value of their homes and businesses in recent years, Halter said.
At the same time, home defaults have forced some golf communities to raise maintenance fees even as many homeowners have less ability to pay them.
The changing industry dynamics have forced more developers to rethink whether golf courses are a must for their master-planned communities amid changing buyer demographics. . . .
Speakers said prospective members often walk away from aging clubs that have a feel of the 1960s.
Halter said one of the valley's challenges will be competing with newer resorts and courses and keeping down the “post-purchase shock,” or costs such as club dues, HOA, and maintenance fees.
“How do you reinvent what Palm Springs is in the minds of the consumer?” Halter asked.
The reason, in large part, is that golf communities -- the main driver of golf development in recent decades -- have become an endangered species. When houses can't sell at even depressed prices, the nation's home builders can't afford to build and maintain multimillion-dollar golf courses.
Can U.S. golf construction thrive without a flourishing housing industry? And do home builders still need big-ticket amenities like golf courses to attract buyers?
Those were among the questions floated by home builders and golf consultants at a recent symposium outside Palm Springs, one of the most desirable areas of Southern California. Here's how one of the area's newspapers, the Desert Sun, covered the event:
The future of the Coachella Valley's golf course communities and private clubs is about as certain as a duffer's tee shot. . . .
The economic slump and painfully slow recovery and other factors have sapped club memberships, trimmed golfer rounds, and dramatically knocked down home prices across the valley and nationwide, said Rick Coyne, CEO of Club Mark Corp., which counsels private clubs nationwide from offices in Palm Desert and Dallas.
Somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 golf club memberships are available valley-wide, which if sold would provide valuable revenue to maintain some 120 desert golf courses and clubs. . . .
The financial slide for many golf communities and clubs is part of a nationwide trend, Coyne said, as 620 golf courses have closed down in the past five years. New course openings have dropped 63 percent.
Among reasons are an aging population and a general “cultural shift,” as members of Generation X think differently from their parents.
“The cracks in the foundation -- they haven't happened overnight,” Coyne said. “We need to look at things differently.” . . .
V. R. “Pete” Halter, chairman of The Halter Companies, which advises clients on strategic planning for home developments, said part of the problem for golf communities and clubs is the loss of the “wealth effect” that is both psychological and very real.
Many second-home buyers who had discretionary or real wealth have lost 30-35 percent of that wealth in stocks or the value of their homes and businesses in recent years, Halter said.
At the same time, home defaults have forced some golf communities to raise maintenance fees even as many homeowners have less ability to pay them.
The changing industry dynamics have forced more developers to rethink whether golf courses are a must for their master-planned communities amid changing buyer demographics. . . .
Speakers said prospective members often walk away from aging clubs that have a feel of the 1960s.
Halter said one of the valley's challenges will be competing with newer resorts and courses and keeping down the “post-purchase shock,” or costs such as club dues, HOA, and maintenance fees.
“How do you reinvent what Palm Springs is in the minds of the consumer?” Halter asked.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
scotland If You Build It . . .
Several months ago, a historic track once described as “the remotest of the remote links courses” found new owners who intend to make it the centerpiece of “one of Scotland’s premier golf destinations.”
I’m talking about Machrie Golf Links, an 18-hole, 6,254-yard course that was designed by Willie Campbell and opened in 1891. The course -– it’s located on the Isle of Islay, west of the Scottish mainland –- is often rated among the nation’s top venues and has long been a bucket-list destination for golfers who seek to play unique, rugged links in out-of-the-way places.
In July, Machrie was purchased by a British power couple, Gavyn Davies and Sue Nye, reportedly for $2.14 million. The price includes an accompanying 16-room hotel and 15 stand-alone cabins.
Davies and Nye have announced that they aim to invest “several million pounds” into the waterfront property. They’ll spiff up the hotel and the cabins and add a spa, and it’s believed that they’ll eventually build a second 18-hole golf course. They haven’t made any statements about the existing course, but, as best I can determine, it was last overhauled by Donald Steel in the late 1970s.
The new owners have more than enough money to revitalize Machrie, which has struggled financially for years and was taken over by its lenders in late 2010. Davies, a former chairman of the BBC and a former managing director of Goldman Sachs, now runs a hedge fund that’s made him one of the U.K.’s richest people. His wife, a baroness, once served as a top aide to Gordon Brown, who succeeded Tony Blair as the U.K.’s prime minister. The couple has coveted Machrie for years. They reportedly tried to buy it the last time it came on the market, in the early 2000s.
To be sure, Davies and Nye need to market Machrie imaginatively if they expect to put it in the black. Islay, the southernmost island in the Inner Hebrides, is too hard to reach for casual vacationers, and its only attractions besides the golf course are its eight distilleries, which are said to produce fine single-malt whiskies. On top of that, according to Top100GolfCourses.com, the island’s weather “can be horrible.”
Nonetheless, Davies and Nye believe a more upscale Machrie can lure golfers from North America, Scandinavia, and northern Europe, especially if it has two golf courses.
I’m talking about Machrie Golf Links, an 18-hole, 6,254-yard course that was designed by Willie Campbell and opened in 1891. The course -– it’s located on the Isle of Islay, west of the Scottish mainland –- is often rated among the nation’s top venues and has long been a bucket-list destination for golfers who seek to play unique, rugged links in out-of-the-way places.
In July, Machrie was purchased by a British power couple, Gavyn Davies and Sue Nye, reportedly for $2.14 million. The price includes an accompanying 16-room hotel and 15 stand-alone cabins.
Davies and Nye have announced that they aim to invest “several million pounds” into the waterfront property. They’ll spiff up the hotel and the cabins and add a spa, and it’s believed that they’ll eventually build a second 18-hole golf course. They haven’t made any statements about the existing course, but, as best I can determine, it was last overhauled by Donald Steel in the late 1970s.
The new owners have more than enough money to revitalize Machrie, which has struggled financially for years and was taken over by its lenders in late 2010. Davies, a former chairman of the BBC and a former managing director of Goldman Sachs, now runs a hedge fund that’s made him one of the U.K.’s richest people. His wife, a baroness, once served as a top aide to Gordon Brown, who succeeded Tony Blair as the U.K.’s prime minister. The couple has coveted Machrie for years. They reportedly tried to buy it the last time it came on the market, in the early 2000s.
To be sure, Davies and Nye need to market Machrie imaginatively if they expect to put it in the black. Islay, the southernmost island in the Inner Hebrides, is too hard to reach for casual vacationers, and its only attractions besides the golf course are its eight distilleries, which are said to produce fine single-malt whiskies. On top of that, according to Top100GolfCourses.com, the island’s weather “can be horrible.”
Nonetheless, Davies and Nye believe a more upscale Machrie can lure golfers from North America, Scandinavia, and northern Europe, especially if it has two golf courses.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Week That Was, november 20, 2011
bhutan Adding to the Happiness Quotient
The people of Bhutan have been given the right happiness -- it's decreed in the national constitution -- but exactly how happy can they be without access to single 18-hole golf course?
The situation could soon be rectified by an unnamed Bhutanese industrialist, working with unnamed foreign investors, who aims to build an 18-hole track in the town of Ura, in the central part of the nation. If it's built, it'll be Bhutan's second golf course.
The area's residents are reportedly divided over the industrialist's proposal, as are government officials. Bhutan's agriculture minister has turned his thumbs down on the idea of turning 165 acres of farmland into a golf course, but the nation's tourism ministers appear to support it. Before they commit, however, the tourism officials want to see the results of a “technical study” that's being conducted by the department of forests and parks.
Bhutan's lone golf course is a nine-hole track at Royal Thimphu Golf Club in Thimphu, its capital city. (Useless factoid: Thimphu, which is located at 7,380 feet above sea level, is the only capital city in the world without stoplights.) In 2003, Golf Digest called the track “perhaps the most remote golf course in the world, tucked away in a gentle fold of the Himalayas.”
If you're wondering, Ura is roughly 80 miles east of Thimphu, within a short drive of eight national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. If I told you that the town was 25 miles east of Trongsa, would it make a difference?
scotland It's All Over but the Shouting
The day of reckoning creeps ever closer: Donald Trump has wrapped up construction on his much-discussed golf course on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The world now breathlessly awaits the course's debut, set for July 2012.
As most everyone knows, Trump has promised that the Martin Hawtree-designed track -- a “world leading architect,” in the opinion of Trump's marketers -- will be the world's greatest golf course. The jury is still out on that vow, but these days Trump still has reason to keep his head in the clouds: A recent head count has determined that more than 1,000 people have signed up to play the course when it opens.
What's more, opinion-makers continue to say nice things about the layout. Richie Ramsay, a local golfer who won the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2006, believes the track will soon host a high-profile professional event. He told a Scottish reporter, “The course the Scottish Open will go to in the future is the new Trump course, as it's just unbelievable.”
australia Are Travel Plans in Order?
If the television coverage of the Presidents Cup has whet your appetite to play the Alister MacKenzie-designed course at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, you may soon have your chance.
In an attempt to cash in on the buzz generated by the Presidents Cup, Royal Melbourne and four other prominent Australian golf properties -- all of them with top-100 venues -- have teamed up to promote Australia as a hot-spot for world-class golf tourism.
The members of what's being called the Great Golf Courses of Australia are spread all over the national map and are already on many golfers' bucket lists. The group consists of Barnbougle Dunes and Barnbougle Lost Farm in Tasmania, Kingston Heath Golf Club in Victoria, New South Wales Golf Course in New South Wales, and Royal Adelaide Golf Club in South Australia.
The alliance's spokesperson is Liz Sattler, who owns the courses in Tasmania. Her goal, she said in a press release, is to “establish Australia as one of the world's truly great golfing destinations.”
The venture is supported by Tourism Australia, the PGA of Australia, and the various state tourism offices. Everyone involved believes other well-regarded courses Down Under will eventually join the alliance.
While we're on the subject of Royal Melbourne, I should note that the club has hired Tom Doak to serve as its design consultant. No renovation plans have yet been announced, but the Traverse City, Michigan-based designer has said that Royal Melbourne's 36-hole complex is “feeling pressure from technology.”
Doak, who wrote the book on MacKenzie (I mean that literally. It's called The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie), has said that the club’s West course “might be the place which has influenced my own design style the most.”
One other thing: Before Doak became Royal Melbourne's design consultant, the position was held by Martin Hawtree.
And one final thing: Can anyone explain to me why the term Presidents Cup doesn't have an apostrophe in it, either before or after the s?
Some information in this post originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
And in Other News . . .
. . . south korea Troon Golf has been tapped to operate a soon-to-open golf complex on Daebu Island in suburban Seoul, South Korea. The 27-hole facility, at Island Country Club, has been designed by David Dale of Santa Rosa, California-based GolfPlan. Troon says that Dale's courses, which are scheduled to open in the spring of 2012, “will provide an unforgettable golf experience” and eventually rank among the nation's of “must-see” and “must-play” courses. The 18-hole course will be reserved for the club's members, but the nine-hole track will be open to the public. For those of you who aren't intimately familiar with South Korean geography, Daebu Island is roughly 40 miles southwest of downtown Seoul.
. . . vietnam Vietnam's tourism ministers and government officials are on track to have nearly 120 golf courses by 2020, it's not just me who believes that's way too many. When Thanh Nien News asked the vice chairman of the Vietnam Construction Federation for his opinion of the national golf goal, Pham Sy Liem replied, “Obviously, it is too high. There isn’t much demand for golf courses among the Vietnamese population. Few of us can afford to pay green fees. We permitted the construction of these golf courses to attract foreign investors, who frequently play golf in their home countries. The golf courses are built mainly to serve them.”
wild card click Go ahead, take a chance. What have you got to lose?
The people of Bhutan have been given the right happiness -- it's decreed in the national constitution -- but exactly how happy can they be without access to single 18-hole golf course?
The situation could soon be rectified by an unnamed Bhutanese industrialist, working with unnamed foreign investors, who aims to build an 18-hole track in the town of Ura, in the central part of the nation. If it's built, it'll be Bhutan's second golf course.
The area's residents are reportedly divided over the industrialist's proposal, as are government officials. Bhutan's agriculture minister has turned his thumbs down on the idea of turning 165 acres of farmland into a golf course, but the nation's tourism ministers appear to support it. Before they commit, however, the tourism officials want to see the results of a “technical study” that's being conducted by the department of forests and parks.
Bhutan's lone golf course is a nine-hole track at Royal Thimphu Golf Club in Thimphu, its capital city. (Useless factoid: Thimphu, which is located at 7,380 feet above sea level, is the only capital city in the world without stoplights.) In 2003, Golf Digest called the track “perhaps the most remote golf course in the world, tucked away in a gentle fold of the Himalayas.”
If you're wondering, Ura is roughly 80 miles east of Thimphu, within a short drive of eight national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. If I told you that the town was 25 miles east of Trongsa, would it make a difference?
scotland It's All Over but the Shouting
The day of reckoning creeps ever closer: Donald Trump has wrapped up construction on his much-discussed golf course on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The world now breathlessly awaits the course's debut, set for July 2012.
As most everyone knows, Trump has promised that the Martin Hawtree-designed track -- a “world leading architect,” in the opinion of Trump's marketers -- will be the world's greatest golf course. The jury is still out on that vow, but these days Trump still has reason to keep his head in the clouds: A recent head count has determined that more than 1,000 people have signed up to play the course when it opens.
What's more, opinion-makers continue to say nice things about the layout. Richie Ramsay, a local golfer who won the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2006, believes the track will soon host a high-profile professional event. He told a Scottish reporter, “The course the Scottish Open will go to in the future is the new Trump course, as it's just unbelievable.”
australia Are Travel Plans in Order?
If the television coverage of the Presidents Cup has whet your appetite to play the Alister MacKenzie-designed course at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, you may soon have your chance.
In an attempt to cash in on the buzz generated by the Presidents Cup, Royal Melbourne and four other prominent Australian golf properties -- all of them with top-100 venues -- have teamed up to promote Australia as a hot-spot for world-class golf tourism.
The members of what's being called the Great Golf Courses of Australia are spread all over the national map and are already on many golfers' bucket lists. The group consists of Barnbougle Dunes and Barnbougle Lost Farm in Tasmania, Kingston Heath Golf Club in Victoria, New South Wales Golf Course in New South Wales, and Royal Adelaide Golf Club in South Australia.
The alliance's spokesperson is Liz Sattler, who owns the courses in Tasmania. Her goal, she said in a press release, is to “establish Australia as one of the world's truly great golfing destinations.”
The venture is supported by Tourism Australia, the PGA of Australia, and the various state tourism offices. Everyone involved believes other well-regarded courses Down Under will eventually join the alliance.
While we're on the subject of Royal Melbourne, I should note that the club has hired Tom Doak to serve as its design consultant. No renovation plans have yet been announced, but the Traverse City, Michigan-based designer has said that Royal Melbourne's 36-hole complex is “feeling pressure from technology.”
Doak, who wrote the book on MacKenzie (I mean that literally. It's called The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie), has said that the club’s West course “might be the place which has influenced my own design style the most.”
One other thing: Before Doak became Royal Melbourne's design consultant, the position was held by Martin Hawtree.
And one final thing: Can anyone explain to me why the term Presidents Cup doesn't have an apostrophe in it, either before or after the s?
Some information in this post originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
And in Other News . . .
. . . south korea Troon Golf has been tapped to operate a soon-to-open golf complex on Daebu Island in suburban Seoul, South Korea. The 27-hole facility, at Island Country Club, has been designed by David Dale of Santa Rosa, California-based GolfPlan. Troon says that Dale's courses, which are scheduled to open in the spring of 2012, “will provide an unforgettable golf experience” and eventually rank among the nation's of “must-see” and “must-play” courses. The 18-hole course will be reserved for the club's members, but the nine-hole track will be open to the public. For those of you who aren't intimately familiar with South Korean geography, Daebu Island is roughly 40 miles southwest of downtown Seoul.
. . . vietnam Vietnam's tourism ministers and government officials are on track to have nearly 120 golf courses by 2020, it's not just me who believes that's way too many. When Thanh Nien News asked the vice chairman of the Vietnam Construction Federation for his opinion of the national golf goal, Pham Sy Liem replied, “Obviously, it is too high. There isn’t much demand for golf courses among the Vietnamese population. Few of us can afford to pay green fees. We permitted the construction of these golf courses to attract foreign investors, who frequently play golf in their home countries. The golf courses are built mainly to serve them.”
wild card click Go ahead, take a chance. What have you got to lose?
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Shameless Self-Promotion, november 2011
What makes the world go round?
Mind you, I'm not wondering about gravitational forces in the cosmos. I'm focused on things that are happening right here on earth, particularly the many pursuits that motivate a man to get up every morning, pour himself a cup of strong coffee, and steel himself to challenge the world.
The November issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report is brimming with tales of such pursuits.
We've got developers desperately searching for property that may never be found: I'm looking for the Sand Hills of Nebraska in Ireland.
We've got project managers praying for the phone to ring: I wait every day for someone to call me and tell me to get down there.
We've got designers feeling energized and inspired: This site is a great canvas to create a course that has the potential to rival, if not better, the finest inland courses in Scotland.
We've got government officials seeking to energize and inspire: The Italian golf industry must move faster, build more courses.
And we've got, as we always do, landowners making promises: A two-decade investment could easily see a 559 percent return on the capital that is invested today.
What else? Well, November's World Edition also provides answers to the following questions:
What do Jack Nicklaus and Brad Pitt have in common?
What country has more golf courses, Lithuania or Kazakhstan?
What U.S. golf architect is lucky enough to be designing a course in China on “non-arable, water-scarce land with limited natural resources”?
Speaking of architects, we've also got one who believes that golf should “not be difficult for the sake of being difficult,” another who brags about his ability “to transform less-than-ideal sites into exceptional golf courses,” and a third whose ideal golf course is “created by God, polished by man.”
Still need more?
There's a report on Mike Keiser's recent whereabouts, a preview of the next remote island about to produce a world-class golf course, our speculation about the U.S. casino king who wants to build a “mini Las Vegas Strip” in Spain, and some notes on the national lottery that aims to build a golf course in “the Weeping Prairie.”
To get a copy of November's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.
Mind you, I'm not wondering about gravitational forces in the cosmos. I'm focused on things that are happening right here on earth, particularly the many pursuits that motivate a man to get up every morning, pour himself a cup of strong coffee, and steel himself to challenge the world.
The November issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report is brimming with tales of such pursuits.
We've got developers desperately searching for property that may never be found: I'm looking for the Sand Hills of Nebraska in Ireland.
We've got project managers praying for the phone to ring: I wait every day for someone to call me and tell me to get down there.
We've got designers feeling energized and inspired: This site is a great canvas to create a course that has the potential to rival, if not better, the finest inland courses in Scotland.
We've got government officials seeking to energize and inspire: The Italian golf industry must move faster, build more courses.
And we've got, as we always do, landowners making promises: A two-decade investment could easily see a 559 percent return on the capital that is invested today.
What else? Well, November's World Edition also provides answers to the following questions:
What do Jack Nicklaus and Brad Pitt have in common?
What country has more golf courses, Lithuania or Kazakhstan?
What U.S. golf architect is lucky enough to be designing a course in China on “non-arable, water-scarce land with limited natural resources”?
Speaking of architects, we've also got one who believes that golf should “not be difficult for the sake of being difficult,” another who brags about his ability “to transform less-than-ideal sites into exceptional golf courses,” and a third whose ideal golf course is “created by God, polished by man.”
Still need more?
There's a report on Mike Keiser's recent whereabouts, a preview of the next remote island about to produce a world-class golf course, our speculation about the U.S. casino king who wants to build a “mini Las Vegas Strip” in Spain, and some notes on the national lottery that aims to build a golf course in “the Weeping Prairie.”
To get a copy of November's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
worth reading The One-Stoplight Metropolis
Is India really the next big thing in golf development, as growing numbers of commentators believe, or is it just another flash in the pan?
Heck, I don't know. I'm not in the prediction business. But before you put all your design, development, or construction eggs in India's basket, take a minute to digest another view of India, courtesy of Tom Friedman of the New York Times:
Driving to the covered bazaar in the exotic western Indian town of Jodhpur last week, our Indian guide stopped to point out a modern landmark.
“Do you see that stoplight?” he asked, pointing to a standard green-yellow-red stoplight in the busy intersection. “It’s the only stoplight in Jodhpur. There are 1.2 million people living here.”
The more you travel around India, the more you notice just how lightly the hand of government rests on this country. Somehow, it all sort of works. The traffic does move, but, for the first time in all my years visiting India, I’ve started to wonder whether India’s “good enough” approach to government will really be good enough much longer. Huge corruption scandals have stripped the government of billions of dollars of needed resources, and, as much as I’m impressed by the innovative prowess of India’s young technologists, without a government to enable them with the roads, ports, bandwidth, electricity, airports, and smart regulations they need to thrive, they will never realize their full potential.
This isn’t just a theoretical matter. The air in India’s biggest cities is unhealthy. You rarely see a body of water here -- a river, lake, or pond -- that is not polluted. The sheer crush of people -- India will soon have more than China -- on an unprotected environment really seems to be taking its toll. Without better governance, how will India avoid becoming an ecological disaster area in 10 years?
Eventually the law of large numbers -- 1.2 billion people -- just starts to devour every minimalist step forward that India makes. India doesn’t need to become China, and isn’t going to. But it still needs to prove that its democracy can make and implement big decisions with the same focus, authority and stick-to-it-iveness as China’s autocracy. . . .
Heck, I don't know. I'm not in the prediction business. But before you put all your design, development, or construction eggs in India's basket, take a minute to digest another view of India, courtesy of Tom Friedman of the New York Times:
Driving to the covered bazaar in the exotic western Indian town of Jodhpur last week, our Indian guide stopped to point out a modern landmark.
“Do you see that stoplight?” he asked, pointing to a standard green-yellow-red stoplight in the busy intersection. “It’s the only stoplight in Jodhpur. There are 1.2 million people living here.”
The more you travel around India, the more you notice just how lightly the hand of government rests on this country. Somehow, it all sort of works. The traffic does move, but, for the first time in all my years visiting India, I’ve started to wonder whether India’s “good enough” approach to government will really be good enough much longer. Huge corruption scandals have stripped the government of billions of dollars of needed resources, and, as much as I’m impressed by the innovative prowess of India’s young technologists, without a government to enable them with the roads, ports, bandwidth, electricity, airports, and smart regulations they need to thrive, they will never realize their full potential.
This isn’t just a theoretical matter. The air in India’s biggest cities is unhealthy. You rarely see a body of water here -- a river, lake, or pond -- that is not polluted. The sheer crush of people -- India will soon have more than China -- on an unprotected environment really seems to be taking its toll. Without better governance, how will India avoid becoming an ecological disaster area in 10 years?
Eventually the law of large numbers -- 1.2 billion people -- just starts to devour every minimalist step forward that India makes. India doesn’t need to become China, and isn’t going to. But it still needs to prove that its democracy can make and implement big decisions with the same focus, authority and stick-to-it-iveness as China’s autocracy. . . .
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
nicaragua The Countdown of Montecristo Beach
Mike Young reports that construction has finally begun on his 18-hole track at the Montecristo Beach resort community in Nicaragua.
The Athens, Georgia-based architect has designed a 7,060-yard “core” track for Montecristo Beach, which is taking shape on more than 1,000 acres along the nation’s Pacific coast, the Costa Azul, about 40 miles west of Managua. The community’s developers, Lori and Jorge Estrada, plan to fill out their property with houses, a beach club, an equestrian center, a spa, and other attractions.
Young has designed two well-regarded courses in Costa Rica, but the course at Montecristo Beach is his first in Nicaragua. He once called the site “one of the best I've ever had to work with” and promised that it would “set a pretty high standard for future golf development in the country.”
Of course, Young made those comments years ago, when he got the design commission. The course was originally supposed to open in 2008.
The Athens, Georgia-based architect has designed a 7,060-yard “core” track for Montecristo Beach, which is taking shape on more than 1,000 acres along the nation’s Pacific coast, the Costa Azul, about 40 miles west of Managua. The community’s developers, Lori and Jorge Estrada, plan to fill out their property with houses, a beach club, an equestrian center, a spa, and other attractions.
Young has designed two well-regarded courses in Costa Rica, but the course at Montecristo Beach is his first in Nicaragua. He once called the site “one of the best I've ever had to work with” and promised that it would “set a pretty high standard for future golf development in the country.”
Of course, Young made those comments years ago, when he got the design commission. The course was originally supposed to open in 2008.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Week That Was, november 13, 2011
thailand When the Rain Comes
Thailand isn't going to attract many vacationing golfers for a while.
Historic flooding has put at least 20 courses in metropolitan Bangkok out of commission, according to the Bangkok Post, and the deluge is expected to reach other courses soon. The Post's story mentioned only two tracks that have been affected: Royal Gems Golf & Sports Club and Royal Gems Golf City.
The president of the Thai Golf Course Association told the paper that he doesn't know when the courses will begin to rebuild or how long it would take them to reopen. He did, however, offer an estimate of the damage: $1 million or more per course.
More than five feet of rain has fallen on Bangkok since March.
And in Other News . . .
. . . brazil What's funnier, the Republican Party's search for a presidential candidate, or the 2016 Olympics' search for a golf course designer? The latest from Rio: Not even one of the design bids that have been submitted so far includes proper legal and financial documentation. As a result, it's unlikely that the winner of the design competition will be announced on December 23, as originally planned. . . . [read more]
. . . switzerland I don't know what makes Samih Sawiris run, but he's doing it at a brisk pace in the Swiss Alps. Thanks to Sawiris, a big-thinking developer, the BBC can now describe the formerly sleepy village of Andermatt as “a forest of cranes” with streets that are “filled with the noise of cement mixers and diggers.” In addition, Golf Course Architecture reports that the village's Kurt Rossknecht-designed golf course is largely finished. Still to come are a six-hole practice course, a soon-to-open hotel, a combination clubhouse/ski center (construction begins next year), and scads of villas and apartments. Some villagers believe that Andermatt is getting worse instead of better, but Sawiris just keeps on running. “From every project I do,” he says, “I make sure that everyone around it is a winner.” . . . [read more] and [more]
. . . canada Now that Winnipeg has reclaimed its lost hockey team, it appears to be eager to get out of the golf business. The Pride of Manitoba has solicited bids from private groups interested in building houses and shopping centers on seven of the city's 13 golf properties. The reason: The city's courses lose $1 million a year, money that could be spent elsewhere. “[It] doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to accept every idea that comes our way,” said a city official. The city's residents will have their say when the proposals are made public -- and when they go to the polls. . . . [read more]
. . . cyprus Cyprus may be laying plans to build more golf courses, but will anyone buy the houses that are supposed to accompany them? “If there was a prize for the worst overseas property market in Europe,” a real estate analyst recently concluded, “Cyprus would be the hands-down winner.” As if comments like that don't pour enough cold water on the island republic's crumbling real estate business, a Scottish official says, “I think people should steer clear of the place.” The government's response? It's encouraging the construction of yacht-related residential projects in Limassol, Lanarca, Paphos, and Ayia Napa. . . . [read more]
Thailand isn't going to attract many vacationing golfers for a while.
Historic flooding has put at least 20 courses in metropolitan Bangkok out of commission, according to the Bangkok Post, and the deluge is expected to reach other courses soon. The Post's story mentioned only two tracks that have been affected: Royal Gems Golf & Sports Club and Royal Gems Golf City.
The president of the Thai Golf Course Association told the paper that he doesn't know when the courses will begin to rebuild or how long it would take them to reopen. He did, however, offer an estimate of the damage: $1 million or more per course.
More than five feet of rain has fallen on Bangkok since March.
And in Other News . . .
. . . brazil What's funnier, the Republican Party's search for a presidential candidate, or the 2016 Olympics' search for a golf course designer? The latest from Rio: Not even one of the design bids that have been submitted so far includes proper legal and financial documentation. As a result, it's unlikely that the winner of the design competition will be announced on December 23, as originally planned. . . . [read more]
. . . switzerland I don't know what makes Samih Sawiris run, but he's doing it at a brisk pace in the Swiss Alps. Thanks to Sawiris, a big-thinking developer, the BBC can now describe the formerly sleepy village of Andermatt as “a forest of cranes” with streets that are “filled with the noise of cement mixers and diggers.” In addition, Golf Course Architecture reports that the village's Kurt Rossknecht-designed golf course is largely finished. Still to come are a six-hole practice course, a soon-to-open hotel, a combination clubhouse/ski center (construction begins next year), and scads of villas and apartments. Some villagers believe that Andermatt is getting worse instead of better, but Sawiris just keeps on running. “From every project I do,” he says, “I make sure that everyone around it is a winner.” . . . [read more] and [more]
. . . canada Now that Winnipeg has reclaimed its lost hockey team, it appears to be eager to get out of the golf business. The Pride of Manitoba has solicited bids from private groups interested in building houses and shopping centers on seven of the city's 13 golf properties. The reason: The city's courses lose $1 million a year, money that could be spent elsewhere. “[It] doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to accept every idea that comes our way,” said a city official. The city's residents will have their say when the proposals are made public -- and when they go to the polls. . . . [read more]
. . . cyprus Cyprus may be laying plans to build more golf courses, but will anyone buy the houses that are supposed to accompany them? “If there was a prize for the worst overseas property market in Europe,” a real estate analyst recently concluded, “Cyprus would be the hands-down winner.” As if comments like that don't pour enough cold water on the island republic's crumbling real estate business, a Scottish official says, “I think people should steer clear of the place.” The government's response? It's encouraging the construction of yacht-related residential projects in Limassol, Lanarca, Paphos, and Ayia Napa. . . . [read more]
Friday, November 11, 2011
talking points The Dead Zone
No question, the Great Recession has brought tremendous suffering to everyone in the U.S. golf industry. And its effects won't be short-lived. Hard times are changing the industry fundamentally, from the ground up.
Lorne Rubenstein of the Toronto Globe & Mail recently asked two long-time golf writers -- Ron Whitten of Golf Digest and Brad Klein of Golfweek to comment on the current state of golf design. What they said won't bring any cheer to architects who haven't already established a foothold in the business.
Like most everyone else, both writers believe that golf construction's high times are gone forever. Klein paints an especially dark picture of the future.
Some people see the current industry-wide malaise in course development as the down cycle of a standard “A-B” economic cycle, Klein told Rubenstein. Others, including myself, see it as a part of a long-term decline that has to do with far-reaching changes in outdoor recreation, land use, lifestyles, and the culture of golf today.
He continued:
I am convinced that what we are seeing is a part of a significant reformulation in how people play and indulge in sports. Smart owners and operators will respond by adapting fundamentally rather than just waiting out the return of some abstract “prosperity.”
If Klein is right, the handwriting is on the wall for golf course architects. An industry that doesn't build very many golf courses doesn't need very many designers.
I think we’ll get back to 30 firms or so, Whitten told Rubenstein. There never was a place for so many firms. People forget that [Donald] Ross never gave up his day job, that [Alister] Mackenzie died broke, and that [A. W.] Tillinghast had to write [to earn a living].
In other words, golf design in the future will be a nice way to moonlight, not a career move.
Lorne Rubenstein of the Toronto Globe & Mail recently asked two long-time golf writers -- Ron Whitten of Golf Digest and Brad Klein of Golfweek to comment on the current state of golf design. What they said won't bring any cheer to architects who haven't already established a foothold in the business.
Like most everyone else, both writers believe that golf construction's high times are gone forever. Klein paints an especially dark picture of the future.
Some people see the current industry-wide malaise in course development as the down cycle of a standard “A-B” economic cycle, Klein told Rubenstein. Others, including myself, see it as a part of a long-term decline that has to do with far-reaching changes in outdoor recreation, land use, lifestyles, and the culture of golf today.
He continued:
I am convinced that what we are seeing is a part of a significant reformulation in how people play and indulge in sports. Smart owners and operators will respond by adapting fundamentally rather than just waiting out the return of some abstract “prosperity.”
If Klein is right, the handwriting is on the wall for golf course architects. An industry that doesn't build very many golf courses doesn't need very many designers.
I think we’ll get back to 30 firms or so, Whitten told Rubenstein. There never was a place for so many firms. People forget that [Donald] Ross never gave up his day job, that [Alister] Mackenzie died broke, and that [A. W.] Tillinghast had to write [to earn a living].
In other words, golf design in the future will be a nice way to moonlight, not a career move.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
ukraine Taking the Fifth
All the Russian money flowing into Ukraine is about to spark the development of the nation’s fifth golf course.
The nine-hole, regulation-length track is being designed by Peter Harradine, a third-generation architect, and it’ll be the centerpiece of a mid-scale golf community in Stugna, a suburb of Kiev. Harradine, an ardent promoter of “affordable” courses that can be enjoyed by average golfers, has described the layout as “a new and unpretentious type of course” that will be “sustainable” and serve as “a welcome contrast to the usual monster 18-hole ‘championship’ courses that have already ruined the game in most emerging golfing markets.”
Stugna Golf Club will be part of a community that’s been designed by a Swiss firm, IN-VI. The community’s unidentified developers also plan to build houses, a hotel, a small shopping area, and an international school.
Ukraine’s golf portfolio currently consists of nine-hole courses in Kharkov, Lugansk, and Makarovsky and a 36-hole facility in Kiev, all of which have opened in this century. One of the nine-hole courses, Superior Golf Club in Kharkov, is expected to soon grow into an 18-hole, championship-length track.
Harradine’s 18-hole course at Pravets Golf & Spa Resort in Pravets, Bulgaria officially opened in May. These days the Erlen, Switzerland-based architect has at least a half-dozen projects on the table, including a redesign of Nad al-Sheba Golf Course in Dubai. The course, which will eventually grow to 18 holes, is part of the new Meydan horse-racing facility.
Some information in this post originally appeared in the March 2011 and July 2011 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
The nine-hole, regulation-length track is being designed by Peter Harradine, a third-generation architect, and it’ll be the centerpiece of a mid-scale golf community in Stugna, a suburb of Kiev. Harradine, an ardent promoter of “affordable” courses that can be enjoyed by average golfers, has described the layout as “a new and unpretentious type of course” that will be “sustainable” and serve as “a welcome contrast to the usual monster 18-hole ‘championship’ courses that have already ruined the game in most emerging golfing markets.”
Stugna Golf Club will be part of a community that’s been designed by a Swiss firm, IN-VI. The community’s unidentified developers also plan to build houses, a hotel, a small shopping area, and an international school.
Ukraine’s golf portfolio currently consists of nine-hole courses in Kharkov, Lugansk, and Makarovsky and a 36-hole facility in Kiev, all of which have opened in this century. One of the nine-hole courses, Superior Golf Club in Kharkov, is expected to soon grow into an 18-hole, championship-length track.
Harradine’s 18-hole course at Pravets Golf & Spa Resort in Pravets, Bulgaria officially opened in May. These days the Erlen, Switzerland-based architect has at least a half-dozen projects on the table, including a redesign of Nad al-Sheba Golf Course in Dubai. The course, which will eventually grow to 18 holes, is part of the new Meydan horse-racing facility.
Some information in this post originally appeared in the March 2011 and July 2011 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The Week That Was, november 6, 2011
sri lanka A Future Golf Destination?
With its golf-themed resort in Thailand already well-established and a new one under construction in Vietnam, Banyan Tree Holdings is now scouting for sites in Sri Lanka.
The Singapore-based hotelier wants to build “an integrated resort with several hotels, golf course, residential developments, and retail and spa centers,” according to a press statement.
The company’s interest is an expression of faith in the island’s economic future, now that two decades’ worth of civil strife has ended.
“We were about to open a beach resort near Colombo [on the southwestern coast] when it was destroyed by the Asian tsunami,” Ho Kwon Ping, the executive chairman of the Singapore-based hotelier, said after an expedition to the island earlier this year. “We are happy to be back and are optimistic about the prospects for this beautiful and now peaceful country.”
And Banyan Tree isn't alone in its appreciation for Sri Lanka as a potential golf destination.
Last month, the governor of the Southern Province said that a golf course is to be built in Galle, the province's capital.
In addition, Alpha & Omega Developers (Pvt.) Ltd. wants to build a golf resort in Beragala, a small town southwest of Badulla, in the southern part of the island. Beragala Eco-Friendly Golf Resort will spread over 628 acres and include houses and a hotel.
Alpha & Omega (some publications spell its name as Alfa & Omega) hasn't yet produced an environmental impact report for the project, however, and it's said to be fending off complaints from both government officials and citizens' groups.
Tourism in Sri Lanka has been booming since mid 2009, according to a report in the Daily News. Tourism officials say that 381,538 vacationers came to Sri Lanka during the first six months of 2011, still a measly number but an increase of nearly 37 percent from the same period in 2010.
What's more, the nation's tourism ministers believe there's a lot more where that came from. By 2016, they believe, the nation will attract 2.5 million tourists annually.
Banyan Tree says the model for its planned resort will be Laguna Phuket, an exceedingly popular coastal vacation spot in Thailand with six hotels and an 18-hole golf course. Laguna Phuket also served as the model for Banyan Tree's Laguna Lang Co, a waterfront resort in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam that will feature an 18-hole golf course that’s been designed by Nick Faldo.
Some information in this post originally appeared in the August 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
iraq Tigris Woods?
Would you be surprised if I told you that a planned golf community in Iraq is, as the National puts it, “still in limbo, with no indication when work will begin”?
The community is to be developed by an Abu Dhabi-based group, Al Maabar, on 3,000 acres within a bomb blast of Baghdad. It's been planned to include houses, a hotel, museums, a technology center, and other attractions.
Some heavy hitters with golf experience -- Aldar Properties and Reem Investments among them -- are part of Al Maabar's investment group. The group is also fixing to develop a high-density, mixed-use project (no golf) outside Tripoli, in Libya, but it's also become a victim of political uncertainty.
scotland Meteor's Showering
Meteor Asset Management's revitalization of Taymouth Castle continues, with the property's modernized golf course scheduled to reopen next summer.
The renovation is being overseen by Bruce Weller, a British architect who's getting design assistance from Stephen Gallacher, a little-known Scottish pro. When the upgraded course makes its debut, it'll have two entirely new holes and nine new greens, and it'll be longer (7,000 yards) than it was in 1923, when its first 12 holes (designed by James Braid) originally opened. (The remaining holes were added in the 1940s.)
The formerly mothballed Taymouth Castle, which dates from the 1550s, has two claims to fame: First, Queen Victoria visited it in 1842. Second, one of its previous owners (the Seventh Earl of Breadalbane, if you must know) lost it while gambling in Monte Carlo in the 1920s.
china The Chus Go Clubbing
David and Ken Chu, dubbed by Forbes as the "first family of the fairways" in China, will team up with Hong Kong's 24-hour party people to build a shopping and entertainment complex on Hainan Island.
The complex will include stores, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, and a man-made lake. The Chus and their partner, Allan Zeman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, plan to break ground on it next year.
The Chus, as you know, developed the massive Mission Hills golf resorts, the first in Shenzhen, the second on Hainan Island. They haven't yet said anything about the island being over-saturated with golf courses, but they obviously believe that vacationers cannot live on golf alone.
Zeman believes that China “is going through a massive change into a consumer economy, and there’s opportunity for us.”
Speaking of vacationers, 14.4 million of them visited Hainan Island in the first six months of this year -- a 12 percent increase over the number posted during the first six months of 2010.
With its golf-themed resort in Thailand already well-established and a new one under construction in Vietnam, Banyan Tree Holdings is now scouting for sites in Sri Lanka.
The Singapore-based hotelier wants to build “an integrated resort with several hotels, golf course, residential developments, and retail and spa centers,” according to a press statement.
The company’s interest is an expression of faith in the island’s economic future, now that two decades’ worth of civil strife has ended.
“We were about to open a beach resort near Colombo [on the southwestern coast] when it was destroyed by the Asian tsunami,” Ho Kwon Ping, the executive chairman of the Singapore-based hotelier, said after an expedition to the island earlier this year. “We are happy to be back and are optimistic about the prospects for this beautiful and now peaceful country.”
And Banyan Tree isn't alone in its appreciation for Sri Lanka as a potential golf destination.
Last month, the governor of the Southern Province said that a golf course is to be built in Galle, the province's capital.
In addition, Alpha & Omega Developers (Pvt.) Ltd. wants to build a golf resort in Beragala, a small town southwest of Badulla, in the southern part of the island. Beragala Eco-Friendly Golf Resort will spread over 628 acres and include houses and a hotel.
Alpha & Omega (some publications spell its name as Alfa & Omega) hasn't yet produced an environmental impact report for the project, however, and it's said to be fending off complaints from both government officials and citizens' groups.
Tourism in Sri Lanka has been booming since mid 2009, according to a report in the Daily News. Tourism officials say that 381,538 vacationers came to Sri Lanka during the first six months of 2011, still a measly number but an increase of nearly 37 percent from the same period in 2010.
What's more, the nation's tourism ministers believe there's a lot more where that came from. By 2016, they believe, the nation will attract 2.5 million tourists annually.
Banyan Tree says the model for its planned resort will be Laguna Phuket, an exceedingly popular coastal vacation spot in Thailand with six hotels and an 18-hole golf course. Laguna Phuket also served as the model for Banyan Tree's Laguna Lang Co, a waterfront resort in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam that will feature an 18-hole golf course that’s been designed by Nick Faldo.
Some information in this post originally appeared in the August 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
iraq Tigris Woods?
Would you be surprised if I told you that a planned golf community in Iraq is, as the National puts it, “still in limbo, with no indication when work will begin”?
The community is to be developed by an Abu Dhabi-based group, Al Maabar, on 3,000 acres within a bomb blast of Baghdad. It's been planned to include houses, a hotel, museums, a technology center, and other attractions.
Some heavy hitters with golf experience -- Aldar Properties and Reem Investments among them -- are part of Al Maabar's investment group. The group is also fixing to develop a high-density, mixed-use project (no golf) outside Tripoli, in Libya, but it's also become a victim of political uncertainty.
scotland Meteor's Showering
Meteor Asset Management's revitalization of Taymouth Castle continues, with the property's modernized golf course scheduled to reopen next summer.
The renovation is being overseen by Bruce Weller, a British architect who's getting design assistance from Stephen Gallacher, a little-known Scottish pro. When the upgraded course makes its debut, it'll have two entirely new holes and nine new greens, and it'll be longer (7,000 yards) than it was in 1923, when its first 12 holes (designed by James Braid) originally opened. (The remaining holes were added in the 1940s.)
The formerly mothballed Taymouth Castle, which dates from the 1550s, has two claims to fame: First, Queen Victoria visited it in 1842. Second, one of its previous owners (the Seventh Earl of Breadalbane, if you must know) lost it while gambling in Monte Carlo in the 1920s.
china The Chus Go Clubbing
David and Ken Chu, dubbed by Forbes as the "first family of the fairways" in China, will team up with Hong Kong's 24-hour party people to build a shopping and entertainment complex on Hainan Island.
The complex will include stores, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, and a man-made lake. The Chus and their partner, Allan Zeman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, plan to break ground on it next year.
The Chus, as you know, developed the massive Mission Hills golf resorts, the first in Shenzhen, the second on Hainan Island. They haven't yet said anything about the island being over-saturated with golf courses, but they obviously believe that vacationers cannot live on golf alone.
Zeman believes that China “is going through a massive change into a consumer economy, and there’s opportunity for us.”
Speaking of vacationers, 14.4 million of them visited Hainan Island in the first six months of this year -- a 12 percent increase over the number posted during the first six months of 2010.
Friday, November 4, 2011
talking points Geoff Ogilvy Talks Design
Most touring professionals players who dive into architecture aren't much respected by the cognoscenti in design circles. Typically, they're viewed as carpetbaggers who'd rather cash in on the value of their fame than design a quality course.
Not so with Geoff Ogilvy. The former U.S. Open champion is widely considered to be among the most thoughtful, most dedicated pros in the architecture business. These days he co-designs with a fellow Australian, Michael Clayton, the architect who collaborated with Tom Doak to produce the much-praised first course at Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania. Ogilvy and Clayton are often characterized as “minimalists,” but don't hold that against them.
Ogilvy recently talked about course design with Jay Flemma. Here's a little of what he had to say.
On the influence of television on golf design
TV can be the enemy. Overproduction and over-commenting can be misleading. Look at St. Andrews, for example. It looks strange on TV. It looks kind of funny.
[Royal] St. George's is another where, at least on TV, you don't see the undulations. And also, the brown fairways look motley. But it's the best grass to play on. Grass is naturally supposed to have every shade between green and brown. All perfectly green grass is unnatural.
Additionally, great architecture is about what's on the ground, and you lose that feel on TV. So people gravitate to courses that show well on TV, like Augusta, so everyone wants to emulate it. . . .
On the state of contemporary golf architecture
It's amazing to see some of the best golf courses in the world being built right now. The last 15 to 20 years or so, we've had Coore & Crenshaw, Tom Doak, and Gil Hanse building some golf courses that feel and look like they were built in the Golden Age, rugged and with less earth-moving -- places like Sand Hills and Barnbougle Dunes and Old Sandwich and Boston Golf Club. They're not being built to be difficult or to attract pro tournaments. They're just concentrating on designing great golf courses.
Bandon Dunes is three hours from civilization, and you can't get a tee time. Yet, back when [Mike Keiser] told people he was going to build out there, people laughed at him and said it was crazy. Now there's four courses.
This new crop of designers is building modern courses that look like they were built in the 1930s. . . . They play strategically. . . .
On what makes a strategic golf hole
Few of the best holes in the world are really, really hard, where everyone grinds to make par. Neither are they the really easy ones.
The best example is #13 at Augusta. An 18-handicap golfer can bump it up the fairway, bump it up further to get into position around the corner, get to a place to pitch on, and try to get up and down and have a putt for par every time. If you do that, you can almost never make worse than six.
But the best golfer in the world will make eagle three or double-bogey seven. The more risk you take off the tee, the easier the hole becomes. The more aggressive you are [at] getting around the corner, the easier it is to lay up -- or you can even go for the green. The safer you play, the tougher the second and third shot.
It's thousands of shades of gray. The braver you are, the more talented you are, directly results in your second and third shots [being] easier. The less brave you are, the tougher your approach and layup will be.
But then, even a terrible golfer who gets in trouble out of position can still recover and find a way to save a par. Yet pros will struggle to make birdie. Those are the architectural principles that stand up. . . .
That's where some people get architecture wrong. It's one thing to be hard, but hard doesn't mean good.
Not so with Geoff Ogilvy. The former U.S. Open champion is widely considered to be among the most thoughtful, most dedicated pros in the architecture business. These days he co-designs with a fellow Australian, Michael Clayton, the architect who collaborated with Tom Doak to produce the much-praised first course at Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania. Ogilvy and Clayton are often characterized as “minimalists,” but don't hold that against them.
Ogilvy recently talked about course design with Jay Flemma. Here's a little of what he had to say.
On the influence of television on golf design
TV can be the enemy. Overproduction and over-commenting can be misleading. Look at St. Andrews, for example. It looks strange on TV. It looks kind of funny.
[Royal] St. George's is another where, at least on TV, you don't see the undulations. And also, the brown fairways look motley. But it's the best grass to play on. Grass is naturally supposed to have every shade between green and brown. All perfectly green grass is unnatural.
Additionally, great architecture is about what's on the ground, and you lose that feel on TV. So people gravitate to courses that show well on TV, like Augusta, so everyone wants to emulate it. . . .
On the state of contemporary golf architecture
It's amazing to see some of the best golf courses in the world being built right now. The last 15 to 20 years or so, we've had Coore & Crenshaw, Tom Doak, and Gil Hanse building some golf courses that feel and look like they were built in the Golden Age, rugged and with less earth-moving -- places like Sand Hills and Barnbougle Dunes and Old Sandwich and Boston Golf Club. They're not being built to be difficult or to attract pro tournaments. They're just concentrating on designing great golf courses.
Bandon Dunes is three hours from civilization, and you can't get a tee time. Yet, back when [Mike Keiser] told people he was going to build out there, people laughed at him and said it was crazy. Now there's four courses.
This new crop of designers is building modern courses that look like they were built in the 1930s. . . . They play strategically. . . .
On what makes a strategic golf hole
Few of the best holes in the world are really, really hard, where everyone grinds to make par. Neither are they the really easy ones.
The best example is #13 at Augusta. An 18-handicap golfer can bump it up the fairway, bump it up further to get into position around the corner, get to a place to pitch on, and try to get up and down and have a putt for par every time. If you do that, you can almost never make worse than six.
But the best golfer in the world will make eagle three or double-bogey seven. The more risk you take off the tee, the easier the hole becomes. The more aggressive you are [at] getting around the corner, the easier it is to lay up -- or you can even go for the green. The safer you play, the tougher the second and third shot.
It's thousands of shades of gray. The braver you are, the more talented you are, directly results in your second and third shots [being] easier. The less brave you are, the tougher your approach and layup will be.
But then, even a terrible golfer who gets in trouble out of position can still recover and find a way to save a par. Yet pros will struggle to make birdie. Those are the architectural principles that stand up. . . .
That's where some people get architecture wrong. It's one thing to be hard, but hard doesn't mean good.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
china Kruse Control
Two graduates from the Greg Norman School of Golf Architecture, eager to market their services in Asia, have picked up their first commission.
Bob Harrison and Harley Kruse have been selected to design an 18-hole course for Fanjing Mountain, a to-be-built community in Tongren City, China. The community takes its name from an 8,400-foot peak that once served as a sacred place for Buddhists but is now mostly a vacation spot.
The partners, who created Harrison & Kruse Golf Design late last year, each served as the lead architects in Norman’s now-closed design office in Australia. Darius Oliver of Planet Golf has praised their work, contending that they offer “the experience and skills of Norman's former design team without the excessive signature design fee.”
The duo won the bid in China from an unnamed development group earlier this year, in a competition against at least three U.S. architects. For now, Kruse won’t provide any details about the project because, he wrote in an e-mail, “the client is going through sensitive planning process.”
The government's crackdown on golf construction isn't helping, either.
On a related issue, Kruse is clearly under-whelmed by China’s current golf offerings. “I think there is a growing awareness,” he said in a recent interview with Planet Golf, “that of the courses developed during the past 20 years, only a handful were truly world class. I am now hearing a few Chinese golf industry people say that if we are to create better golfers in China, we need better courses.”
Tongren City is in Guizhou Province, roughly 200 miles southeast of Chongqing.
Bob Harrison and Harley Kruse have been selected to design an 18-hole course for Fanjing Mountain, a to-be-built community in Tongren City, China. The community takes its name from an 8,400-foot peak that once served as a sacred place for Buddhists but is now mostly a vacation spot.
The partners, who created Harrison & Kruse Golf Design late last year, each served as the lead architects in Norman’s now-closed design office in Australia. Darius Oliver of Planet Golf has praised their work, contending that they offer “the experience and skills of Norman's former design team without the excessive signature design fee.”
The duo won the bid in China from an unnamed development group earlier this year, in a competition against at least three U.S. architects. For now, Kruse won’t provide any details about the project because, he wrote in an e-mail, “the client is going through sensitive planning process.”
The government's crackdown on golf construction isn't helping, either.
On a related issue, Kruse is clearly under-whelmed by China’s current golf offerings. “I think there is a growing awareness,” he said in a recent interview with Planet Golf, “that of the courses developed during the past 20 years, only a handful were truly world class. I am now hearing a few Chinese golf industry people say that if we are to create better golfers in China, we need better courses.”
Tongren City is in Guizhou Province, roughly 200 miles southeast of Chongqing.