Short Notice, july 27, 2012

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about last month’s official opening of Cabot Links in Inverness, Nova Scotia, and you may have even heard Mike Keiser promise that a second course will be built if course number one is a hit. Well, Keiser must like what he sees in the early bookings, because Forbes reports that the Coore & Crenshaw-designed second course has a name (Cabot Cliffs) and a scheduled opening date (2015). What’s more, ground work is already said to be under way.

The members of Ashlar Golf Club, a fixture in suburban Sydney, Australia since the late 1940s, are expected to move into their new home next month. The new digs will feature a Greg Norman-designed layout -- his first in the Sydney area -- that winds through Stonecutters Ridge, a planned community northwest of the city. The course, according to promotional materials, “has been designed to be ranked in Australia’s Top 100 Courses.” If you’re wondering, Stonecutters Ridge is being developed by Medallist, a joint venture between Norman’s Great White Shark Enterprises and Macquarie Group, Ltd.

Some information in this post originally appeared in the October 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

In recent weeks I’ve asked why the Powers That Be in our industry don’t enlist Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake,

Emily Blunt, or Adam Levine to star in television commercials that might inspire young people to take up golf. This week I happily add another name to the list: Kristen Stewart. The Twilight starlet was recently seen teeing off in Malibu, California with her father. She certainly didn’t dress up for the occasion (check out her FiveFingers shoes), but I’m sure her fans didn’t notice.

Attention, Donald Trump: Rain Bird is about to start selling wind turbines, and it plans to concentrate its initial sales efforts on golf properties in the United Kingdom. “Our turbine perfectly tailors the need of European member golf clubs and their electrical consumption,” says one of the company’s business development managers. Rain Bird, which made its reputation with irrigation systems, hasn’t said whether its salespeople will try to shoot the breeze with Trump, but he’ll no doubt be a hard sell. He believes a proposed off-shore wind farm that can be seen from his new golf course in Aberdeenshire will destroy Scottish tourism.