This summer, the “Open Doctor” is tending to a patient in the People’s Republic.
Rees Jones, who made a name for himself by preparing worthy venues for world-class tournaments, is overseeing a renovation of Daxing Capital Golf Club in suburban Beijing. The club’s 7,372-yard layout was designed by Tom Pearson, one of Jack Nicklaus’ former associates, and opened in 2000. Jones appears to have prescribed major surgery, as the track is being rerouted and redesigned. It’ll be hospitalized until the summer of 2013.
“We have a reputation for redesigning courses for tournament
play,” says Greg Muirhead, one of Jones’ associates, “and that may be part of the club’s future.”
Daxing Capital is owned by an affiliate of CITIC Group Holdings, one of the early adopters of golf in China. The company -- the acronym stands for China International Trust & Investment Corporation -- currently owns a handful of golf properties, including two in Guangdong Province, Shantou Golf Club in Shantou and Chang Ping Golf Club in Dongguan.
CITIC’s former chairman, Wang Jun, made a fortune as an arms dealer, diversified into banking and international finance, and became one of China’s most politically well-connected businessmen. Today he’s the vice chairman of the China Golf Association.
While the work at Daxing Capital proceeds, Jones is patiently waiting to open his first new course in China, at Yunling Golf & Spa Resort outside Kunming, in Yunnan Province. The 7,400-yard track will be the centerpiece of a private community with single-family houses and villas, a boutique hotel, a spa, and a retail/commercial area.
The construction at Yunling wrapped up months ago, but Muirhead reports that the course may not open for a year or more. He wasn’t particularly forthcoming about the reason for the delay, but I suspect that it has something to do with the moratorium on golf construction in the People’s Republic.
Muirhead is also mum about his boss’ next Chinese project, another a new course. He wouldn’t even tell me what province it’s in.
“I can’t talk about it,” he says. “It’s at a sensitive stage for the landowner.”
It’s not the first time a door has been closed in my face. But never before has it been done in the name of doctor-patient privilege.
Some information in this post originally appeared in the April 2009 and October 2011 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
spain EuroVegas Feels a Chill
A brutally hot summer is upon us, and Sheldon Adelson is going to make Spain sweat.
Adelson said earlier this year that his Las Vegas Sands Corporation would settle on a site for its massive EuroVegas mega-casino sometime in April or May. But now the company says a decision won’t be made until September, and it’s even suggesting that financing issues may derail the venture forever.
“If the world gets worse in the next six or seven months,” the president of Las Vegas Sands said in comments published by Agence France Presse, “then of course we would not be able to do the project.”
City officials in Madrid and Barcelona, the cities at the top of Adelson’s wish list, are salivating for the jobs EuroVegas would bring. Las Vegas Sands has promised to put up to 250,000 people on various payrolls, a number that’s like manna from heaven in a nation whose unemployment rate has nearly reached 25 percent.
Assuming it’s built, EuroVegas would consist of four casino complexes featuring a dozen hotels (36,000 total rooms), nine entertainment venues, a parade of restaurants and eateries, and three golf courses.
When EuroVegas was originally proposed, some critics said it was too good to be true. As it turns out, they may have been right.
worth reading The Next Big Thing?
These days most everyone in our business views China, India, and South America as golf development’s promised lands. But is Africa also potentially a land of opportunity?
I’ve been arguing for years that Africa offers possibilities galore to groups that can see beyond the headline-news version what’s happening in the world’s second-largest continent. South Africa has long been a popular golf destination, but several other nations -- Kenya and Nigeria in particular -- have emerging middle classes with money to spend on all kinds of leisure pursuits, not to mention houses overlooking golf courses.
“Africa is becoming more democratic, more technocratic, and more market-friendly,” Nicholas Kristof writes in a recent column for the New York Times. “Yet Americans are largely oblivious to the idea of Africa as a success story.”
Kristof believes Africa is already “an economic dynamo.” Here’s a little more from his column:
Is it time to prepare for the African tiger economy? Six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies between 2001 and 2010 were in Africa, according to the Economist. The International Monetary Fund says that between 2011 and 2015, African countries will account for seven of the top 10 spots.
Africa isn’t just a place for safaris or humanitarian aid. It’s also a place to make money. Global companies are expanding in Africa; vast deposits of oil, gas, and minerals are being discovered; and Goldman Sachs recently issued a report, “Africa’s Turn,” comparing business opportunities in Africa with those in China in the early 1990s.
No, Kristof doesn’t mention golf even once. But in order to cash in on an opportunity, you sometimes have to read between the lines.
united arab emirates Cracking 50,000
For the first time in history, the golf clubs in the United Arab Emirates have recorded more than 50,000 rounds in a single month.
Arabian Business, citing data provided by BDO Chartered Accountants & Advisors, reports that in March 2012 the UAE’s clubs rung up 54,365 rounds. What’s notable about this achievement is that only 14 percent of the rounds were played by overseas visitors. The vast majority of them were played either by club members (44 percent) and local golfers (42 percent).
The newspaper doesn’t specify the number of clubs whose rounds were counted. However, it notes that the largest number, more than 3,300, were played on the Karl Litten-designed Majlis track at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, one of Golf World’s top 100 layouts in 2010 and 2011.
wild card click Care to guess who celebrated his 72nd birthday yesterday?
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