As you know, I’ve been working with some of the 22 old and older courses scattered through the Assam tea plantations in North East India. A few of these courses are well over 100 years old. They reflect their British colonial origins. Their clubhouses are simple, and their budgets are sparse. The staffers earn just a few dollars a day.
Our goal is to recondition some of the better courses, including Jorhat Gymkhana Club, the second course built in India (in 1876). We would also refurbish colonial raj-era cottages and executive villas to serve as accommodations, recreating the feeling of bygone days.
Of course, our main goal is to help create new sources of employment for the rapidly expanding numbers of youth across Assam. There’s a population of around 30 million in Assam, many of them young and uneducated.
My several visits and studies are basically pro bono efforts to do something meaningful.
The state has experienced social problems. On one visit, my wife and I had a police escort in a Jeep ahead of us as we traveled. An armed guard sat in the back seat of our minivan. At one course, armed escorts walked with me as I toured the layout.
The past few months have been brutal in Assam. The massive Brahmaputra River flooded, displacing tens of thousands of villagers. An elephant reserve was also inundated, driving the elephants into villages on higher ground.
Discord has also increased, as mostly Hindu native tribals fight against the incursion of Muslim Bangladeshi who are trying to take living space and land from the indigenous locals. Bangladesh, which borders Assam, has more than 160 million mostly destitute residents. To them, Assam looks like paradise.
People have been pushed to violence by religious conflict, resistance to selling or giving up family land, and serious over-crowding. In a recent battle, more than 80 people were killed. Several hundred thousand locals have fled to what they hope are safer locations. Houses have been torched, lives disrupted.
Assamese working elsewhere in India have been threatened by local Muslim agitators in retaliation for the Muslim deaths in Assam. Ten thousand or more Assamese have left their jobs and returned to their home towns, seeking shelter.
The state and national governments are almost helpless to stop to the violence. Assam, a remote state, is the largest tea producer in the world but offers scant else. For that reason and others, it’s always been underserved by the central government.
Creating employment opportunities must be the priority of the governments in India and Bangladesh. In both countries, youth education is clearly not universal, and poverty will always be the result.
Best wishes!
Ron Fream
Ron Fream, the golf course architect who founded GolfPlan, is now mostly retired and living in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. His previous letters to the World Golf Report appeared in February 2011 and March 2011.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The Week That Was, august 26, 2012
croatia How Much Is Enough?
Croatia’s consul general is trying to peddle the idea that his nation aims to build, in the words of the Palm Springs Desert Sun, “as many as 50 golf courses” in “the coming years.”
This is a patently ridiculous proposition, especially when one considers that Croatia is currently getting by with just four golf courses, has no significant indigenous demand for golf, and doesn’t generate enough tourist traffic to justify building even 10 more courses. Heck, less than two years ago, when Croatian officials first promoted their country’s golf-development potential in Southern California, their target number was a more reasonable but still ambitious 16 new courses.
The really distressing part is that over the past three years the World Edition of the Golf Course Report has profiled at least four golf projects in Croatia, and not one of them has yet come out of the ground.
Here’s my advice to Croatia’s golf promoters: Open one course before you start talking about 50. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Some information in the preceding post originally appeared in the November 2010 and June 2012 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report. Sorry, but the Desert Sun’s story is no longer available online.
south korea Too Much, Too Soon
South Korea’s golf business continues to deteriorate.
“The nation’s golf courses are suffering massive drops in revenue and membership amid the sluggish economy,” the Korea Times reports. “An increasing number of courses have also failed to repay bank loans and some of them owe far more than the value of the property.”
As in the United States, the culprit in South Korea is overbuilding. According to the Times, the nation currently has 426 golf courses, up from 339 in 2009 and 250 in 2006. Assuming that the courses under construction are completed, the number will soon cross 500.
Some market observers worry that South Korea will suffer a wave of golf course closings, as Japan did in the early 1990s. Whether that happens or not, it’s clear that development prospects in South Korea sure aren’t what they used to be.
worth reading Rods & Clubs
Just a day after reading a promotion piece about a combination golf and fly-fishing event at Casper Country Club in Wyoming, I stumbled across a New York Times story about the connection between the sports.
“The two sports share more than their ancestry,” writes Chris Santella. “Both tend to appeal to those with contemplative, even analytic, temperaments. Both can arouse a powerful, even obsessive, fascination among the faithful, as well as a never-ending accumulation of gear.”
Here’s a little more from Santella’s article:
The connection between golf and fly-fishing first struck me 10 years ago, when a fishing guide recounted a day when he had taken Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara out on the Deschutes River in Oregon to cast flies for steelhead.
As my friend recalled this special day on the river, I noted that many golfers I know fly-fish, and vice versa. Perhaps it’s the outdoor setting, pitting man against an indifferent if not inimical nature, be it in the form of finicky trout or gaping bunkers. Perhaps it’s the similarity of the motions of swinging and casting -- the fact that the ball or fly goes farther when you move smoothly.
“There’s never a locker room on tour that doesn’t have a fly rod in there,” said Davis Love III, a 20-time winner on the PGA Tour and the captain of the American Ryder Cup team. “Some of the guys will bring rods around with them on their practice rounds to make a few casts.” . . .
Nick Price, winner of 18 tour events, including three majors, said one appeal of fly-fishing for golfers was the way the fields of play changed and demanded different techniques.
“Each golf course has its own kind of beauty, though a parkland layout is quite different from a links course,” he said. “Likewise, a steelhead river in British Columbia is quite different than a chalk stream in England, though both have appeals. And both require different approaches to find success.” . . .
Ben Crane, a four-time winner on the tour, described fly-fishing as a “mental vacation” from the grind of the golf tour. . . .
[Crane says] “In golf, saving one stroke a day can be huge; the difference between 72 and 71 can be $5 million. Likewise, in fly-fishing, little details can mean catching more fish. Out on the course, golfers tend to go all-in. The best fly-fishers also go all-in.”
wild card click In keeping with one of this week’s topics, I’ve gone Phishin’.
Croatia’s consul general is trying to peddle the idea that his nation aims to build, in the words of the Palm Springs Desert Sun, “as many as 50 golf courses” in “the coming years.”
This is a patently ridiculous proposition, especially when one considers that Croatia is currently getting by with just four golf courses, has no significant indigenous demand for golf, and doesn’t generate enough tourist traffic to justify building even 10 more courses. Heck, less than two years ago, when Croatian officials first promoted their country’s golf-development potential in Southern California, their target number was a more reasonable but still ambitious 16 new courses.
The really distressing part is that over the past three years the World Edition of the Golf Course Report has profiled at least four golf projects in Croatia, and not one of them has yet come out of the ground.
Here’s my advice to Croatia’s golf promoters: Open one course before you start talking about 50. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Some information in the preceding post originally appeared in the November 2010 and June 2012 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report. Sorry, but the Desert Sun’s story is no longer available online.
south korea Too Much, Too Soon
South Korea’s golf business continues to deteriorate.
“The nation’s golf courses are suffering massive drops in revenue and membership amid the sluggish economy,” the Korea Times reports. “An increasing number of courses have also failed to repay bank loans and some of them owe far more than the value of the property.”
As in the United States, the culprit in South Korea is overbuilding. According to the Times, the nation currently has 426 golf courses, up from 339 in 2009 and 250 in 2006. Assuming that the courses under construction are completed, the number will soon cross 500.
Some market observers worry that South Korea will suffer a wave of golf course closings, as Japan did in the early 1990s. Whether that happens or not, it’s clear that development prospects in South Korea sure aren’t what they used to be.
worth reading Rods & Clubs
Just a day after reading a promotion piece about a combination golf and fly-fishing event at Casper Country Club in Wyoming, I stumbled across a New York Times story about the connection between the sports.
“The two sports share more than their ancestry,” writes Chris Santella. “Both tend to appeal to those with contemplative, even analytic, temperaments. Both can arouse a powerful, even obsessive, fascination among the faithful, as well as a never-ending accumulation of gear.”
Here’s a little more from Santella’s article:
The connection between golf and fly-fishing first struck me 10 years ago, when a fishing guide recounted a day when he had taken Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara out on the Deschutes River in Oregon to cast flies for steelhead.
As my friend recalled this special day on the river, I noted that many golfers I know fly-fish, and vice versa. Perhaps it’s the outdoor setting, pitting man against an indifferent if not inimical nature, be it in the form of finicky trout or gaping bunkers. Perhaps it’s the similarity of the motions of swinging and casting -- the fact that the ball or fly goes farther when you move smoothly.
“There’s never a locker room on tour that doesn’t have a fly rod in there,” said Davis Love III, a 20-time winner on the PGA Tour and the captain of the American Ryder Cup team. “Some of the guys will bring rods around with them on their practice rounds to make a few casts.” . . .
Nick Price, winner of 18 tour events, including three majors, said one appeal of fly-fishing for golfers was the way the fields of play changed and demanded different techniques.
“Each golf course has its own kind of beauty, though a parkland layout is quite different from a links course,” he said. “Likewise, a steelhead river in British Columbia is quite different than a chalk stream in England, though both have appeals. And both require different approaches to find success.” . . .
Ben Crane, a four-time winner on the tour, described fly-fishing as a “mental vacation” from the grind of the golf tour. . . .
[Crane says] “In golf, saving one stroke a day can be huge; the difference between 72 and 71 can be $5 million. Likewise, in fly-fishing, little details can mean catching more fish. Out on the course, golfers tend to go all-in. The best fly-fishers also go all-in.”
wild card click In keeping with one of this week’s topics, I’ve gone Phishin’.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Short Notice, august 24, 2012
Greg Norman’s golf course in Vung Tau Province, Vietnam is finally under construction, more than four years after missing its original start date. The 18-hole track will be part of Ho Tram Strip, which is taking shape on a 430-acre beachfront site in the town of Xuyen Moc, a two-hour drive east of Ho Chi Minh City. Asian Coast Development, Ltd., the project’s Canadian developer, has tapped IMG Golf Course Services to oversee the construction. IMG is suggesting that the course will be worth the wait. Mark Adams, who works out of the company’s office in Singapore, calls the property “the best natural site we have seen not only in Vietnam but throughout all of Asia” and views the venture as “a great opportunity to create an iconic golf course.”
Some information in the preceding post originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Golf courses in the United State continue to close, with such frequency that it’s impossible for me to mention them all. But here are two that recently caught my eye: Graystone Golf Links, a nine-hole track in Tinley Park, Illinois, will offer its final rounds this fall and be leased to farmers. The course opened in the mid 1990s and, like so many of the nation’s nine-hole tracks, caters mostly to retirees. Already closed is Horsham Valley Golf Course in Ambler, Pennsyvlania, which features a short 18-hole layout (5,115 yards) that opened in the mid 1960s. An obituary by PGA pro Bob Sheppard says the course “played an important role in our local golf scene by providing a fun and friendly place for all golfers to play.” I mention these courses because they typify the most vulnerable species on golf’s endangered list. As they die off, one by one, our business becomes less affordable, less convivial, and more at risk.
Gil Hanse’s golf course in Rio de Janeiro is grabbing all the headlines, but there are some other golf courses in Brazil being produced by U.S. architects. One is being done by Dave Edsall, a Maryland-based architect who made his reputation as a designer of “replica” courses such as the Tour 18 facilities in Texas and Renditions Golf Club in Davidsonville, Maryland. Edsall has designed a nine-hole “replica” course that’s currently being built in Ponta Grossa, a city of 315,000 in the state of Paraná. “Golf is in the infant stages in Brazil,” Edsall told the Annapolis Capital Gazette. “We have more courses in the states than they have golfers in Brazil.” Edsall expects the construction to wrap up sometime this fall.
As a journalist, I’m contractually obligated to comment on Augusta National Golf Club’s long overdue decision to add
Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore as members. So here’s my small tribute to the former all-boys club: Welcome to the 20th century! And here’s a question that’s been on my mind all week: Rice is the first woman to serve as provost of Stanford University, the first black woman to serve as a national security advisor, and the first black woman to serve as secretary of state, and now she’s part of the first class of women admitted to Augusta National. Of all those achievements, which do you think she’ll be longest remembered for?
Some information in the preceding post originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Golf courses in the United State continue to close, with such frequency that it’s impossible for me to mention them all. But here are two that recently caught my eye: Graystone Golf Links, a nine-hole track in Tinley Park, Illinois, will offer its final rounds this fall and be leased to farmers. The course opened in the mid 1990s and, like so many of the nation’s nine-hole tracks, caters mostly to retirees. Already closed is Horsham Valley Golf Course in Ambler, Pennsyvlania, which features a short 18-hole layout (5,115 yards) that opened in the mid 1960s. An obituary by PGA pro Bob Sheppard says the course “played an important role in our local golf scene by providing a fun and friendly place for all golfers to play.” I mention these courses because they typify the most vulnerable species on golf’s endangered list. As they die off, one by one, our business becomes less affordable, less convivial, and more at risk.
Gil Hanse’s golf course in Rio de Janeiro is grabbing all the headlines, but there are some other golf courses in Brazil being produced by U.S. architects. One is being done by Dave Edsall, a Maryland-based architect who made his reputation as a designer of “replica” courses such as the Tour 18 facilities in Texas and Renditions Golf Club in Davidsonville, Maryland. Edsall has designed a nine-hole “replica” course that’s currently being built in Ponta Grossa, a city of 315,000 in the state of Paraná. “Golf is in the infant stages in Brazil,” Edsall told the Annapolis Capital Gazette. “We have more courses in the states than they have golfers in Brazil.” Edsall expects the construction to wrap up sometime this fall.
As a journalist, I’m contractually obligated to comment on Augusta National Golf Club’s long overdue decision to add
Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore as members. So here’s my small tribute to the former all-boys club: Welcome to the 20th century! And here’s a question that’s been on my mind all week: Rice is the first woman to serve as provost of Stanford University, the first black woman to serve as a national security advisor, and the first black woman to serve as secretary of state, and now she’s part of the first class of women admitted to Augusta National. Of all those achievements, which do you think she’ll be longest remembered for?
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
mexico Waiting for Tom Fazio's Course
The first Tournament Players Club outside the United States has opened golf course number one, and it could break ground on number two sometime this year.
TPC Cancun is taking shape at Cancun Country Club, a 1,116-acre resort community in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico’s favorite vacation destination. At build-out, the community will consist of single-family houses and condos, a boutique hotel, a beach club, and a retail/commercial area.
The facility’s Nick Price-designed course opened earlier this year. Still to come are a 125,000-square-foot clubhouse and a Tom Fazio-designed course that’s scheduled to open in 2014. Price, who’s based in Jupiter, Florida, is also serving as the “player consultant” to Fazio’s course.
“I can’t wait to build it,” says Tom Marzolf, the design associate who’s overseeing the construction for Fazio’s Hendersonville, North Carolina-based firm. “It’s going to be one of the best courses in Mexico.”
TPC Cancun is operated, via a long-term lease, by Borders Golf Group, a Reno, Nevada-based management and consulting firm led by Joseph Petrash. Borders has a local partner, Julio Viscontti of JCV Golf, who markets Greg Norman’s design services in Mexico. The partners eventually hope to build a Norman-designed course at Santa Amelia, a golf community in Los Barriles, a village on the southeastern coast of Baja California Sur.
Like the 32 TPC-branded properties in the United States, the courses at TPC Cancun have been designed to host professional tournaments sponsored by the PGA Tour. The Tour owns 18 of the properties, including TPC Cancun, and as I reported last month, it plans to license a TPC in Beijing, China that will feature a Gil Hanse-designed golf course.
For marketing purposes, Borders has completed one hole on Fazio’s course. The designers don’t know when full-fledged construction will begin, but Marzolf believes it’ll be this year.
“The economy is tough down there,” he notes, “but it’s going to get finished.”
The original version of the preceding post appeared in the June 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
TPC Cancun is taking shape at Cancun Country Club, a 1,116-acre resort community in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico’s favorite vacation destination. At build-out, the community will consist of single-family houses and condos, a boutique hotel, a beach club, and a retail/commercial area.
The facility’s Nick Price-designed course opened earlier this year. Still to come are a 125,000-square-foot clubhouse and a Tom Fazio-designed course that’s scheduled to open in 2014. Price, who’s based in Jupiter, Florida, is also serving as the “player consultant” to Fazio’s course.
“I can’t wait to build it,” says Tom Marzolf, the design associate who’s overseeing the construction for Fazio’s Hendersonville, North Carolina-based firm. “It’s going to be one of the best courses in Mexico.”
TPC Cancun is operated, via a long-term lease, by Borders Golf Group, a Reno, Nevada-based management and consulting firm led by Joseph Petrash. Borders has a local partner, Julio Viscontti of JCV Golf, who markets Greg Norman’s design services in Mexico. The partners eventually hope to build a Norman-designed course at Santa Amelia, a golf community in Los Barriles, a village on the southeastern coast of Baja California Sur.
Like the 32 TPC-branded properties in the United States, the courses at TPC Cancun have been designed to host professional tournaments sponsored by the PGA Tour. The Tour owns 18 of the properties, including TPC Cancun, and as I reported last month, it plans to license a TPC in Beijing, China that will feature a Gil Hanse-designed golf course.
For marketing purposes, Borders has completed one hole on Fazio’s course. The designers don’t know when full-fledged construction will begin, but Marzolf believes it’ll be this year.
“The economy is tough down there,” he notes, “but it’s going to get finished.”
The original version of the preceding post appeared in the June 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
The Week That Was, august 19, 2012
canada Feeling the Pinch
People aren’t vacationing in British Columbia as much as they used to, and the province’s golf courses are hurting as a result.
“I don’t know if we will ever see 2007 again,” a golf tourism executive groused to the Victoria Times Colonist.
In fact, a provincial golf marketing group has determined that British Columbia now loses 124,000 “person trips” to the United States every year. The travelers are chasing bargains. Across the border, a golf course operator told the newspaper, they’re “giving golf away.”
“If you think the golf business here is weak,” the operator said, “it’s in panic mode down there.”
united states Where’s the Panic?
Are U.S. golf course owners and operators really “in panic mode”?
The evidence doesn’t back up the claim. According to PGA PerformanceTrak, the number of rounds played at U.S. golf properties through the first six months of 2012 is up by 14.3 percent over the number posted in 2011. Such an increase doesn’t typically set off alarms.
What’s more, PerformanceTrak notes that the number of rounds played has been up for eight consecutive months and that increases are being seen at all types of facilities: public, private, municipal, and resort. And while it may not always be true in an era of deep discounting, a golf course that rings up more golfers will usually also ring up more revenue.
To be sure, some of the boost in this year’s traffic can be attributed to weather-related effects that may not persist. The first six months of 2012, the service reports, was “the warmest first half of any year on record for the contiguous United States” and also, in much of our country, “drier than average.”
And it’s important to remember that an economic high tide doesn’t necessarily lift all boats. In good times and bad, some states invariably do better than others. Courses in poorly performing states may show profits, and courses in high-flying states may show losses. Statistics don’t always tell the whole story.
So far this year, five states have showed double-digit increases: Wyoming (up by 22.8 percent), Utah (12.3 percent), Arkansas (12.2 percent), Alabama (10.5 percent), and Louisiana (10.1 percent).
The increases in those and other states have made up for the 15 states that have registered declines. The biggest drops have taken place in Florida (9.1 percent), Oregon (8.1 percent), Maine (8 percent), West Virginia (6.5 percent), and Washington (5.5 percent).
I may not be the most astute observer, but it seems to me that the U.S. golf business is in general having a pretty good year -- a year that should lead people to be optimistic, not panic-stricken. A few more years like 2012 would go a long way toward making all of us whole again.
scotland Shooting the Breeze
Donald Trump isn’t catching many breaks in Scotland these days.
Trump’s major aggravation continues to be those 11 proposed off-shore wind turbines that may emerge within sight of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. If the wind farm is approved, Trump has vowed, he’ll abandon his plans to build a hotel, upscale houses, and a second golf course on his wonderfully wrinkled coastal property.
Despite Trump’s threats, however, the planning for the wind farm continues. And Trump’s temperature is almost certainly rising, because at least a few of the turbines may get bigger, by roughly 11 feet.
If there’s a silver lining in this cloud, it’s this: A few of the turbines -- those closest to the shore -- may shrink by roughly 16 feet.
“We intend to fight this application and defeat these horrendous proposals that will ultimately destroy Scotland,” Trump told the BBC.
Government officials will render a verdict on wind farm by the end of the year.
talking points The Space Race
Peter Thomson has turned over his design duties to Ross Perrett, but he isn’t acting like the retiring type.
The 82-year-old, Melbourne-based Australian golf star, a five-time winner of the Open Championship, believes that golf has what the Australian Financial Review calls “a space problem.”
Golf courses take up a lot of space, and a lot of countries don’t have much space to spare, Thomson recently told the paper. In India, the cost of land is the same as it is on Manhattan. I find myself more and more praising the efforts of people who can build courses on swamps or old dumps. In property developments, golf courses always get the worst land. And you need more land than ever these days, because the ball goes further than it ever did.
wild card click Do you know who said, “With enough butter, everything is good”?
People aren’t vacationing in British Columbia as much as they used to, and the province’s golf courses are hurting as a result.
“I don’t know if we will ever see 2007 again,” a golf tourism executive groused to the Victoria Times Colonist.
In fact, a provincial golf marketing group has determined that British Columbia now loses 124,000 “person trips” to the United States every year. The travelers are chasing bargains. Across the border, a golf course operator told the newspaper, they’re “giving golf away.”
“If you think the golf business here is weak,” the operator said, “it’s in panic mode down there.”
united states Where’s the Panic?
Are U.S. golf course owners and operators really “in panic mode”?
The evidence doesn’t back up the claim. According to PGA PerformanceTrak, the number of rounds played at U.S. golf properties through the first six months of 2012 is up by 14.3 percent over the number posted in 2011. Such an increase doesn’t typically set off alarms.
What’s more, PerformanceTrak notes that the number of rounds played has been up for eight consecutive months and that increases are being seen at all types of facilities: public, private, municipal, and resort. And while it may not always be true in an era of deep discounting, a golf course that rings up more golfers will usually also ring up more revenue.
To be sure, some of the boost in this year’s traffic can be attributed to weather-related effects that may not persist. The first six months of 2012, the service reports, was “the warmest first half of any year on record for the contiguous United States” and also, in much of our country, “drier than average.”
And it’s important to remember that an economic high tide doesn’t necessarily lift all boats. In good times and bad, some states invariably do better than others. Courses in poorly performing states may show profits, and courses in high-flying states may show losses. Statistics don’t always tell the whole story.
So far this year, five states have showed double-digit increases: Wyoming (up by 22.8 percent), Utah (12.3 percent), Arkansas (12.2 percent), Alabama (10.5 percent), and Louisiana (10.1 percent).
The increases in those and other states have made up for the 15 states that have registered declines. The biggest drops have taken place in Florida (9.1 percent), Oregon (8.1 percent), Maine (8 percent), West Virginia (6.5 percent), and Washington (5.5 percent).
I may not be the most astute observer, but it seems to me that the U.S. golf business is in general having a pretty good year -- a year that should lead people to be optimistic, not panic-stricken. A few more years like 2012 would go a long way toward making all of us whole again.
scotland Shooting the Breeze
Donald Trump isn’t catching many breaks in Scotland these days.
Trump’s major aggravation continues to be those 11 proposed off-shore wind turbines that may emerge within sight of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. If the wind farm is approved, Trump has vowed, he’ll abandon his plans to build a hotel, upscale houses, and a second golf course on his wonderfully wrinkled coastal property.
Despite Trump’s threats, however, the planning for the wind farm continues. And Trump’s temperature is almost certainly rising, because at least a few of the turbines may get bigger, by roughly 11 feet.
If there’s a silver lining in this cloud, it’s this: A few of the turbines -- those closest to the shore -- may shrink by roughly 16 feet.
“We intend to fight this application and defeat these horrendous proposals that will ultimately destroy Scotland,” Trump told the BBC.
Government officials will render a verdict on wind farm by the end of the year.
talking points The Space Race
Peter Thomson has turned over his design duties to Ross Perrett, but he isn’t acting like the retiring type.
The 82-year-old, Melbourne-based Australian golf star, a five-time winner of the Open Championship, believes that golf has what the Australian Financial Review calls “a space problem.”
Golf courses take up a lot of space, and a lot of countries don’t have much space to spare, Thomson recently told the paper. In India, the cost of land is the same as it is on Manhattan. I find myself more and more praising the efforts of people who can build courses on swamps or old dumps. In property developments, golf courses always get the worst land. And you need more land than ever these days, because the ball goes further than it ever did.
wild card click Do you know who said, “With enough butter, everything is good”?
Friday, August 17, 2012
Short Notice, august 17, 2012
You know times are tough when Greg Norman goes downscale. Norman, who’s made a design career off high-prestige, million-dollar commissions, now wants a piece of the U.S. municipal market, including renovation projects that once belonged exclusively to regional architects. For his first venture on this front, he’s transforming an 18-hole track owned by the city of Pompano Beach, Florida into a Greg Norman Signature Design. “I see this as the first of many municipal golf course design and renovation projects that I would like to be involved with,” Norman said in a press release. The re-imagined track is scheduled to open in the fall of this year.
Dutch Docklands’ much-discussed (and much anticipated) floating golf course in the Maldives is back in the news. The course has a name -- Royal Indian Ocean Club -- and it’s expected to get its soft opening in late 2013, which means that construction is just off the starboard bow. The club will feature an underwater clubhouse accessible via a waterproof elevator -- “It’s like being Captain Nemo down there,” one of Dutch Dockland’s principals said -- and it’ll be solar-powered. Dutch Docklands hasn’t announced the identity of the course’s architect, but late last year it was reported that the company had received 24 design proposals and had “short-listed” a half-dozen candidates. The finalists are said to include “major champions” and “Ryder Cup legends.”
Government officials in New Zealand have approved the sale of Terrace Downs, a 625-acre, golf-focused resort on the nation’s South Island. The resort, which is located 50 miles west of Christchurch, features an 18-hole track that was co-designed by Sid Puddicombe, a Canadian architect, and opened in 2001. The property’s prospective owner, Hiroshi Hasegawa, intends to “work with current management to improve the resort so that it becomes globally recognized as a leading luxury golf and adventure destination,” according to the nation’s Overseas Investment Office. Terrace Downs’ chief executive, Jonathan Hendriksen, has described Hasegawa as “a dear old friend” and a “'wealthy chap” who loves New Zealand.
This year’s edition of the Symposium on Affordable Golf, a force for good in our business, will take place on October 29 and 30 at its usual haunt, Southern Pines Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Among the topics to be discussed at this year’s symposium -- the third annual -- include “The Golf Generation Gap,” “Let’s Start Romancing the Game Again Instead of Selling the Business,” and “The Curious Case of Taj-Mahalics.” The featured speakers will include Jim Hyler, a former president of the United States Golf Association; Bob Randquist, a former president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America; and Mike Nuzzo, a Texas-based designer who favors sustainable venues. In keeping with the theme, golf course architect Richard Mandell, the event’s creator, doesn’t charge a fee for attendance. To register, visit the event’s website, SymposiumOnAffordableGolf.com.
Dutch Docklands’ much-discussed (and much anticipated) floating golf course in the Maldives is back in the news. The course has a name -- Royal Indian Ocean Club -- and it’s expected to get its soft opening in late 2013, which means that construction is just off the starboard bow. The club will feature an underwater clubhouse accessible via a waterproof elevator -- “It’s like being Captain Nemo down there,” one of Dutch Dockland’s principals said -- and it’ll be solar-powered. Dutch Docklands hasn’t announced the identity of the course’s architect, but late last year it was reported that the company had received 24 design proposals and had “short-listed” a half-dozen candidates. The finalists are said to include “major champions” and “Ryder Cup legends.”
Government officials in New Zealand have approved the sale of Terrace Downs, a 625-acre, golf-focused resort on the nation’s South Island. The resort, which is located 50 miles west of Christchurch, features an 18-hole track that was co-designed by Sid Puddicombe, a Canadian architect, and opened in 2001. The property’s prospective owner, Hiroshi Hasegawa, intends to “work with current management to improve the resort so that it becomes globally recognized as a leading luxury golf and adventure destination,” according to the nation’s Overseas Investment Office. Terrace Downs’ chief executive, Jonathan Hendriksen, has described Hasegawa as “a dear old friend” and a “'wealthy chap” who loves New Zealand.
This year’s edition of the Symposium on Affordable Golf, a force for good in our business, will take place on October 29 and 30 at its usual haunt, Southern Pines Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Among the topics to be discussed at this year’s symposium -- the third annual -- include “The Golf Generation Gap,” “Let’s Start Romancing the Game Again Instead of Selling the Business,” and “The Curious Case of Taj-Mahalics.” The featured speakers will include Jim Hyler, a former president of the United States Golf Association; Bob Randquist, a former president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America; and Mike Nuzzo, a Texas-based designer who favors sustainable venues. In keeping with the theme, golf course architect Richard Mandell, the event’s creator, doesn’t charge a fee for attendance. To register, visit the event’s website, SymposiumOnAffordableGolf.com.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
kazakhstan The Land of Tourism Resorts?
If you think Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat is a villain in Kazakhstan, think again.
Cohen’s alter-ego was once most certainly a persona non grata in Kazakhstan, but today he’s credited for giving a welcome shot in the arm to the former Soviet republic’s tourism industry.
“After this film, the number of visas issued to Kazakhstan grew by 10 times,” the nation’s foreign minister said in a recent address to parliament. “This is a big victory for us, and I thank Borat for attracting tourists.”
So how does Kazakhstan keep the tourist traffic flowing?
Temirkhan Dosmukhambetov, the English-speaking minister of tourism and sports -- he doubles as the president of the Olympic committee -- is leading an effort to build ski resorts in various parts of the country, at least some of which would be four-season destinations with golf courses. The biggest one, according to Eturbo News, would be built at Kok-Zhaylyao, within an hour’s drive south of the nation’s largest city, Almaty.
A tourism development program will be finalized by the end of the year, the idea being to eventually market Kazakhstan as “the land of tourism resorts.”
As is so often the case, it seems that he who laughs last laughs best.
The original version of the preceding post appeared in the June 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Cohen’s alter-ego was once most certainly a persona non grata in Kazakhstan, but today he’s credited for giving a welcome shot in the arm to the former Soviet republic’s tourism industry.
“After this film, the number of visas issued to Kazakhstan grew by 10 times,” the nation’s foreign minister said in a recent address to parliament. “This is a big victory for us, and I thank Borat for attracting tourists.”
So how does Kazakhstan keep the tourist traffic flowing?
Temirkhan Dosmukhambetov, the English-speaking minister of tourism and sports -- he doubles as the president of the Olympic committee -- is leading an effort to build ski resorts in various parts of the country, at least some of which would be four-season destinations with golf courses. The biggest one, according to Eturbo News, would be built at Kok-Zhaylyao, within an hour’s drive south of the nation’s largest city, Almaty.
A tourism development program will be finalized by the end of the year, the idea being to eventually market Kazakhstan as “the land of tourism resorts.”
As is so often the case, it seems that he who laughs last laughs best.
The original version of the preceding post appeared in the June 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Week That Was, august 12, 2012
china Ken Chu: Born To Run
A handful of noteworthy facts about Ken Chu and his super-sized Mission Hills resorts:
One, Chairman Chu plays speed golf. During a round, the Queensland Times reports, he runs between shots. “People hate playing with me,” Chu told the newspaper. “They can’t keep up.”
Two, keeping up with Chu requires very deep pockets. Chu told the Times that his family has invested $4.2 billion (in Australian currency, presumably) into the making of his resorts in Shenzhen and Haikou. Does this figure seem excessively high, or am I missing something about development and construction in China?
Three, Chu isn’t limiting his company’s horizons to China. According to the Times, he “talks about expanding into other regions of China and, eventually, overseas.” Unfortunately, Chu didn’t serve up any details. But I can assure you that Brian Curley, wherever he is these days, is smiling.
Four, people who believe in the mega-resort approach to golf may soon be able to invest in Mission Hills Group’s future. For months, it’s been speculated that the company will soon go public, trading shares on the Hong Kong exchange, and in May the South China Morning Post reported that Chu was “in talks with investment banks” regarding a bond issue. (Sorry, but the link to this story is no longer available online.)
Five, Chu told the Post that the resort on Hainan Island began to generate more in revenue than the one in Shenzhen in just its second year of operation. In addition, he predicted that the resort on Hainan will break even after its fifth year.
If that’s the case, then the Chus’ investment, no matter what the amount, was money extremely well spent.
united states An Expensive Habit
Here’s my initial reaction to Golf magazine’s recently published list of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play for 2012: Golf costs too much.
It’s terrific that U.S. golfers have so many wonderful courses to choose from. What’s worrisome is that the vast majority of courses on the magazine’s list are essentially bucket-list layouts -- courses that Joe Average can afford to play just once or at most twice a year, travel expenses and hotel rooms not included.
A full-priced round at the top 10 courses on Golf’s list ranges in price from $150 (Bethpage Black) to $530 (Pebble Beach Golf Links). By my admittedly suspect calculations, the average price of a round at a top-10 course is $347.
Clearly, these days a golfer’s pain isn’t only at the pump.
I must sadly report that there are only eight courses on the list that can be played for less than $100. They are Black Mesa Golf Club in New Mexico (#44, $87); Quarry at Giants Ridge in Minnesota (#54, $89); Wild Horse Golf Club in Nebraska (#73, $57); Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club in Colorado (#79, $89); Hawktree Golf Club in North Dakota (#81, $94); Branson Creek Golf Club in Missouri (#88, $99); Circling Raven Golf Club in Idaho (#90, $95); and Rustic Canyon Golf Course in California (#91, $79).
Diminished expectations, here we come!
Finally, a side note: Congratulations to Mike Keiser, whose Bandon Dunes resort in Oregon earned three of the top nine entries on the list and four of the top 15.
united states Lewis Keller Sings the Blues
Was it Albert King who once sang, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all”?
The line could have been written for Lewis Keller, who’s yet again seen the sale of his historic golf course fall through, even though this time he was selling it for a song.
I’m talking, of course, about Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a course that’s been around since 1884. Just two weeks ago, a buyer from Wheeling claimed the course at a public auction. But this week the buyer, who never identified himself, was forced to bail out, as he reportedly couldn’t secure financing.
Keller had heard this sad song before. A year or so ago, another buyer offered to buy Oakhurst Links and then failed to show Keller the money.
What really hurts is that the price offered at the most recent auction -- $410,000 -- wouldn’t have even covered the $700,000 that Keller owes to his lender.
Keller seems resigned to a foreclosure, but he holds out hope that a buyer can be found.
“The Kellers will get nothing out of it. Nothing,” he told GolfWeek. “All of the work and the money goes down the tube, but it would preserve Oakhurst where it can be run and managed as the history of golf.”
So it goes for Keller, who’s learning that history don’t mean Bo Diddley to bankers -- and to most people in the golf business, apparently.
wild card click To paraphrase Orson Welles, a happy ending depends on when you stop your story.
A handful of noteworthy facts about Ken Chu and his super-sized Mission Hills resorts:
One, Chairman Chu plays speed golf. During a round, the Queensland Times reports, he runs between shots. “People hate playing with me,” Chu told the newspaper. “They can’t keep up.”
Two, keeping up with Chu requires very deep pockets. Chu told the Times that his family has invested $4.2 billion (in Australian currency, presumably) into the making of his resorts in Shenzhen and Haikou. Does this figure seem excessively high, or am I missing something about development and construction in China?
Three, Chu isn’t limiting his company’s horizons to China. According to the Times, he “talks about expanding into other regions of China and, eventually, overseas.” Unfortunately, Chu didn’t serve up any details. But I can assure you that Brian Curley, wherever he is these days, is smiling.
Four, people who believe in the mega-resort approach to golf may soon be able to invest in Mission Hills Group’s future. For months, it’s been speculated that the company will soon go public, trading shares on the Hong Kong exchange, and in May the South China Morning Post reported that Chu was “in talks with investment banks” regarding a bond issue. (Sorry, but the link to this story is no longer available online.)
Five, Chu told the Post that the resort on Hainan Island began to generate more in revenue than the one in Shenzhen in just its second year of operation. In addition, he predicted that the resort on Hainan will break even after its fifth year.
If that’s the case, then the Chus’ investment, no matter what the amount, was money extremely well spent.
united states An Expensive Habit
Here’s my initial reaction to Golf magazine’s recently published list of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play for 2012: Golf costs too much.
It’s terrific that U.S. golfers have so many wonderful courses to choose from. What’s worrisome is that the vast majority of courses on the magazine’s list are essentially bucket-list layouts -- courses that Joe Average can afford to play just once or at most twice a year, travel expenses and hotel rooms not included.
A full-priced round at the top 10 courses on Golf’s list ranges in price from $150 (Bethpage Black) to $530 (Pebble Beach Golf Links). By my admittedly suspect calculations, the average price of a round at a top-10 course is $347.
Clearly, these days a golfer’s pain isn’t only at the pump.
I must sadly report that there are only eight courses on the list that can be played for less than $100. They are Black Mesa Golf Club in New Mexico (#44, $87); Quarry at Giants Ridge in Minnesota (#54, $89); Wild Horse Golf Club in Nebraska (#73, $57); Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club in Colorado (#79, $89); Hawktree Golf Club in North Dakota (#81, $94); Branson Creek Golf Club in Missouri (#88, $99); Circling Raven Golf Club in Idaho (#90, $95); and Rustic Canyon Golf Course in California (#91, $79).
Diminished expectations, here we come!
Finally, a side note: Congratulations to Mike Keiser, whose Bandon Dunes resort in Oregon earned three of the top nine entries on the list and four of the top 15.
united states Lewis Keller Sings the Blues
Was it Albert King who once sang, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all”?
The line could have been written for Lewis Keller, who’s yet again seen the sale of his historic golf course fall through, even though this time he was selling it for a song.
I’m talking, of course, about Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a course that’s been around since 1884. Just two weeks ago, a buyer from Wheeling claimed the course at a public auction. But this week the buyer, who never identified himself, was forced to bail out, as he reportedly couldn’t secure financing.
Keller had heard this sad song before. A year or so ago, another buyer offered to buy Oakhurst Links and then failed to show Keller the money.
What really hurts is that the price offered at the most recent auction -- $410,000 -- wouldn’t have even covered the $700,000 that Keller owes to his lender.
Keller seems resigned to a foreclosure, but he holds out hope that a buyer can be found.
“The Kellers will get nothing out of it. Nothing,” he told GolfWeek. “All of the work and the money goes down the tube, but it would preserve Oakhurst where it can be run and managed as the history of golf.”
So it goes for Keller, who’s learning that history don’t mean Bo Diddley to bankers -- and to most people in the golf business, apparently.
wild card click To paraphrase Orson Welles, a happy ending depends on when you stop your story.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Short Notice, august 10, 2012
Residents of Surrey, England who’ve been fighting the construction of a David McLay Kidd-designed golf course have been dealt a setback, as national officials have declined to reverse the approvals made at the local level. A local newspaper, the Leatherhead Advertiser, reports that the project is “all but certain to go ahead” as a result, and Joel Cadbury, one of the developers, has promised that he and his partners “will now move forward with our plans.” Kidd’s course and its accompanying hotel and spa will take shape on Cherkley Court, a 370-acre estate once owned by Max Aitken, a Fleet Street press baron. Late last year, Kidd told me that Cadbury’s group could break ground on the course this fall.
Some information in the preceding post originally appeared in the June 2011 and December 2011 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
China’s tourism business, like the nation’s overall economy, is on the wane. The Xinhua news service reports that tourism “slowed down growth in the first half of 2012,” that the nation’s hotel industry “saw a big slump” in the second quarter of this year, and that “the inbound tourist market might not do as well as predicted.” It’s important to note that the numbers for both inbound and outbound traffic remain in positive territory, but it seems that the owners and operators of tourist-related activities -- golf courses among them -- have clearly entered an age of diminishing expectations.
A Chinese-led investment group has agreed to buy the only Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf course in New Zealand. The course, which has hosted two of the nation’s Open championships and the 1998 World Cup of Golf, is the featured attraction at Gulf Harbour, a financially troubled resort community on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, roughly an hour’s drive north of Auckland. Gulf Harbour’s new owners are led by Jiang Zhaobai, who made his money (Forbes says he’s worth $800 million) in mining, agriculture, and real estate. The transaction will close when the sale is approved by the government agency that oversees foreign investment.
The only Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course in Maryland has new owners. The 7,002-yard track, a financial disappointment throughout its 14-year history, is the featured attraction of Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort near Cumberland, in the less-populated western part of the state. An affiliate of Lakes Entertainment, Inc., a Minnesota-based casino operator, reportedly paid $6.8 million for the resort’s hotel, meeting space, and spa, and it’ll soon begin to convert the meeting space into a gaming center that will include 500 video lottery terminals, a bar, and eateries. Clearly, the state has concluded that a gambling center is exactly what the accompanying state park was lacking.
Some information in the preceding post originally appeared in the June 2011 and December 2011 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
China’s tourism business, like the nation’s overall economy, is on the wane. The Xinhua news service reports that tourism “slowed down growth in the first half of 2012,” that the nation’s hotel industry “saw a big slump” in the second quarter of this year, and that “the inbound tourist market might not do as well as predicted.” It’s important to note that the numbers for both inbound and outbound traffic remain in positive territory, but it seems that the owners and operators of tourist-related activities -- golf courses among them -- have clearly entered an age of diminishing expectations.
A Chinese-led investment group has agreed to buy the only Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf course in New Zealand. The course, which has hosted two of the nation’s Open championships and the 1998 World Cup of Golf, is the featured attraction at Gulf Harbour, a financially troubled resort community on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, roughly an hour’s drive north of Auckland. Gulf Harbour’s new owners are led by Jiang Zhaobai, who made his money (Forbes says he’s worth $800 million) in mining, agriculture, and real estate. The transaction will close when the sale is approved by the government agency that oversees foreign investment.
The only Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course in Maryland has new owners. The 7,002-yard track, a financial disappointment throughout its 14-year history, is the featured attraction of Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort near Cumberland, in the less-populated western part of the state. An affiliate of Lakes Entertainment, Inc., a Minnesota-based casino operator, reportedly paid $6.8 million for the resort’s hotel, meeting space, and spa, and it’ll soon begin to convert the meeting space into a gaming center that will include 500 video lottery terminals, a bar, and eateries. Clearly, the state has concluded that a gambling center is exactly what the accompanying state park was lacking.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
morocco Betting the Ranches
Gulf Finance House has revived another golf project.
In February 2012, the World Edition of the Golf Course Report reported that GFH plans to resume work on its Tunis Financial Harbour project in Tunisia. Now we’ve learned that the Bahrain-based investment bank intends to pick up where it left off with Royal Ranches Marrakech, its “flagship” project in Morocco.
Royal Ranches is an equestrian-focused community -- Morocco has deep historical ties to horses -- that will spread over 950 acres in suburban Marrakech. It’s been master-planned to consist of four “districts” with villas and apartments, two or more hotels, a convention center, and a shopping area designed to resemble a Moroccan souk. Its equestrian facilities will include several riding areas, stables for roughly 200 horses, a horse-breeding center, a polo field, veterinary offices, and a racing track with a climate-controlled grandstand.
GFH also plans to build an 18-hole golf course that’s been designed by Paul Albanese, an architect based in Plymouth, Michigan. Albanese, who apprenticed with Jerry Matthews, has designed one golf course in the United States, Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris, Michigan, and these days he’s designing a course for an Indian tribe in Niobrara, Nebraska. His 7,000-yard track at Royal Ranches is scheduled to be built in the first phase of construction.
GFH announced Royal Ranches in 2006, when the Middle East was flush with oil money. The community’s development was interrupted by the global economic crisis, and some investors don’t believe GFH is yet out of the financial woods. “The company has burned through cash for the last two years,” an analyst from Exotix said earlier this year. “Cash flow is negative at the moment, and their ability to generate meaningful revenue is non-existent.”
That being said, GFH posted a meager profit in 2011, and work on Royal Ranches’ infrastructure was recently reported to be about half-finished.
The original version of this post appeared in the May 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
In February 2012, the World Edition of the Golf Course Report reported that GFH plans to resume work on its Tunis Financial Harbour project in Tunisia. Now we’ve learned that the Bahrain-based investment bank intends to pick up where it left off with Royal Ranches Marrakech, its “flagship” project in Morocco.
Royal Ranches is an equestrian-focused community -- Morocco has deep historical ties to horses -- that will spread over 950 acres in suburban Marrakech. It’s been master-planned to consist of four “districts” with villas and apartments, two or more hotels, a convention center, and a shopping area designed to resemble a Moroccan souk. Its equestrian facilities will include several riding areas, stables for roughly 200 horses, a horse-breeding center, a polo field, veterinary offices, and a racing track with a climate-controlled grandstand.
GFH also plans to build an 18-hole golf course that’s been designed by Paul Albanese, an architect based in Plymouth, Michigan. Albanese, who apprenticed with Jerry Matthews, has designed one golf course in the United States, Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris, Michigan, and these days he’s designing a course for an Indian tribe in Niobrara, Nebraska. His 7,000-yard track at Royal Ranches is scheduled to be built in the first phase of construction.
GFH announced Royal Ranches in 2006, when the Middle East was flush with oil money. The community’s development was interrupted by the global economic crisis, and some investors don’t believe GFH is yet out of the financial woods. “The company has burned through cash for the last two years,” an analyst from Exotix said earlier this year. “Cash flow is negative at the moment, and their ability to generate meaningful revenue is non-existent.”
That being said, GFH posted a meager profit in 2011, and work on Royal Ranches’ infrastructure was recently reported to be about half-finished.
The original version of this post appeared in the May 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The Week That Was, august 5, 2012
england The Belfry Goes American
One of the planet’s most celebrated golf resorts has officially become part of the ClubCorp family.
KSL Capital Partners has closed on its purchase of the Belfry, a transaction that’s been in process for several months. The 550-acre property in North Warwickshire, England features a luxurious hotel, three Dave Thomas-designed golf courses (two of them created in collaboration with Peter Alliss), and a spectacular heritage, as it’s hosted Ryder Cup matches four times.
“The Belfry is the perfect opportunity for our first resort investment in Europe,” one of KSL’s principals said in a press statement.
KSL has hired an affiliate of De Vere Group to manage the resort. This is a back-to-the-future moment for De Vere, which owned the Belfry until 2005, when it sold the property to a group led by Sean Quinn, a wealthy Irish investor who went broke during the Great Recession. Quinn’s pain was KSL’s gain.
KSL’s golf portfolio includes ClubCorp and some highly regarded U.S. golf properties, including the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia; Barton Creek Country Club in Austin, Texas; and La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
united states The Kids Are All Right
I can understand if the powers that be in golf don’t much care for my idea about hiring Britney Spears to promote our game. But what about the most decorated Olympian of all time? Is he squeaky-clean enough to deliver our message?
Yes, I just learned that 27-year-old Michael Phelps loves to golf. And now that he’s done as a swimmer, he literally wants to play all of the world’s greatest golf courses. He has a list, and he plans to check them off one by one.
“Even in high school, I’d tell my mom I was sick of swimming and wanted to try to play golf,” Phelps told Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated earlier this year. “She wasn’t too happy. She’d say, ‘Think about this.’ And I’d always end up getting back in the pool.”
Slowly but surely, I’m compiling an impressive inventory of young people who can help us grow the game. In addition to Spears, my group includes Justin Timberlake, Kristen Stewart, Justin Bieber, Emily Blunt, and Adam Levine.
Can’t any of these people star in television advertising for us?
poland No More Jokes, Please
Another golf course has opened in Poland. No joke.
It’s the second nine at Sobienie Królewskie Golf & Country Club in suburban Warsaw. The club’s first nine has been entertaining the capital city’s golfers since the fall of 2010.
The 6,589-yard course was designed by Jeremy Ford, an English architect who has offices in Austria and the Czech Republic. The Warsaw Voice describes it as a “links-type” layout and calls it “the largest and most modern” course in Poland.
I’m not sure how Gary Player would react to that statement, seeing as how his three-year-old, 7,272-yard course at Modry Las Golf Club in Choszczno is also large and modern. Golf World, which ranks Modry Las as one of Europe’s top-100 courses, hasn’t yet had anything to say about Sobienie Królewskie.
Golf isn’t a novelty in Poland, as the nation has roughly two dozen golf properties. And one of these days, Ford may design another one. A year or so ago, he was trying to lock up a design agreement with some developers in suburban Wroclaw.
Some information in the above post originally appeared in the February 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
talking points Eyes on the Ball
Gary Player has never been shy about expressing his opinions, and these days one of his favorite topics is the ball. Like a lot of us in golf, he thinks it flies too far.
Here’s part of what Player recently told the Scotsman about the ball’s impact on golf course design:
Another change they are going to have to make is to cut the ball back. I know they are reluctant to do that, but I will take a massive bet that they will cut the ball back at some stage. . . .
There’s a man in Canada, Jamie Sadlowski, who is only 5’ 10” and only weighs 170 pounds. I was watching him hit it more than 400 yards. So he could stand on the first tee at St. Andrews and carry the green.
I played at St. Andrews the other day and worked out that in 30 years, [professionals] will drive nine of the holes. That is very bad, as you’ve got a wonderful golf course that is going to be obsolete. . . .
I’ve traveled more than any human being in the last 60 years, and at every town I go to they are changing their golf courses. They’ve changed it at St. Andrews, they’re changing them at a country course in Timbuktu. They should be leaving the golf courses as they are and just cut the ball back for professionals by 50 yards. Instead, we are spending hundreds of millions of pounds making these changes to courses all around the world. It’s all unnecessary.
The R&A say the game is the same for everyone, but it is two separate games -- one for the pros and one for the amateurs. They should leave the technology for the amateurs. Let them hit the ball 50 yards further. But in professional golf, we have to do something to stop this trend.
wild card click This is what happens when you do research on golf in Cuba while listening to Radiohead.
One of the planet’s most celebrated golf resorts has officially become part of the ClubCorp family.
KSL Capital Partners has closed on its purchase of the Belfry, a transaction that’s been in process for several months. The 550-acre property in North Warwickshire, England features a luxurious hotel, three Dave Thomas-designed golf courses (two of them created in collaboration with Peter Alliss), and a spectacular heritage, as it’s hosted Ryder Cup matches four times.
“The Belfry is the perfect opportunity for our first resort investment in Europe,” one of KSL’s principals said in a press statement.
KSL has hired an affiliate of De Vere Group to manage the resort. This is a back-to-the-future moment for De Vere, which owned the Belfry until 2005, when it sold the property to a group led by Sean Quinn, a wealthy Irish investor who went broke during the Great Recession. Quinn’s pain was KSL’s gain.
KSL’s golf portfolio includes ClubCorp and some highly regarded U.S. golf properties, including the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia; Barton Creek Country Club in Austin, Texas; and La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
united states The Kids Are All Right
I can understand if the powers that be in golf don’t much care for my idea about hiring Britney Spears to promote our game. But what about the most decorated Olympian of all time? Is he squeaky-clean enough to deliver our message?
Yes, I just learned that 27-year-old Michael Phelps loves to golf. And now that he’s done as a swimmer, he literally wants to play all of the world’s greatest golf courses. He has a list, and he plans to check them off one by one.
“Even in high school, I’d tell my mom I was sick of swimming and wanted to try to play golf,” Phelps told Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated earlier this year. “She wasn’t too happy. She’d say, ‘Think about this.’ And I’d always end up getting back in the pool.”
Slowly but surely, I’m compiling an impressive inventory of young people who can help us grow the game. In addition to Spears, my group includes Justin Timberlake, Kristen Stewart, Justin Bieber, Emily Blunt, and Adam Levine.
Can’t any of these people star in television advertising for us?
poland No More Jokes, Please
Another golf course has opened in Poland. No joke.
It’s the second nine at Sobienie Królewskie Golf & Country Club in suburban Warsaw. The club’s first nine has been entertaining the capital city’s golfers since the fall of 2010.
The 6,589-yard course was designed by Jeremy Ford, an English architect who has offices in Austria and the Czech Republic. The Warsaw Voice describes it as a “links-type” layout and calls it “the largest and most modern” course in Poland.
I’m not sure how Gary Player would react to that statement, seeing as how his three-year-old, 7,272-yard course at Modry Las Golf Club in Choszczno is also large and modern. Golf World, which ranks Modry Las as one of Europe’s top-100 courses, hasn’t yet had anything to say about Sobienie Królewskie.
Golf isn’t a novelty in Poland, as the nation has roughly two dozen golf properties. And one of these days, Ford may design another one. A year or so ago, he was trying to lock up a design agreement with some developers in suburban Wroclaw.
Some information in the above post originally appeared in the February 2011 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
talking points Eyes on the Ball
Gary Player has never been shy about expressing his opinions, and these days one of his favorite topics is the ball. Like a lot of us in golf, he thinks it flies too far.
Here’s part of what Player recently told the Scotsman about the ball’s impact on golf course design:
Another change they are going to have to make is to cut the ball back. I know they are reluctant to do that, but I will take a massive bet that they will cut the ball back at some stage. . . .
There’s a man in Canada, Jamie Sadlowski, who is only 5’ 10” and only weighs 170 pounds. I was watching him hit it more than 400 yards. So he could stand on the first tee at St. Andrews and carry the green.
I played at St. Andrews the other day and worked out that in 30 years, [professionals] will drive nine of the holes. That is very bad, as you’ve got a wonderful golf course that is going to be obsolete. . . .
I’ve traveled more than any human being in the last 60 years, and at every town I go to they are changing their golf courses. They’ve changed it at St. Andrews, they’re changing them at a country course in Timbuktu. They should be leaving the golf courses as they are and just cut the ball back for professionals by 50 yards. Instead, we are spending hundreds of millions of pounds making these changes to courses all around the world. It’s all unnecessary.
The R&A say the game is the same for everyone, but it is two separate games -- one for the pros and one for the amateurs. They should leave the technology for the amateurs. Let them hit the ball 50 yards further. But in professional golf, we have to do something to stop this trend.
wild card click This is what happens when you do research on golf in Cuba while listening to Radiohead.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Short Notice, august 3, 2012
Jack Nicklaus’ design firm has opened its first golf course in Panama. The 7,324-yard track, created by Nicklaus Design, is among the attractions at Bristol Buenaventura, a 1,000-acre community roughly 80 miles southwest of Panama City. The community’s website, in a likely overstatement, says that the track will offer vacationers “an unparalleled golf experience in all of Panama -- and perhaps even the world.” Nicklaus’ company has two other Panamanian projects in its hopper, including a “signature” layout at the Viveros resort community on Isla Viveros.
It appears that Greg Norman is still grieving about the 2016 Olympics, specifically about his inability to win the most coveted $300,000 design commission in history. “Yes, I am a bit upset to a degree, because we put a lot of effort into it,” Norman told Gulf News. “I am passionate about the game, and I put everything before it because I want to see it grow. So when we didn’t win the bid in Rio, I was a bit stunned. We invested time and money into it.” Norman may have regretted making that reference to the money, because he added, “It wasn’t about the money, though. We did it for the love of the game.”
Golf now has something I didn’t even realize it was lacking: An official champagne. The PGA of America has inked Moët & Chandon, which made its reputation by doling out various
bubblies to well-known taste-makers -- Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Scarlett Johansson, Jay-Z -- to serve as its drink of choice. So let’s toast our business, or at least the most visible part of it, for becoming a marketing vehicle for an over-hyped, factory-style vintner. In this regard, the PGA joins a group that includes the European Tour, the Lawn Tennis Association, the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards, America’s Cup, Fashion Week in Milan, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Formula 1 racing, and many other organizations and events. Are alliances like this what the PGA means when it talks about “growing the game”?
Nick Faldo, Gil Hanse, and Rocco Forte will be in Italy next month, slapping backs and bending elbows at KPMG’s ninth annual Golf Business Forum. The accounting firm’s golf advisory practice plans to release some research about golf in the Mediterranean during the event, which has also attracted Dana Garmany of Troon Golf (he’ll receive a lifetime achievement award), Scott Ferrell of Gary Player Design, and Paul Stringer of Nicklaus Design. The event takes place on September 17-19, at the Renaissance Il Ciocco Tuscany Resort & Spa in Barga. To see the full list of speakers and to register, visit the forum’s website.
It appears that Greg Norman is still grieving about the 2016 Olympics, specifically about his inability to win the most coveted $300,000 design commission in history. “Yes, I am a bit upset to a degree, because we put a lot of effort into it,” Norman told Gulf News. “I am passionate about the game, and I put everything before it because I want to see it grow. So when we didn’t win the bid in Rio, I was a bit stunned. We invested time and money into it.” Norman may have regretted making that reference to the money, because he added, “It wasn’t about the money, though. We did it for the love of the game.”
Golf now has something I didn’t even realize it was lacking: An official champagne. The PGA of America has inked Moët & Chandon, which made its reputation by doling out various
bubblies to well-known taste-makers -- Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Scarlett Johansson, Jay-Z -- to serve as its drink of choice. So let’s toast our business, or at least the most visible part of it, for becoming a marketing vehicle for an over-hyped, factory-style vintner. In this regard, the PGA joins a group that includes the European Tour, the Lawn Tennis Association, the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards, America’s Cup, Fashion Week in Milan, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Formula 1 racing, and many other organizations and events. Are alliances like this what the PGA means when it talks about “growing the game”?
Nick Faldo, Gil Hanse, and Rocco Forte will be in Italy next month, slapping backs and bending elbows at KPMG’s ninth annual Golf Business Forum. The accounting firm’s golf advisory practice plans to release some research about golf in the Mediterranean during the event, which has also attracted Dana Garmany of Troon Golf (he’ll receive a lifetime achievement award), Scott Ferrell of Gary Player Design, and Paul Stringer of Nicklaus Design. The event takes place on September 17-19, at the Renaissance Il Ciocco Tuscany Resort & Spa in Barga. To see the full list of speakers and to register, visit the forum’s website.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
romania Here Comes the Sun Garden
Working in the unofficial capital of Transylvania hasn’t yet given Robert McNeil a taste for blood, but it has convinced him that golf has a promising future in former Soviet republics.
McNeil, an architect based in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, expects to break ground this summer on the fifth golf course in Romania, a nine-hole track that will serve as a drawing card for the Sun Garden resort in Cluj-Napoca. The 100-acre resort already offers a hotel, a spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a banquet center, and a wedding chapel.
Cluj-Napoca may be the second-largest city in Romania -- its metropolitan area has a population of just under 400,000 -- but Sun Garden’s course will be its first. In fact, the player-friendly, 3,200-yard layout will be the only golf venue within a two-hour drive.
“This is a big deal for this part of the country,” says McNeil. “We’re bringing golf to a place that’s never had it.”
Of course, the reason Cluj doesn’t have any courses is because it hasn’t needed any. KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice reports that Romania has just 550 “registered” golfers out of a population of nearly 22 million people. The nation once had six golf properties, but World War II and decades of suffocating communist rule put an end to them. Currently just two 18-hole courses are in play, Paul Tomita Golf Club in Alba and Tite Golf Club in Recas, as well as a pair of nine-hole tracks near Bucharest.
But the game is going to establish itself in northwestern Romania, at least if Nicolae Capusan has anything to say about it. Capusan owns Sun Garden, and he’s enlisted McNeil to design courses for two other parcels he owns nearby.
Capusan believes that golf development in Romania is “an act of courage.” McNeil thinks so too, in large part because so many of the nation’s people appear to be living a century behind the times. “If you go a mile away from Sun Garden,” he says, “there are no cars. People travel by horse and buggy.”
Nonetheless, this year McNeil also expects to scout sites for potential courses in Romania’s closest neighbors, Moldova and Serbia.
“I’m a believer in this part of the world,” he says. “Golf is just becoming popular here.”
The original version of the previous story appeared in the May 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
McNeil, an architect based in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, expects to break ground this summer on the fifth golf course in Romania, a nine-hole track that will serve as a drawing card for the Sun Garden resort in Cluj-Napoca. The 100-acre resort already offers a hotel, a spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a banquet center, and a wedding chapel.
Cluj-Napoca may be the second-largest city in Romania -- its metropolitan area has a population of just under 400,000 -- but Sun Garden’s course will be its first. In fact, the player-friendly, 3,200-yard layout will be the only golf venue within a two-hour drive.
“This is a big deal for this part of the country,” says McNeil. “We’re bringing golf to a place that’s never had it.”
Of course, the reason Cluj doesn’t have any courses is because it hasn’t needed any. KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice reports that Romania has just 550 “registered” golfers out of a population of nearly 22 million people. The nation once had six golf properties, but World War II and decades of suffocating communist rule put an end to them. Currently just two 18-hole courses are in play, Paul Tomita Golf Club in Alba and Tite Golf Club in Recas, as well as a pair of nine-hole tracks near Bucharest.
But the game is going to establish itself in northwestern Romania, at least if Nicolae Capusan has anything to say about it. Capusan owns Sun Garden, and he’s enlisted McNeil to design courses for two other parcels he owns nearby.
Capusan believes that golf development in Romania is “an act of courage.” McNeil thinks so too, in large part because so many of the nation’s people appear to be living a century behind the times. “If you go a mile away from Sun Garden,” he says, “there are no cars. People travel by horse and buggy.”
Nonetheless, this year McNeil also expects to scout sites for potential courses in Romania’s closest neighbors, Moldova and Serbia.
“I’m a believer in this part of the world,” he says. “Golf is just becoming popular here.”
The original version of the previous story appeared in the May 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
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