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.