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.