The Week That Was, august 25, 2013

     The Dutch company that aims to build a “floating” golf course in the Maldives may also build one in Miami. Dutch Docklands has reportedly met twice with Miami’s mayor, in the hope of winning his endorsement of a plan to create a 500- to 1,000-acre artificial island in Biscayne Bay. The island would sprout houses, hotels, office space, shopping areas, and maybe a golf course. “We hope to come to an agreement this week, the chairman of the city’s Dutch Chamber of Commerce told Miami Today. If things don’t work out in Miami, Dutch Dockland may look to do its first U.S. venture in New York City, Cincinnati, or the Florida Keys. In the Maldives, Dutch Docklands hopes to construct the world’s first “floating” 18-hole golf course, along with a nine-hole “academy” course, with development assistance from Troon Golf. The firm hasn’t announced a designer for the complex, but last year it was said to have short-listed a half-dozen candidates.

     Vietnam’s richest and most talked-about professional tournament won’t be played as scheduled next month. The Volvik-Sky Lake Vietnam Masters, a $500,000 event that the Asian Tour believes will “accelerate the development of the game in Vietnam and across Asia,” has been rescheduled for January 2014. The tour provided no explanation for the delay, except to say that it comes at the request of the event’s sponsors, a South Korean ball manufacturer and Sky Lake Golf Club in metropolitan Hanoi. The event’s promoter, David Ciclitira of Parallel Media Group, predicted earlier this year that the tournament would show “the strength of professional golf in Asia.” Agence France Presse calls the postponement “the latest unwanted development for the sport in Asia,” as it comes on the heels of the cancellation of the Singapore Open. This isn’t how the Asian Tour expected to celebrate its 10th season.

     Can a game that combines golf and soccer give a financial shot in the arm to under-performing golf properties? The game is called FootGolf, and it’s played like golf, except that players kick soccer balls into over-sized cups. For only $4,000, the city of Sacramento, California has established a FootGolf layout at its Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, and it’ll soon open one at its Bing Maloney Golf Course. The Sacramento Business Journal points out that Haggin Oaks’ traditional course mostly attracts men aged 50 and older, while the FootGolf operation attracts kids and young adults of both sexes. “It’s added a whole new element to our business,” said Mike Woods, the course’s director of golf. Woods has determined that the FootGolf track will generate $100,000 in annual revenues if it can average 30 players a day, a number that already seems to be within reach. His challenge now is to convert some of his FootGolf customers, 90 percent of whom have never been on a golf course, into golfers.

     The door on Phil Mickelson’s opportunity to buy in FireRock Country Club has officially closed. As expected, the members of the 14-year-old club in Fountain Hills, Arizona have taken possession of what a member calls “an exceptional piece of real estate with arguably the best views in the Phoenix area.” In addition, the new owners have hired the private-club division of Troon Golf to manage their Gary Panks-designed golf course. MCO Properties, which developed FireRock and its accompanying community, walked away with $5.5 million.

     The second golf course at Cabot Links is under construction, thanks in part to a loan from the government of Nova Scotia. The province has committed $8.25 million to the venture, on the grounds that it will establish the area as a world-class golf destination and create jobs and new economic opportunities for its residents. “The community of Inverness hit a hole in one with Cabot Links,” the province’s tourism minister said. Golf magazine recently named Cabot Links’ existing course, which opened just last year, as one of the world’s top 100. The forthcoming course, a Coore & Crenshaw design, is scheduled to open in 2015.

     After three false starts, Tiger Woods is finally expected to make his architectural debut next summer. Woods’ initial design is emerging at Diamante, a resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico that already features Davis Love III’s highly rated Dunes course. Joe Passov of Golf magazine reports that four of the holes on Woods’ El Cardonal layout have been shaped, and grassing is expected to begin any day. “I call the design style ‘Old California,’” Woods said. Passov doesn’t think Woods has necessarily set out to create a great course, but he believes that the track will be “walkable and playable, with variety and strategy.” Of course, Woods may simply be trying to lower expectations. When it opens, his layout will be as closely scrutinized as Donald Trump’s course in Scotland was.

     Officials in Westport, Connecticut have decided to hire a private-sector group to maintain their 18-hole golf course. The town has begun to negotiate a contract with Valley Crest Golf Course Maintenance and could have funding in place sometime next month. “The primary reason for moving to a contract golf management company is the depth of experience they bring,” the town’s parks and recreation director, Stuart McCarthy, told the Westport News. Golf Digest named Longshore Club Park Golf Course as one of the best places to play in America in 2008, but the town has apparently rested on its laurels since then. The News reports that “substandard conditions have become a contentious issue for town golfers.” Longshore’s 5,845-yard track was designed by Orrin Smith and opened in 1922. No details have been announced about the improvements that Valley Crest is expected to make, but a town official told the newspaper that there was “urgency involved in rehabilitating the course.”

     Annika Sorenstam, the greatest female golfer of all time, will receive the 2014 Old Tom Morris Award. She’ll be the fifth woman to receive the honor, which has been presented annually since 1983 by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. “Annika thrilled us as a champion golfer and has inspired us through her compassion in giving back to others in a variety of charitable endeavors,” said the GCSAA’s president, Patrick R. Finlen. During her 15-year career, Sorenstam won $22 million. Though she hasn’t played competitively for five years, she still leads the LPGA’s career money list by more than $4 million. In 2013, the GCSAA gave the Old Tom to Michael Hurdzan. The previous female winners were Patty Berg, Nancy Lopez, Judy Rankin, and Dinah Shore.

     The company that owns Matchmaker.com has acquired an online dating site for golfers. Avalanche LLC paid an undisclosed amount for Golfmates.com, in large part because the golf demographic mingles nicely with the company’s 17 other dating-related websites. “We paid attention to the likes and interests of our members and discovered that golf was extremely popular,” Meir Strahlberg, the CEO of Avalanche, said in a press release. “Now, under our direction, we will be able to continue to grow the site while offering our current members the opportunity to date, find a relationship, and share their love of golfing.” Avalanche also owns dating websites for Latin and military singles and other niche markets, but its most cleverly named property is a site for Jewish singles, Jewcier.com.