The Week That Was, september 1, 2013

     Dave Thomas, one of the first touring pros to become a notable golf course architect, died last week at his home in Spain. He wasn’t especially well known in the United States, but he was a



major influence on the golf industry in Great Britain and Europe. “Of the modern British professionals,” said Ken Schofield, a former executive director of the European Tour, “he has twinned championship play with a quantity and quality of golf course designs that will endure as long as the game is played.” Thomas became a pro in 1949 and played on four Ryder Cup teams before arthritis prematurely ended his professional career. As an architect, sometimes in collaboration with Peter Alliss, he designed or redesigned a reported 100 golf courses, among them the Belfry’s Brabazon track, which has hosted more Ryder Cup championships -- four -- than any other layout on earth. Even better, though, it seemed that Thomas enjoyed his work and his life. “He was good company and over-indulged, certainly on good food and good wine,” Alliss recalled. “How he lived to be 79 is a miracle of the human spirit.” Though its namesake is gone, Thomas’ Cheshire-based design firm will live on, operated by his son, Paul.

     The trick to growing and sustaining golf in Canada, according to the “Canadian Golf Consumer Behaviour Study,” is to give occasional and infrequent golfers reasons to become “engaged” golfers. “The game needs more engaged/loyal consumers,” the study concludes, “arguably more than it needs new participants.” The strategy of building on your base is sound if your primary goal is to increase revenues. The more engaged the golfer, the more he or she will spend on rounds, equipment, lessons, apparel, and everything else. As in the United States, avid and core golfers in Canada -- 25 percent of the nation’s 5.7 million total -- account for the majority of rounds played and money spent. What this approach doesn’t do, however, is increase participation. More and more these days, it seems that mature golf markets are giving up on the prospect of finding and attracting new players.

     While he tends to a pair of courses under construction in Malaysia, Ernie Els is hoping to ink contracts for designs on three other continents. The Big Easy told KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice that he currently has work in China and Vietnam and that he’s dispatched staffers to check out opportunities in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, unspecified places in the Caribbean, and nations in Africa. “For me, it’s not just about creating great golf courses for members and visitors,” Els said. “I want to help develop the game in these regions, bring kids into golf, and, who knows, maybe discover a few star players in the future along the way.” Els’ ideal grow-the-game scenario, it seems, is one that enables him to create a “signature” golf course accompanied by an Els Club, an Els Performance Academy, Els-branded residences, and a Big Easy Wine Bar & Grill.

     A trio of private golf clubs in metropolitan Atlanta -- with courses designed by Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, and Joe Lee -- have been acquired out of foreclosure by Sequoia Golf. The Newnan-based firm has added Atlanta National Golf Club in Milton, White Columns Country Club in Alpharetta, and Polo Golf & Country Club in Cumming to its three other properties in Georgia. Sequoia, which has 17 golf properties in eight states, plans to invest $4.5 million in improvements to the facilities. “We plan to substantially improve the overall theme, feel, and exclusivity of these great clubs, with an intent focus on membership satisfaction and service,” said Joe Guerra, Sequoia’s president. With its Canongate Golf subsidiary, Sequoia owns and/or operates more than 50 private clubs and resorts, including operations under the Canongate brand.

     The members of Mira Vista Golf & Country Club, an old-line property with an aging membership, have turned over their operations to Arnold Palmer Golf Management. The club, in San Francisco’s East Bay, is the first private golf facility in California managed by Palmer, an affiliate of Century Golf Partners. “This is an extraordinary club with members who have passionately supported their club for many years,” Doug Howe, a partner with Century Golf Partners, told the Fort Mill Times. “Our goals are simply to ensure the club reaches a full membership roster and the members have fun and enjoy their club.” Palmer, which already manages three public courses in California, has secured a long-term lease on Mira Vista, which was founded in 1920. “We were impressed with their exceptional track record of providing a fine private club experience, working with members to increase membership levels, and their reverence for the history of our club,” said the club’s president, Paul Brown. Mira Vista features a classically styled 18-hole golf course that was designed by Robert Hunter. The layout was restored to its original design by Forrest Richardson, Mark Fine, and Kye Goalby in 2011.

     You can add Indonesia to the fast-growing list of nations that wish to capitalize on high-spending golf tourists. In fact, the world’s largest archipelago believes that diligent marketing to traveling golfers can eventually make it Asia’s top golfing destination. “The number of golf tourists is not as many as regular tourists, but this is a niche, high-yield market,” a tourism official told the Jakarta Post. No question, the yield is considerable. According to statistics provided by the nation’s Tourism & Creative Economy Ministry, the average golf vacationer spends between $2,500 and $5,000 during his or her holiday in Indonesia, while a conventional tourist spends a measly $1,133. And yes, those numbers serve as the foundation for the tourism ministry’s goal, which is to attract 50,000 golf travelers annually by 2014.

     Greg Norman’s design firm doesn’t appear to be very busy these days. During an appearance at Trump National Golf Club Charlotte, which features one of his courses, Norman acknowledged that his flight from Colorado to North Carolina was the first time he’d been on an airplane in 10 weeks.

     As it so often does, the National Golf Foundation has advised a U.S. city to turn over its golf operation to a management company. This time the client is Lincoln, Nebraska, which has five golf properties that have since 2010 been losing money at what the Lincoln Journal Star calls “an alarming rate.” To shrink the swelling deficit, the NGF believes, Lincoln’s golf division needs to become “more entrepreneurial” and operate “more like a business and less like a public accommodation.” A more business-minded approach, the NGF says, might include privatizing the city’s four 18-hole properties, which generate considerable play and have lots of latent potential, but not its nine-hole, par-3 course, which caters mostly to juniors and will most likely always be a poor financial performer. Even with the deck so financially stacked, however, and even if the city agrees to invest $3 million into capital improvements, the NGF doesn’t guarantee that a private operator can deliver profits. In fact, a financial projection shows six-digit losses through 2017. The city will begin to debate the NGF’s recommendations this week.

     Depressing things you read while vacationing in Utah: Park Meadows Country Club, the centerpiece of the second-oldest golf community in Park City, is a prime example of a facility built primarily to sell houses. “We asked Jack Nicklaus to design the Park Meadows course to maximize the number of home sites on the fairways,” the community’s original sales manager told Park City Magazine. Maybe that’s why some people think the in-town muni is more fun to play.