The Week That Was, november 24, 2013

     The venue for the 2016 Olympics won’t be completed next year, as originally planned, but Tim Finchem appears to be nevertheless pleased with the construction strides made of late in Rio de Janeiro. “Actually, the progress is reasonably good,” the relieved commissioner of the PGA Tour told Reuters. “We think the time line is in order. We were really concerned there, as you know, for a good period of time.” The new schedule calls for the Gil Hanse-designed course to open in 2015, although perhaps not until the second half of the year. That doesn’t leave much of a margin for error, but at least Finchem can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

     Finally, Mike Keiser has secured approval for the next leg of his Oregon Trail. Last week, after getting a nudge from the governor, the state’s parks commission unanimously endorsed the land swap Keiser needs to build Bandon Links, a pseudo-municipal golf complex, on property south of his Bandon Dunes resort. Some significant changes are on the horizon, however, for Keiser now apparently plans to build 36 holes instead of 27. Matt Ginella, a correspondent for the Golf Channel, has tweeted that Gil Hanse will design the first 18 and that four architects with a minimalist bent -- Mike DeVries, David McLay Kidd, Kyle Phillips, and Jim Urbina -- are vying to win the commission for the second.

     Acknowledging that a recent exposé about water use in California’s Coachella Valley had “lit a little fire under us,” an official with the Southern California Golf Association has announced the formation of a task force committed to water conservation. Craig Kessler, the SCGA’s director of governmental affairs, told the Desert Sun that the valley’s 124 golf properties need to “step up to the plate as an industry and figure out how to do business in a way that uses less water, uses it more efficiently.” The task force will include representatives from the valley’s courses and officials from the Coachella Valley Water District. One of its primary goals will be to identify cost-effective ways to bring either recycled or Colorado River water to more of the valley’s courses. As we all know, however, it’s easy to establish a task force. It’s much harder to turn talk into action.

     Donald Trump may soon add a second North Carolina golf property to his fast-growing golf empire. Eric Trump, a major voice in the family’s golf acquisitions, recently told the Charlotte Business Journal that he’s “looking at one other big project” in the Tar Heel state. He offered no details, but he noted that “water is something that we gravitate to” and, in a comment that might have been mouthed by his father, “we do whatever it takes to make the place the best.” Last year, the Trumps bought the Point Lake & Golf Club in Mooresville, a property they’ve branded as Trump National Golf Club Charlotte.

     When it comes to offering free rounds of golf, the operators of Pico Rivera, California’s municipal course are putting theories into practice. GolfLinks, the manager of the city’s nine-hole, executive-length track, allows kids under 18 to play for free and charges them only a dollar for a bucket of range balls. “A course that doesn’t let kids play for free is missing the boat,” Larry Taylor of GolfLinks explained to Golf Digest. “You’ll get more green fees from their parents and relatives, and you’re building supply for the future.” Of course, Taylor’s firm has an ace in the hole: The Southern California Golf Association reimburses it for the green fees and buckets it gives away. This summer, the SCGA chipped in for 474 of the former and 909 of the latter.

     More than 200 hopeful residents of suburban Charlotte, North Carolina have bought into a plan to reopen Cramer Mountain Country Club. The club, in Cramerton, has been closed since the summer of 2012, a victim of strangulating debt. Now, however, a group of home owners in the accompanying community has raised $3 million to buy the club, renovate its Dan Maples-designed golf course, and create what the group’s leader describes as “a much more progressive club -- more family-oriented, with tennis and swimming in addition to golf.” The revived, refreshed, and renamed facility -- it’ll henceforth be called Cramer Mountain Club -- will be unveiled next summer.

     The general manager of a golf property in suburban Phoenix, Arizona believes that the area’s winter golf season has gotten off to a welcome fast start. “The winter visitors are coming back earlier, and the reservations are coming in earlier than they have in the past,” Greg Ellis of Trilogy Golf Club in Peoria told KTAR radio. “Everything is looking like a very good picture for the future for us in golf.” Sure, it’s just an anecdotal report. But hope springs eternal.

     A family-owned golf property in Nebraska’s capital city has put its future -- its immediate future, at least -- into the hands of KemperSports. The Northbrook, Illinois-based management firm has assumed control of Wilderness Ridge Golf Club, the featured attraction of a 440-acre community developed by the late Jerry Schleich. Tom Schleich, a principal of the entity that owns Wilderness Ridge, was won over by what he called KemperSports’ “reputation, commitment to excellence, and focus in providing exceptional guest experience.” The club, which features a 27-hole golf complex, serves as the home of the University of Nebraska’s golf teams. “Wilderness Ridge has a reputation of being one of the best golf courses and dining experiences in the Lincoln market,” said Steve Skinner, KemperSports’ CEO. Those assets will be featured in KemperSports’ marketing pitch, as one of its primary tasks will be to pad the club’s membership rolls. KemperSports manages one other golf property in Nebraska, The Prairie Club in Valentine.

     Two’s company, three’s a crowd: On average, an English golf club has 25 members under the age of 16, and only three of them are girls. The CEO of England Golf, the group that conducted the research, called the data “sobering.”