The Week That Was, november 3, 2013

     Maybe the sky isn’t quite the limit for golf in China. David Townend, the director of Troon Golf's operations in Asia and Australia, estimates that there are currently just 700,000 golfers in the People’s Republic, far less than many others believe, and that only half of them have actually played on a golf course. (So far, they’ve been limited to playing at driving ranges.) What’s more, Townend tells the Wall Street Journal that he thinks China won’t exceed 1,500 courses, which is just 900 more than the existing number. It’s also worth noting that if Townend’s numbers are correct, then China’s 600 existing golf courses each cater to fewer than 600 golfers.

     Just weeks after a British firm suggested that golf clubs would prosper if they allowed beginners to play for free, Tiger Woods has made essentially the same recommendation. While collecting a multimillion-dollar appearance fee for a performance in China, professional golf’s top-ranked and richest player advised the planet’s facility owners to take a cue from Mission Hills Haikou and offer complimentary rounds to kids under 16. “I think it should be duplicated around the world,” Woods said in a comment published by Golf Club Business. “It’s definitely a model that people should be looking at.” Seeing as how Woods can afford to put his money where his mouth is, what are the chances that the soon-to-open course he’s designed in Mexico will offer rounds for kids on the house?

     More evidence of an improving U.S. economy: Realtors in Park City, Utah, a favorite haunt of the rich and famous, report that real estate sales through the first three quarters of 2013 “have been very strong,” with both prices and the number of sales increasing as inventories shrink. Sales of single-family houses are up by 18 percent compared to the same period in 2012, and the median sales price has increased by $60,000, to $810,000. Houses priced at $2 million or more showed a major increase, as sales were up by more than 30 percent. The people who are buying houses in Park City may not be joining any of the area’s private golf clubs, but it isn’t because they don’t have the money.

     How much do golfers really care about golf course design? Based on the results of a recent survey, “Growing Golf in the U.K,” Syngenta has concluded that course design is “the most important factor in attracting golfers to visit a golf course,” or at least a golf course in the United Kingdom. The firm says that course design matters most to low handicappers, men, and younger players and that “clubhouse factors” -- things like the quality of a course’s food and the merchandise in its pro shop -- hardly matter at all. For this reason, it advises course owners wishing to generate more rounds to invest in their courses instead of their clubhouses. “If you have a capital sum to invest,” writes Rod Burke, one of Syngenta’s business managers, “redesigning holes, upgrading bunkers, and investing in tools to improve turf quality is going to assist in attracting more players and deliver a better return than spending money on improving clubhouse facilities.” Burke also counsels course owners to heed the quality of their turf, particularly their greens, because “the condition of the playing surfaces” gives golfers “the greatest satisfaction” during their rounds.

     The cash registers keep ringing at Black Knight International. Last week, on his 78th birthday, Gary Player announced that he’s signed a three-year contract to serve as “a global ambassador” for Berenberg, Germany’s oldest bank. The parties are long-time allies, as the 423-year-old financial institution has been supporting Player’s charitable activities for years. As part of the agreement, Player will host Berenberg-sponsored events in Europe and the United States.

     Electronic Arts, the video game designer, is going to put a new face on its golf franchise. Calling it a “mutual decision,” EA has cut its ties with Tiger Woods, its meal ticket for the past 15 years. The company hasn’t fully explained why it’s ended the relationship, but CMSWire says that sales of “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” have been “lackluster” of late and suggests that Woods doesn’t have the marketing power he once did, particularly among younger gamers. “A lot of this has to do with younger golfers coming in and picking away at Tiger,” an athletic branding consultant told the web magazine. “Look at Rory McIlroy: He is the next Tiger Woods. EA probably wants to find somebody younger.” EA will reportedly enlist the PGA Tour to help it develop its next golf game, and ESPN says that Woods is negotiating his “video game rights” with an unnamed company.

     With his first Branson, Missouri-area golf course closed and under seemingly endless renovation, Johnny Morris has purchased a second. Morris, the billionaire who owns the Bass Pro Shops chain, has acquired Murder Rock Golf & Country Club and adjacent property in nearby Hollister. Murder Rock’s 18-hole track, which was designed and built by Landmark Land Company, anchors Branson Creek, a 7,500-acre community that’s reportedly been master-planned to accommodate 12,000 houses. Morris bought the property from Glenn Patch, a Florida-based developer. He plans to turn Murder Rock into an amenity for his Big Cedar Lodge, which has a nine-hole, Jack Nicklaus “signature” course that, despite assurances of an imminent reopening, has been shuttered since 2010, if not before. And vacationers may also have to wait a while to play Murder Rock, as Morris has closed it for renovations.

     Hampton Golf Management has signed a 10-year lease on Mill Cove Golf Course, a 23-year-old facility owned by Jacksonville, Florida’s airport authority. The firm plans to give the property’s Arnold Palmer-designed golf course a $1 million overhaul that will require it to remain closed until next summer. “We’re committed to getting this course back in shape and make it one of the best public golf experiences in the area, as it was when it first opened,” the firm’s president, M. G. Orender, told the Florida Times-Union. Hampton Golf has negotiated a free ride for the first seven years of the contract, unless the course’s annual revenues exceed $1.2 million. The company operates 15 other golf properties, 11 of them in Florida.

     A black eye for golf in Vietnam: A golf course in greater Hanoi has banned the head of a government-owned company from its premises for a year, and it’s asking the rest of the nation’s courses to do the same. Nguyen Duc Son, the chairman of Hanoi Housing Management & Development Company, allegedly whacked a caddie on the head after he was given what he described as “an unnecessary reminder.” The caddie, who was carrying for another player, was briefly hospitalized. The Thanh Nien Daily reports that the incident has “attracted public attention,” with golf’s critics complaining that it reveals “the lifestyle of nouveau riche.”