The Week That Was, december 15, 2013

     Las Vegas Sands has abandoned its plans to build EuroVegas, its pie-in-the-sky resort outside Madrid, Spain. The massive resort had been master-planned to have six casinos, a dozen hotels, three golf courses, and lots of other attractions. Sheldon Adelson, the 80-year-old multi-billionaire who controls Las Vegas Sands, pulled the plug on it partly because he wasn’t given the tax relief he demanded and partly because he believes there are greener pastures in Asia. “There is a time and place for everything,” he said in a comment published by the New York Times, “and right now our focus is on encouraging Asian countries like Japan and Korea to dramatically enhance their tourism offering through the development of integrated resorts there.” The Spanish government rolled the dice on EuroVegas in the hope of creating thousands of desperately needed jobs. But the odds were stacked in Adelson’s favor, and, as he knew, the house always wins.

     The people at the National Golf Foundation are getting positively Orwellian. As part of what appears to be a re-education program, the trade group now contends that two-thirds of the nation’s 21 million “lapsed” golfers -- a group it defines as people between the ages of 18 and 69 who haven’t played for two years -- “aren’t really golfers at all.” These folks aren’t really golfers, the NGF argues, because they “were never committed to the game.” If they’d truly been committed, the logic goes, they’d still be golfers. Such redefinition is enough to make your head spin, because it suggests that what matters nowadays to the NGF is not how a person spends his time and money but what he feels in his soul. And it begs two questions: First, if lapsed golfers aren’t really golfers, then why did the NGF count them as golfers before they lapsed? And second, how many of the nation’s current crop of golfers -- 25.3 million of them -- aren’t really golfers?

     Lloyd Clifton, who capitalized on Florida’s residential boom of the late 1980s and 1990s like few other golf architects, died last week. Clifton’s architectural legacy is arguably the work he did at the Villages, a gigantic retirement community near Leesburg. He and his partners in Clifton, Ezell & Clifton Golf Design Group -- his son George and Ken Ezell -- have so far produced or co-produced 11 “championship” venues at the community, along with 30 nine-hole, executive-length tracks. Others will follow. They’ve also designed more than 40 other courses in the state, among them Grey Oaks Golf & Country Club in Naples, Hunters Creek Golf Course in Orlando, Remington Golf & Country Club in Kissimmee, and West Orange Country Club in Winter Garden. “The only day he didn't get up out of bed was the day he died,” his son George told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “His body just wore out.” Clifton was 89.

     At long last, the cash registers have begun to ring at Chambers Bay, the course in suburban Tacoma, Washington that will host the U.S. Open in 2015. Chambers Bay, which opened in 2007, is “on pace to have its best year since 2008 and may be close to escaping a cycle of borrowing to pay off debt,” according to the Tacoma News Tribune. The course broke even in 2008 but has operated in the red until this year, when it finally began to generate the interest its proponents predicted. Through the first nine months of 2013, the Pierce County-owned property has rung up more than 32,500 rounds, 15 percent better than it did during the same period in 2012, and revenues from greens fees and other golf operations are up by nearly $1 million, a 27 percent increase. Local officials attribute the financial boost to increased play from non-resident golfers, who are willing to pay a premium -- as much as $219 -- for the privilege of playing a U.S. Open venue.

     The end is near for Jeff Silverstein’s Carolina Trail. Silverstein, the principal of IRI Golf, has agreed to place the trail’s five remaining properties into foreclosure, with a bankruptcy filing and a sale to follow. “They should be sold pretty quickly,” he told the Charlotte Observer. “Within 60 or so days.” The group consists of four company-owned venues in metropolitan Charlotte, North Carolina -- among them Birkdale Golf Club in Huntersville, The Divide Golf Club in Matthews, and Waterford Golf Club in Rock Hill, South Carolina -- and Tradition Golf Club in Charlotte, which is leased. The other Carolina Trail courses, Skybrook Golf Club in Huntersville and Charlotte Golf Links in Charlotte, were placed into receivership last summer. Last month, Traditional Golf Properties took over management of the trail’s final five.

     Greg Norman, the “signature” golf course architect, credits his success to “vertical” thinking -- the kind of how-can-we-capitalize-on-this exploitation that he says made Ralph Lauren what he is today. Here’s how Norman explained the shape of his mind in an interview with Golf magazine: “When someone comes to me with millions or even tens of millions of dollars to design a course as part of a real-estate development or resort, I know I can leverage it by, say, stocking the cellars with my wine, the pro shop with Greg Norman Collection clothing, the kitchen with my Greg Norman Australian Prime steaks. They’re already investing in the value of my brand, so why not add some scale to it?” It’s unfortunate that Norman views Lauren as a role model, for Lauren built his success on a fake name, WASP idolatry, and the vacant gazes of beautiful models. Today, he’s known mostly for producing a line of over-priced goods that nobody with good taste would ever buy. Is that the kind of legacy Norman intends to leave? Because while he thinks vertically of squeezing money out of his clients, his competitors are thinking horizontally about producing great golf courses.

     The Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, Inc. has reportedly paid $4.7 million for Standard Country Club, one of the oldest private enclaves in Louisville, Kentucky. The club, which was founded in the 1870s, is said to be $4 million in debt. Standard features an 18-hole golf course that was designed by Robert Bruce Harris and opened its first nine in the early 1950s. The fund, which reportedly has more than $90 million in the bank, has previously invested in medical real estate and local health-care operations. For the time being, it plans to continue operating Standard as a private club, under a lease agreement. It’s begun to evaluate its options, however, and early next year it expects to engage the local community to determine the future use of the 150-acre property.

     A company founded by Hale Irwin wants to buy a semiprivate golf club in Colorado’s Animas River Valley. Irwin Golf Management has submitted an undisclosed offer for Dalton Ranch Golf Club, which features an 18-hole, Ken Dye-designed golf course. The club is the featured attraction of a community just north of Durango. The club’s members now have 30 days to match Irwin’s offer, according to the Durango Herald. If they choose to proceed with a purchase, they’ll have an additional 30 days to secure financing and close on the transaction. Irwin’s company manages one golf property, Terradyne Country Club in Andover, Kansas.

     The Red Headed Stranger wants to sell his golf course. Willie Nelson, a legend in American music, hopes to get $3 million for Pedernales Golf Club in Spicewood, Texas. The country-music singer and songwriter reportedly bought the club and its nine-hole, 45-year-old golf course out of bankruptcy in 1979 (at the time, it was known as Briarcliff Yacht & Golf Club) and has reportedly been covering its losses of late. “Whoever buys this will have to have deep pockets,” said the course’s pro. “It’s expensive to run.” The club, which is also known as Willie Nelson’s Cut ’n’ Putt, includes a recording studio.