The Pipeline, may 2, 2014

     Eagle Assets Management has inked Arnold Palmer to design the golf course for its forthcoming community on the East End of Grand Cayman Island. EAM expects the King to deliver “one of the Caribbean’s top-rated courses,” one capable of hosting professional tournaments. In comments published by the Cayman Compass, the King suggested that his 18-hole track would be “one of the great golf courses of all time” and boasted that the prospect of building it “has got my excitement up more than anything other than my wife in many years.” The course will be the centerpiece of Ironwood, a 430-acre spread that will consist of at least 170 single-family houses and multifamily units, a resort-style hotel, a town center, a sports village, and various other entertainment venues.

     Some information in the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     Coore & Crenshaw has reportedly had “discussions” about designing a tournament-worthy golf course in Austin, Texas. Joe Ogilvie, a local professional golfer who’s said to be “arguably the smartest player on the tour” and a possible successor to Tim Finchem, told the Austin American-Statesman that he’s had “casual talks” with the city about reviving a decades-old plan to build one or two golf courses in Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park. “My goal is to build a public golf course that Austin’s citizens can be proud of and that is considered a valuable asset to the city, as well as a world-class place to play golf,” he said. Unfortunately, Ogilvie gives his proposal only “a 10 to 15 percent chance of happening.” Coore & Crenshaw is engaged in a similar project in Dallas, with a course that’s expected to become the home of the Byron Nelson Championship.

     If you think that the Naples, Florida area couldn’t possibly accommodate another golf community, you haven’t been reading Lennar’s market studies. The big national home builder has unveiled Bonita National Golf & Country Club, which will take shape on 500 acres in Bonita Springs. The community will feature a variety of mid-priced housing types, an activity center, a pool, and an 18-hole, Gordon Lewis-designed golf course. “We’re confident that we’ll deliver a product everyone’s pleased with,” a Lennar official told the Naples Daily News. To ensure that Bonita National’s golf course remains financially viable, Lennar has made membership mandatory for home buyers.

     Jack Nicklaus’ design firm has reportedly been commissioned to produce the golf course for a resort community on Cebu Island in the Philippines. The 18-hole, executive-length track will be the centerpiece of Duros Mountain Resort, which will take shape on 325 acres in Liloan, outside Cebu City. Duros Land Development, Inc., the community’s developer, believes the resort will serve as “a source of pride” for the residents of Cebu City and become one of their favorite vacation spots. Nicklaus’s firm hasn’t yet acknowledged the assignment, but Duros Land hasn’t been shy about discussing it with Filipino newspapers. The company hopes to open the track’s first nine holes in 2016, the second nine in 2018.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     With the Great Recession rapidly becoming a fading memory, all-but-forgotten golf ventures are finding new life. A case in point: Glacier Club, outside Durango, Colorado, plans to break ground next month on the second nine of its Glacier course. The course’s existing nine, a track co-designed by Hale Irwin and Todd Schoeder, opened in 2004. “This completes the original golf vision for our members -- to have a world-class venue that includes an opportunity for a members-only course and a semiprivate course within a resort setting,” the club’s general manager said in a press statement published by the Durango Herald. Glacier Club expects to debut its new nine by the spring of 2017. Its original course, an 18-hole track designed by Arthur Hills, opened in 1975.

     Now that the initial phase of its resort in Sri Lanka has opened, Dutch Bay Resorts is preparing to move forward with the rest of the property’s master plan. Last year, Dutch Bay opened 16 chalets at its 184-acre “hideaway retreat” near Kalpitiya, on the island nation’s western coast. The beachfront chalets, which overlook a marine sanctuary, have been built to what the company calls “five-star boutique standards” in an effort to attract wealthy travelers from India, the Middle East, Pakistan, and China who are looking to vacation in a secluded tropical setting. Phase two of Dutch Bay will consist of 80 to 100 villas, a town center, and a nine-hole, “international-standard” golf course. And in phase three, a company principal told the Daily FT that a marina and a yacht club will emerge “to attract all the wealthy Arabs and the Europeans who park their yachts in very busy places such as Monaco and Nice.” Years ago, Dutch Bay said that its golf course would be designed by a top professional golfer, but his identity still hasn’t been revealed.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the January 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     A “golf nut” in Melrose, Oregon has proposed an alternative use for some property no longer necessary to his family’s sand-and-gravel mining company: He thinks it’s an ideal spot for an 18-hole golf course and an RV park. Brant Guido came up with the idea, thinking that his family might capitalize on local wine tourism, and his father, Kelly, the owner of Umpqua Sand & Gravel, has endorsed it. Douglas County planners are expected to recommend a rezoning of Umpqua’s property, according to the Roseburg News-Review, but the family hasn’t announced when construction might begin.

     One of England’s “royal” golf properties has reached an agreement to move into new digs. Royal Norwich Golf Club, which was established in 1893, plans to leave its home in suburban Norwich and take over Weston Park Golf Club in nearby Lenwade. After a multimillion-dollar investment, the new Royal Norwich Golf Club will feature an upgraded, destination-worthy 18-hole golf course, a new nine-hole track, and a completely overhauled clubhouse. “This is a fantastic, one-off opportunity for our members to develop a club fit for the 21st century,” Royal Norwich’s captain told the Eastern Daily Press. “We intend to produce a club and course of which the members will be justly proud.” The bill for Royal Norwich’s relocation will be footed by Persimmon Homes, which has agreed to buy both Royal Norwich and Weston Park. Persimmon believes that Royal Norwich’s 120 acres can accommodate as many as 1,000 houses.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     A Los Angeles-area anesthesiologist wants to turn a 750-acre parcel outside Oak Grove, in San Diego County, into a tourist hot spot that includes a golf course and one of Southern California’s largest wineries. Roa Anne, who grew up on a farm in India, also plans to build a 250-room hotel and a restaurant. “I want to go back to my roots,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. The resort doesn’t appear to have an official name, but Anne and his nearly two dozen partners are operating at Hills Springs Farms LLC.