The Pipeline, september 12, 2014

     Can the Caribbean’s most impoverished nation transform itself into a vacation hot spot? Given Haiti’s history and the current state of its economic affairs, it’s a goal that won’t easily be achieved. But tourism officials have spent years trying to persuade international investors to fund a variety of projects, including a pair of waterfront resorts along the nation’s southern coast. According to Reuters, one will take shape on Ile-à-Vache, a 17-square-mile island southeast of Les Cayes. The other, Côtes-de-Fer, will be located on a two-mile stretch of the mainland roughly 10 miles west of Bainet. Golf courses will be part of both resorts, along with vacation villas, hotel rooms, places to eat and drink, entertainment venues, and shopping areas. Last year, Haiti attracted just 420,000 tourists, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, most of them vacationers on cruise ships who didn’t stray far from their boats. The nation’s travel numbers pale in comparison to those recorded by the Dominican Republic (4.7 million), Cuba (2.85 million), and Jamaica (2 million).

     At long last, it’s actually happening: The first U.S. golf course designed by Tiger Woods is under construction. The championship-worthy track, along with an accompanying Woods-designed “short” course, will be the featured attraction of Bluejack National, a private club in Montgomery, Texas. Both courses are scheduled to open next year, with the 18-hole layout to debut in the fall. “The opportunity is here to create a golf course unlike any other in the Houston area,” Woods said in a press release when he won the commission, “and our goal is for it to be among the best in the nation.” Without question, Woods and his supporting cast will make Bluejack National all it can be, as millions of dollars’ worth of future design contracts are riding on the outcome. And while they sweat blood, the developers will mostly be keeping their eyes on the pace of house sales.

     Government officials in Australia have agreed to write a $3 million check to spark the construction of another build-it-and-they-will-come course on the island of Tasmania. The 18-hole track will be the centerpiece of Solis, a dormant community in Orford that was originally supposed to have a slick, Greg Norman-designed golf course, along with a slew of houses, “eco-tourism” cabins, a shopping area, and a day spa. Several years ago Greg Ramsay, the Tasmanian who conceived the first course at Barnbougle Dunes, was enlisted to revive Solis. He hasn’t yet set a groundbreaking for the community’s golf course, but it appears that he’s found a designer: Mike Nuzzo, the world’s most famous unknown architect. Nuzzo’s claim to fame is Wolf Point, a rarely played 18-hole track that a rich Texan built for his own personal use. Nuzzo has been trying for years to capitalize on Wolf Point’s critical raves, and now he’ll get his chance.

     Some information in the preceding post was gathered from a story in the June 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     One of Turkey’s biggest business groups aims to create a world-class golf venue in one of the nation’s prime vacation spots. Doğuş Grubu has set out to transform Vita Park Golf Resort, a property it purchased last year, into a high-profile destination that will raise Turkey’s golf reputation and attract golfers from all over Europe and Asia. As part of its plan, the firm has enlisted Dave Sampson of European Golf Design to create a pair of 18-hole layouts at Vita Park -- a player-friendly track for vacationers and a tournament-caliber track where national and international professional events can be staged. Sampson plans to remodel and overhaul Vita Park’s existing 18-hole course and to create a new course on property that reportedly resembles “some of Arizona’s dramatic courses.” Vita Park spreads across 2,000 acres in Milas, a city 30 miles northeast of Bodrum. For what it’s worth, Lonely Planet describes Bodrum as “the Monte Carlo of the Aegean.”

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

     As political tensions in Egypt begin to ease, new life is being injected into real estate ventures that have been moving at a glacial pace. A case in point: Uptown Cairo, a “lifestyle” community in a close-in suburb of Cairo. Though sales have been slowed by economic uncertainty, houses continue to emerge in the 1,186-acre community, and its town center is scheduled to open in 2016. It seems only a matter of time before construction resumes on its Peter Harradine-designed golf course, where ground was first broken in 2008. Uptown Cairo is being developed by Emaar Misr, a subsidiary of Dubai-based Emaar Properties, one of the Middle East’s most prominent developers. Emaar Misr has modeled Uptown Cairo after Emaar Properties’ golf communities in Dubai, Arabian Ranches and the Montgomerie.

     Tourism officials in Maharashtra, India have set out to create a gigantic tourist attraction that will include a golf course, or maybe a golf complex. If approved by state planners and elected officials, the to-be-named mega-project will take shape on more than 5,000 acres in Choukul, a hill station just east of Sawantwadi. The project is still in the conceptual phase, but the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation believes it’ll include several resort-style hotels, a Formula One race track, and other attractions. DNA, an Indian news service, says the proposed course “may be the largest in India,” which suggests that it’ll probably have more than 18 holes.

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

     Anxious city officials in New Orleans, Louisiana are hoping to break ground on a long-awaited 18-hole golf course in City Park next month. The Rees Jones-designed, championship-quality track will take shape on property once occupied by the park’s East and West courses. Those courses, along with two others that once lured golfers to the park, were destroyed nearly a decade ago, when Hurricane Katrina blew through town. “It’s been a long time coming,” an unnamed observer told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “We remain cautiously optimistic. But we reserve the right to be ecstatic at a later time.” If the course can be grassed by next spring or early summer, it could open in 2016. It would complement the park’s North course, which was reopened in 2009.