The Week That Was, october 12, 2014

     Classic Golf Group, one of the best-known owner/operators on the Grand Strand, is getting out of the golf business. The Conway, South Carolina-based company has agreed to sell its three remaining golf properties to a Chinese group and then ride off into the sunset. “I think it’s time to move on,” said Ed Jerdon, the last surviving member of CGG’s ownership entity, who noted that, given the state of the local golf market, he was “relieved for my shareholders.” According to the Myrtle Beach Sun News, Yiqian Funding will pay $11 million for Burning Ridge Golf Club in Conway, Indian Wells Golf Club in Garden City Beach, and Founders Club in Pawleys Island, and it reportedly already has its eyes on other golf properties in the area. When the transaction with CGG is finalized, the newspaper says, Chinese investors will have purchased eight courses on the Strand within the past 15 months.

     With faith in the future and confidence in his business plan, John McConnell continues to cherry-pick distressed golf properties in the Carolinas. For an undisclosed price, his McConnell Golf Group has acquired Brook Valley Country Club, a nearly 50-year-old venue in Greenville, North Carolina. It’s the eighth property in McConnell’s fast-growing portfolio, a collection that now includes six clubs in North Carolina (among them Treyburn Country Club in Durham and Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro) and two in South Carolina. “We consider the whole region a future growth market,” McConnell told the Raleigh News & Observer. The sale ends months of uncertainty for Brook Valley, which, in a failed attempt to survive, had attempted a merger with Greenville Country Club.

     Just days before it stages one of its marquee events, the struggling European Tour has lost a major corporate sponsor. Volvo, reportedly the tour’s oldest benefactor, has pulled its funding for both the World Match Play Championship, which has had trouble attracting professional golf’s top performers, as well as the annual Golf Champions tournament. The Telegraph describes the Swedish car manufacturer’s withdrawal as “a huge blow to the tour,” which will be forced to bankroll or cancel the Volvo events until it finds replacement sponsors. Despite the decision, Volvo hasn’t soured on golf. Although the company is cutting back on its spending in Europe, it intends to extend its sponsorship of the China Open for five more years.

     With financial assistance from Wall Street, Arcis Equity Partners continues to make investments in the golf industry. Just weeks after agreeing to buy 48 golf venues from CNL Lifestyle Properties, the Irving, Texas-based private equity firm appears to have taken a controlling interest in Eagle Golf, a firm that manages 29 properties in seven U.S. states. Joe Munsch will continue to oversee Eagle Golf’s operations, but Arcis’ managing partner, Blake Walker, will become the company’s CEO. “With Arcis’ support, Eagle is now poised to expand its reach throughout the United States and into the private club market,” Munsch said in a press statement. Arcis’ investments are funded by New York City-based Fortress Investment Group.

     A Vietnamese resort community that’s been fine-tuned to the tastes of Korean vacationers will soon open its second 18-hole golf course. Sky Lake Golf Resort, an hour’s drive southwest of Hanoi, unveiled its first course, the monstrously long (7,887-yard) Lakes track, in 2012, and it expects to debut its only somewhat shorter (7,265-yard) Sky course by the end of the year. Both courses were designed by An Lee Hwan, a Korean architect who presumably understands what his countrymen expect while on a golf holiday. Sky Lake is being developed by a Korean group, DK ENC Company, Ltd., which aims to create what it calls “one of the best courses in Southeast Asia.” To enhance its chances, the company has hired IMG to manage the golf operation. Not surprisingly, the resort’s in-house pro is Korean, and Golf Asian says that the 500-acre resort serves “excellent Korean food.”  

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

     Before his career as a professional golfer completely fizzles out, Tiger Woods plans to open a restaurant. Considering the firestorm that Sergio Garcia touched off last year, do you think anybody in golf has the nerve to make any jokes about the menu?