It isn’t often that golf news seeps into mass-market media, but last week millions of eyes were trained on the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and its business arm, the R&A. Succumbing to public and corporate pressure, the club has scheduled a vote on a proposal that would open its doors to female members for the first time. The ballots will be cast in September, and the club has recommended that its more than 2,000 members approve the proposal. “It’s something the R&A needs to do, and we’re trying to be as forward-looking as we can today,” said Peter Dawson, who serves as both the club’s secretary and the R&A’s CEO. The source of this historic initiative can be traced to January, when an official of HSBC, one of the R&A’s most generous sugar daddies, complained of the “sense of segregation” that surrounds the Open Championship. Money talks, and its voice was heard loud and clear by the R&A. Although a decision to admit women to the Royal & Ancient won’t change the fundamental character of the golf industry, it may change perceptions that the world at large has of golf’s social purposes and the old codgers who write its rules. And perception, as we’ve so often heard, is reality.
Once again, golf’s institutional powers are publicly expressing frustration over the sluggish pace of golf construction in Rio de Janeiro. “We are not satisfied,” the R&A’s Peter Dawson acknowledged last week. “While the design of the course looks really good, the progress with the construction is not where we want it to be.” Dawson still believes that the Gil Hanse-designed layout will be ready for the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics, but he fears that it won’t be ready in time for a warm-up event in 2015 that would allow the International Golf Federation to identify and eliminate any design kinks. One other thing: Dawson reports that weeds are at this time the only greenery on the course.
Pete Dye has confirmed it: Herb Kohler will build a fifth golf course in Wisconsin, and it’ll take shape on part of a 247-acre parcel north of Kohler-Andrae State Park, just a short drive from the golf complexes he designed at Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run. Dye will design Kohler’s forthcoming course, a layout he believes will be capable of hosting a U.S. Open or other any premier professional event. Before Mike Keiser decided to make his presence felt in the Dairy State, Kohler had earmarked the property for what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes as “a luxury wilderness retreat.” Dye, who hasn’t set foot on the site in close to 30 years, expects to visit in May.
During a trip to China, Geoff Russell of Golf Business News learned the identity of Wentworth Club’s new owner. Russell reports that Richard Caring has sold his 63-hole complex in Surrey -- one of England’s premier golf venues -- to Chanchai Ruayrungruang, the owner of Pine Valley Golf Club in greater Beijing. The price for Caring’s 90 percent stake, according to the Telegraph, was “around” £144 million ($240 million). Ruayrungruang, who made at least part of his money by selling Red Bull, has been on the prowl for a golf property in Russell’s part of the world since at least 2012, when he came close to buying the Fota Island resort in County Cork, Ireland. In buying Wentworth, he gets a 90-year-old property with two Harry Colt-designed courses that’s hosted a pair of Ryder Cup championships and a slew of European PGA championships. The Telegraph, which claimed not to know the identity of Wentworth’s purchaser, expects an official announcement on the sale to be made next week.
Sequoia Golf Group has unveiled a more-for-the-money golf option in suburban Atlanta, Georgia that includes playing privileges three post-modern courses. The Newman-based firm has begun marketing the Sequoia Club, which offers access to two clubs in Milton -- Atlanta National Golf Club and White Columns Country Club -- as well as one in Alpharetta, the Manor Golf & Country Club. “This is highly relevant to golfers and people who desire a private country club atmosphere,” said Sequoia’s president, Joe Guerra. Atlanta National and White Columns had previously been joined as a duo, but they became part of a trio several weeks ago, when Sequoia closed on its purchase of the Manor. Sequoia owns a fourth venue in the area, Polo Golf & Country Club in Cumming, and the Atlanta Business Chronicle believes it’ll soon acquire a fifth.
Donald Trump may have abandoned his plans to complete the master plan for his golf resort in Aberdeenshire, but he hasn’t abandoned Scotland altogether. Trump told the Inverurie Herald that he considers his Menie Estate to be a family heirloom that will forever bear his name. “We cherish the existing course and are immensely proud of it,” Trump said. “It will never be sold and will always be in the Trump family.” At least for now, though, it’s the black sheep of the family.
First it set up shop in Canada and Latin America, and this year the PGA Tour will underwrite a dozen events in China. So where does the global colossus go next? Greg Gilligan, who oversees the tour’s activities in Asia, tells the Times of India that the next stops on the path to world domination will likely be Hong Kong, Taipei, and Macau. And after that? Denials abound, but the European Tour is ripe for the taking.
Greg Norman, the Bobby Flay of the golf industry, has agreed to endorse yet another product. Norman, the “signature” course designer, is now cashing checks from BVG Global Management Group, which has introduced a lens that will enable people with poor vision to read what’s on their computer screens more clearly. The lens will be sold on the Home Shopping Network and in selected stores. BVG has also inked Carol Alt, a former Playboy and Sports Illustrated model, to sell its lens.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Vital Signs, march 28, 2014
As should be readily apparent, hard times in general and the Great Recession in particular have been a godsend to the nation’s golf management companies. The National Golf Foundation reports that the number of U.S. golf facilities operated by third parties has increased by 53 percent over the past 12 years – from 1,472 in 2001 to more than 2,245 in 2013. Half of the increase, according to the NGF, has occurred since 2008, the year that the economy took a 1929-style nosedive and dragged the golf business down with it. “Third-party management may not be the right solution for all facilities,” the NGF writes, “but the right company can help struggling golf courses in many ways.” And despite the enviable growth that private-sector managers have recorded of late, it’s likely that we ain’t seen nothin’ yet, as these days only 15 percent of the nation’s golf facilities are operated by private groups. There’s a lot more market share waiting to be claimed.
Larry Hirsh, a Pennsylvania-based golf consultant, believes that entrance fees at U.S. private clubs “are beginning to recover after a long period of decline or stagnation.” If Hirsh is right, this is news that the nation’s private clubs have been dying to hear. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find other observers who agree with him. Hirsh bases his claim, he says, on evidence gathered at clubs in Florida, Philadelphia, metropolitan New York, California, and the Carolinas. Clearly, these are some of America’s prime golf markets, and clubs in many other places -- the South, the Southwest, the Midwest -- may not be as near to recovery. Still, Hirsh’s observation shouldn’t be dismissed. He may be the canary in the coal mine.
Here’s a score: 72-17. It’s the current ratio of men to women in Great Britain’s golf clubs, according to a recent study. The Hillier Hopkins LLP Golf Survey Report has also determined that in 2013 a distinct majority of British clubs -- 58 percent -- either lost members or finished the year where they started. Nonetheless, Hillier Hopkins thinks British clubs have reasons to be optimistic. “Overall, 2012 was a year of consolidation for most clubs, and 2013 has seen some improvements,” the study concludes. “It does feel that the decline in membership that has been evident in recent years has at least halted and is now in many cases on the rebound.” If the industry is indeed on the rebound, however, it’s fair to wonder exactly how big a bounce British clubs can expect in the near future. For the answer to that question, consider another score: 59-19. It’s the ratio of British club members over the age of 50 to those under the age of 35.
For the first time since it opened, in 2007, Chambers Bay Golf Course has turned a profit. The municipal layout in suburban Tacoma, Washington made $382,000 in 2013, according to an accounting by its owner, Pierce County. The Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed layout rang up just a shade under 39,000 rounds last year, a 12 percent increase over the number posted in 2012. Chambers Bay will host the U.S. Open in 2015, and county officials credit the intensifying buzz surrounding the event for both the increase in play and a 40 percent boost in merchandise sales. Even better, the property’s brightening financial picture has attracted a developer who’s promised to build a clubhouse, a hotel, a conference center, and a second Jones-designed track.
The municipal golf operations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana have lost $2.8 million over the past three years, and nobody is suggesting that a turnaround is on the immediate horizon. The losses have led some city officials to question whether it makes economic sense to continue operating seven golf properties, only one of which turned a profit in 2013. “There does come a point where we have got to be prudent with taxpayer money,” a city official noted to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. In search of a solution, the city plans to hire a consultant who’ll identify the problems and master-plan a profitable future.
President Obama played 46 rounds of golf in 2013. We should all be so lucky.
Larry Hirsh, a Pennsylvania-based golf consultant, believes that entrance fees at U.S. private clubs “are beginning to recover after a long period of decline or stagnation.” If Hirsh is right, this is news that the nation’s private clubs have been dying to hear. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find other observers who agree with him. Hirsh bases his claim, he says, on evidence gathered at clubs in Florida, Philadelphia, metropolitan New York, California, and the Carolinas. Clearly, these are some of America’s prime golf markets, and clubs in many other places -- the South, the Southwest, the Midwest -- may not be as near to recovery. Still, Hirsh’s observation shouldn’t be dismissed. He may be the canary in the coal mine.
Here’s a score: 72-17. It’s the current ratio of men to women in Great Britain’s golf clubs, according to a recent study. The Hillier Hopkins LLP Golf Survey Report has also determined that in 2013 a distinct majority of British clubs -- 58 percent -- either lost members or finished the year where they started. Nonetheless, Hillier Hopkins thinks British clubs have reasons to be optimistic. “Overall, 2012 was a year of consolidation for most clubs, and 2013 has seen some improvements,” the study concludes. “It does feel that the decline in membership that has been evident in recent years has at least halted and is now in many cases on the rebound.” If the industry is indeed on the rebound, however, it’s fair to wonder exactly how big a bounce British clubs can expect in the near future. For the answer to that question, consider another score: 59-19. It’s the ratio of British club members over the age of 50 to those under the age of 35.
For the first time since it opened, in 2007, Chambers Bay Golf Course has turned a profit. The municipal layout in suburban Tacoma, Washington made $382,000 in 2013, according to an accounting by its owner, Pierce County. The Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed layout rang up just a shade under 39,000 rounds last year, a 12 percent increase over the number posted in 2012. Chambers Bay will host the U.S. Open in 2015, and county officials credit the intensifying buzz surrounding the event for both the increase in play and a 40 percent boost in merchandise sales. Even better, the property’s brightening financial picture has attracted a developer who’s promised to build a clubhouse, a hotel, a conference center, and a second Jones-designed track.
The municipal golf operations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana have lost $2.8 million over the past three years, and nobody is suggesting that a turnaround is on the immediate horizon. The losses have led some city officials to question whether it makes economic sense to continue operating seven golf properties, only one of which turned a profit in 2013. “There does come a point where we have got to be prudent with taxpayer money,” a city official noted to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. In search of a solution, the city plans to hire a consultant who’ll identify the problems and master-plan a profitable future.
President Obama played 46 rounds of golf in 2013. We should all be so lucky.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
The Week That Was, march 23, 2014
In what may very well be a preview of the future, California’s persistent drought has claimed its first high-prestige golf course. Diablo Grande, an upscale community west of Patterson, can no longer irrigate its “signature” Legends track due to evaporating local water supplies. The Troon Golf-managed layout, a co-design by Jack Nicklaus and Gene Sarazen, will close when it’s no longer playable, probably next month. The community’s Ranch course, a Denis Griffiths design that’s been described as “essential to residential view sheds,” will continue to be watered. Nobody has as yet suggested when -- or if -- the Legends course might reopen.
Vladimir Putin’s devilish empire building has strained relations between Russia and the rest of the civilized world, but it could provide a boost to resort development in Crimea. Russia’s ministry of culture has offered proposals to support Crimea’s tourism industry, and the Gulf Times reports that Ruslan Baisarov, a wealthy developer from Chechnya, wants to build a resort on the Black Sea that will include hotels, a marina, a spa, an amusement park, a water park, and a golf course. “Up to 40,000 people would be able to vacation at the complex every year,” Baisarov told a Russian newspaper. Crimea nowadays attracts 6 million travelers a year, according to the Times, 40 percent of them from Russia.
In its first year as a publicly traded company, ClubCorp generated $627 million from its golf operations, according to a year-end financial statement. The ClubCorp network, including 154 golf and country-club properties, counted 146,800 members in 2013, an increase of 1.2 percent over the previous year. The company’s chief financial officer reports that he’s seeing “an increase in new members, an increase in club usage, and an increase in average revenue per member visit.” The annual report didn’t address ClubCorp’s performance in regard to its “central purpose,” which the company claims is “building relationships and enriching lives.” It’s possible that such purposes aren’t easily quantified.
The golf operations in Salt Lake City, Utah are on the brink of slipping into a financial “death spiral,” according to an analysis by the National Golf Foundation. The Jupiter, Florida-based trade group contends that the eight golf properties are in “declining physical condition,” says the Salt Lake Tribune, and need at least $11 million worth of near-term upgrades -- money that the city claims it doesn’t have. If the properties aren’t improved soon, however, the NGF predicts that they’ll be further drained of income as the area’s golfers seek out greener pastures. Salt Lake City’s problem has been years in the making, as various administrations have put off making the investments necessary to maintain the viability of their golf assets. Now, the long-avoided day of reckoning appears to have arrived.
Some will sneer, but a growing number of U.S. golf courses have come to view footgolf -- a game that blends elements of soccer and golf -- as a viable alternative revenue stream. More than 60 golf properties in North America are now offering footgolf, and Upstart Business Journal reports that 39 footgolf venues are expected to open this spring. “It’s a good way to bring new bodies to the course and introduce people to our facilities,” the manager of a golf course in Minnesota told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The sport’s growth has even gotten the attention of Ted Bishop, the PGA of America’s president, who’s apparently agreed to participate in a footgolf match. “The interest that I’m already getting from the soccer community on the sport is unbelievable,” he said. Footgolf’s growth will certainly be slowed by resistance from traditionalists in the golf industry, but some venues -- municipal courses in particular -- may not have the luxury of just saying no.
Troon Golf has secured its second management contract in Kansas. Troon Privé, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based firm’s private club division, has begun to operate Salina Country Club, a facility in Salina that was established in 1911. Jim McLaughlin of Troon Privé has promised to deliver “an enhanced lifestyle experience” to Salina’s 680 members. Elsewhere in the Sunflower State, Troon manages a daily-fee track, Ironhorse Golf Club in Leawood.
It took a while, but the price finally got right for Blarney Golf Resort. The eight-year-old property, in County Cork, Ireland, has been sold to Tom O’Gorman, a former oil man described by the Belfast Telegraph as “a low-key investor from Northern Ireland.” O’Gorman hasn’t disclosed the size of the check he wrote, but the receivers in control of the 420-acre resort were most recently asking for €2.5 million ($3.47 million). Blarney features a 61-room hotel, meeting space, and an 18-hole, John Daly-designed golf course. It’s been on the market since 2009.
For years, titanium clubs were among the hottest products on the market. And according to researchers at Cal Irvine, under the right conditions they can actually start fires.
Vladimir Putin’s devilish empire building has strained relations between Russia and the rest of the civilized world, but it could provide a boost to resort development in Crimea. Russia’s ministry of culture has offered proposals to support Crimea’s tourism industry, and the Gulf Times reports that Ruslan Baisarov, a wealthy developer from Chechnya, wants to build a resort on the Black Sea that will include hotels, a marina, a spa, an amusement park, a water park, and a golf course. “Up to 40,000 people would be able to vacation at the complex every year,” Baisarov told a Russian newspaper. Crimea nowadays attracts 6 million travelers a year, according to the Times, 40 percent of them from Russia.
In its first year as a publicly traded company, ClubCorp generated $627 million from its golf operations, according to a year-end financial statement. The ClubCorp network, including 154 golf and country-club properties, counted 146,800 members in 2013, an increase of 1.2 percent over the previous year. The company’s chief financial officer reports that he’s seeing “an increase in new members, an increase in club usage, and an increase in average revenue per member visit.” The annual report didn’t address ClubCorp’s performance in regard to its “central purpose,” which the company claims is “building relationships and enriching lives.” It’s possible that such purposes aren’t easily quantified.
The golf operations in Salt Lake City, Utah are on the brink of slipping into a financial “death spiral,” according to an analysis by the National Golf Foundation. The Jupiter, Florida-based trade group contends that the eight golf properties are in “declining physical condition,” says the Salt Lake Tribune, and need at least $11 million worth of near-term upgrades -- money that the city claims it doesn’t have. If the properties aren’t improved soon, however, the NGF predicts that they’ll be further drained of income as the area’s golfers seek out greener pastures. Salt Lake City’s problem has been years in the making, as various administrations have put off making the investments necessary to maintain the viability of their golf assets. Now, the long-avoided day of reckoning appears to have arrived.
Some will sneer, but a growing number of U.S. golf courses have come to view footgolf -- a game that blends elements of soccer and golf -- as a viable alternative revenue stream. More than 60 golf properties in North America are now offering footgolf, and Upstart Business Journal reports that 39 footgolf venues are expected to open this spring. “It’s a good way to bring new bodies to the course and introduce people to our facilities,” the manager of a golf course in Minnesota told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The sport’s growth has even gotten the attention of Ted Bishop, the PGA of America’s president, who’s apparently agreed to participate in a footgolf match. “The interest that I’m already getting from the soccer community on the sport is unbelievable,” he said. Footgolf’s growth will certainly be slowed by resistance from traditionalists in the golf industry, but some venues -- municipal courses in particular -- may not have the luxury of just saying no.
Troon Golf has secured its second management contract in Kansas. Troon Privé, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based firm’s private club division, has begun to operate Salina Country Club, a facility in Salina that was established in 1911. Jim McLaughlin of Troon Privé has promised to deliver “an enhanced lifestyle experience” to Salina’s 680 members. Elsewhere in the Sunflower State, Troon manages a daily-fee track, Ironhorse Golf Club in Leawood.
It took a while, but the price finally got right for Blarney Golf Resort. The eight-year-old property, in County Cork, Ireland, has been sold to Tom O’Gorman, a former oil man described by the Belfast Telegraph as “a low-key investor from Northern Ireland.” O’Gorman hasn’t disclosed the size of the check he wrote, but the receivers in control of the 420-acre resort were most recently asking for €2.5 million ($3.47 million). Blarney features a 61-room hotel, meeting space, and an 18-hole, John Daly-designed golf course. It’s been on the market since 2009.
For years, titanium clubs were among the hottest products on the market. And according to researchers at Cal Irvine, under the right conditions they can actually start fires.
Friday, March 21, 2014
The Pipeline, march 21, 2014
By the spring of 2016, Bandon Dunes will likely have some competition. Curry County, Oregon’s planning commission has unanimously approved Pacific Gales, an 18-hole, stand-alone golf course that will take shape on part of a 1,100-acre tract near Port Orford, a 40-minute drive south of Bandon. Dave Esler, the course’s designer, has promised to produce “something extraordinary, because the site deserves it,” and he believes his 18-hole, au naturel track “may even become the best one in the neighborhood.” The developers, a group led by Jim Haley, hope to begin moving earth this spring, provided that appeals aren’t lodged.
Few golf course architects know Indonesia as well as Bob Moore. The North Carolina-based architect has designed or redesigned five of the nation’s roughly 140 courses, and these days he has another one under construction, one set to break ground, and three others in the pipeline. Moore, a principal of JMP Golf Design Group, attributes at least part of his success to his ability to create courses that offer a pleasurable round to the average golfer. “It is easy to design difficult golf courses,” he said in an interview with the Jakarta Globe. “The magic is designing golf holes that are fun to play and that golfers want to play again and again.” Today, Moore’s Bukit Pandawa Golf Course, an 18-hole, executive-length track, is taking shape in Bali. This summer, he expects to start building a course at Kota Baru Parahyangan, a master-planned community in Bandung, the capital of West Java. As for the tracks in the pipeline, he isn’t talking about them yet.
In an attempt to become one of Cambodia’s premier golf destinations, a recently opened club in suburban Phnom Penh is laying plans to build a second 18-hole track. Garden City Golf Club is the centerpiece of a 2,500-acre “satellite city” that’s emerging roughly 20 miles northeast of the capital city. Its existing course, officially unveiled in the spring of 2013, was designed by Major General Weerayudth Phetbuasak, a Thai architect who’s also been commissioned to create course number two. LYP Group Company, Ltd., the property’s developer, believes that Garden City’s existing layout ranks as “the best golf course in Cambodia of truly international standard.” It may hear objections from Angkor Golf Resort in Siem Reap, which features a Nick Faldo-designed layout that Golfasian, a golf travel service, says is “the best golf course in Cambodia by a wide margin.” Second place may be up for grabs, however, as Cambodia has only about a half-dozen golf properties. Garden City hopes to open the second 18 in 2015 or 2016.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the December 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
One of the nation’s premier “lifestyle” developers aims to revive a dead golf course in Amenia, New York. Discovery Land Company wants to build a resort-style community around Silo Ridge Golf Course, an 18-hole, Al Zikorus-designed layout that’s been closed since 2009. The 850-acre community will feature a lodge and houses tailored to the high end of the market. “It will be a stunning project for Amenia, New York,” a town supervisor told the Millbrook Independent. Years ago, another development group had hired Ernie Els to redesign Silo Ridge. DLC has enlisted Tom Fazio, one of its go-to architects, for the job. Fazio has designed the courses for a half-dozen of DLC’s 14 U.S. golf communities, and he’s also going to create one for the Hills at East Quogue, a property that DLC wants to develop on Long Island.
A golf community in Australia’s Hunter Valley, its development foiled for years by the Great Recession, appears to be making a comeback. Anvil Creek, which is to occupy 1,045 acres outside Cessnock, New South Wales, was proposed in 2005 and approved in 2008 but couldn’t secure financing and appeared to be dying or dead. Now, however, the Maitland Mercury reports that Greta Estates, Ltd. is “modernizing” its development plans and seeking zoning changes that will allow it to redesign its proposed Graham Marsh-designed golf course. The company believes the track can create the “critical mass needed to market the area as a major golf destination.” Anvil Creek’s original master plan called for 1,364 houses, a resort-style hotel with meeting space, a vineyard, a shopping area, a wellness center, and an organic farm.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the December 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
The engineering affiliate of China’s biggest infrastructure contractor plans to build a golf course in southern Sri Lanka. China Harbor Engineering Company will build the course, along with a 250-room hotel and a duty-free shopping complex, in Mattala, a town just north of Hambantota. The company is familiar with the area, for it built the just-opened Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport. China Harbor is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, a publicly traded, Beijing-based conglomerate that ranks first among China’s international contractors and has claimed a spot near the top of Engineering News Record’s list of the world’s largest contractors. The airport and the golf course are just two of several large-scale projects (among them a new harbor and another hotel) that China Harbor has undertaken in Sri Lanka. It’s signed an agreement to build the course with the airport’s operator, the government-controlled Airport & Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd.
Michal Goli is following through on his promise to build an 18-hole golf course on a repurposed industrial site in Bytom, Poland. The local Toyota dealer has opened the first nine holes of his Armada Golf Club, the centerpiece of a golf community that’s emerging from the wasteland that had once been the Szombierki coal mine. The track is said to be the first in Poland to be built on a brownfield. Adjacent to it, Goli plans to add a nursing home and a retail/commercial area, and in the future he aims to transform the mine’s landmark structure -- a 15-story hoisting tower -- into a small hotel with some apartments, office space, and other attractions. The golf course has been designed by Christoph Städler, a German architect, and it’s being built by German golf construction firm, Golfplatzbau GmbH. Work on the second nine will begin next year, and the completed venue could open in 2015.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the December 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
This spring, six years after the initial groundbreaking, Mark Hollinger debuts his second golf course for Jiuzhaigou HonYee Investment Company. The 18-hole track will be the featured attraction at the Jiuzhaigou resort, which is emerging near Jiuzhai Valley National Park in Sichuan Province. Hollinger, a principal California-based JMP Golf Design Group, once called golf carts “the worst thing the Americans ever did for golf,” but they’ll be required at Jiuzhaigou, for the course has been laid out on a hilly, rugged site. Previously, HonYee had commissioned Hollinger to design Luxe Hills Golf & Country Club, a 27-hole complex in Chengdu, where HonYee is headquartered. In all, Hollinger has created more than a dozen courses in China, although he believes the quality of the work produced by the nation’s golf contractors is “pitiful.”
Few golf course architects know Indonesia as well as Bob Moore. The North Carolina-based architect has designed or redesigned five of the nation’s roughly 140 courses, and these days he has another one under construction, one set to break ground, and three others in the pipeline. Moore, a principal of JMP Golf Design Group, attributes at least part of his success to his ability to create courses that offer a pleasurable round to the average golfer. “It is easy to design difficult golf courses,” he said in an interview with the Jakarta Globe. “The magic is designing golf holes that are fun to play and that golfers want to play again and again.” Today, Moore’s Bukit Pandawa Golf Course, an 18-hole, executive-length track, is taking shape in Bali. This summer, he expects to start building a course at Kota Baru Parahyangan, a master-planned community in Bandung, the capital of West Java. As for the tracks in the pipeline, he isn’t talking about them yet.
In an attempt to become one of Cambodia’s premier golf destinations, a recently opened club in suburban Phnom Penh is laying plans to build a second 18-hole track. Garden City Golf Club is the centerpiece of a 2,500-acre “satellite city” that’s emerging roughly 20 miles northeast of the capital city. Its existing course, officially unveiled in the spring of 2013, was designed by Major General Weerayudth Phetbuasak, a Thai architect who’s also been commissioned to create course number two. LYP Group Company, Ltd., the property’s developer, believes that Garden City’s existing layout ranks as “the best golf course in Cambodia of truly international standard.” It may hear objections from Angkor Golf Resort in Siem Reap, which features a Nick Faldo-designed layout that Golfasian, a golf travel service, says is “the best golf course in Cambodia by a wide margin.” Second place may be up for grabs, however, as Cambodia has only about a half-dozen golf properties. Garden City hopes to open the second 18 in 2015 or 2016.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the December 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
One of the nation’s premier “lifestyle” developers aims to revive a dead golf course in Amenia, New York. Discovery Land Company wants to build a resort-style community around Silo Ridge Golf Course, an 18-hole, Al Zikorus-designed layout that’s been closed since 2009. The 850-acre community will feature a lodge and houses tailored to the high end of the market. “It will be a stunning project for Amenia, New York,” a town supervisor told the Millbrook Independent. Years ago, another development group had hired Ernie Els to redesign Silo Ridge. DLC has enlisted Tom Fazio, one of its go-to architects, for the job. Fazio has designed the courses for a half-dozen of DLC’s 14 U.S. golf communities, and he’s also going to create one for the Hills at East Quogue, a property that DLC wants to develop on Long Island.
A golf community in Australia’s Hunter Valley, its development foiled for years by the Great Recession, appears to be making a comeback. Anvil Creek, which is to occupy 1,045 acres outside Cessnock, New South Wales, was proposed in 2005 and approved in 2008 but couldn’t secure financing and appeared to be dying or dead. Now, however, the Maitland Mercury reports that Greta Estates, Ltd. is “modernizing” its development plans and seeking zoning changes that will allow it to redesign its proposed Graham Marsh-designed golf course. The company believes the track can create the “critical mass needed to market the area as a major golf destination.” Anvil Creek’s original master plan called for 1,364 houses, a resort-style hotel with meeting space, a vineyard, a shopping area, a wellness center, and an organic farm.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the December 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
The engineering affiliate of China’s biggest infrastructure contractor plans to build a golf course in southern Sri Lanka. China Harbor Engineering Company will build the course, along with a 250-room hotel and a duty-free shopping complex, in Mattala, a town just north of Hambantota. The company is familiar with the area, for it built the just-opened Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport. China Harbor is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, a publicly traded, Beijing-based conglomerate that ranks first among China’s international contractors and has claimed a spot near the top of Engineering News Record’s list of the world’s largest contractors. The airport and the golf course are just two of several large-scale projects (among them a new harbor and another hotel) that China Harbor has undertaken in Sri Lanka. It’s signed an agreement to build the course with the airport’s operator, the government-controlled Airport & Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd.
Michal Goli is following through on his promise to build an 18-hole golf course on a repurposed industrial site in Bytom, Poland. The local Toyota dealer has opened the first nine holes of his Armada Golf Club, the centerpiece of a golf community that’s emerging from the wasteland that had once been the Szombierki coal mine. The track is said to be the first in Poland to be built on a brownfield. Adjacent to it, Goli plans to add a nursing home and a retail/commercial area, and in the future he aims to transform the mine’s landmark structure -- a 15-story hoisting tower -- into a small hotel with some apartments, office space, and other attractions. The golf course has been designed by Christoph Städler, a German architect, and it’s being built by German golf construction firm, Golfplatzbau GmbH. Work on the second nine will begin next year, and the completed venue could open in 2015.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the December 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
This spring, six years after the initial groundbreaking, Mark Hollinger debuts his second golf course for Jiuzhaigou HonYee Investment Company. The 18-hole track will be the featured attraction at the Jiuzhaigou resort, which is emerging near Jiuzhai Valley National Park in Sichuan Province. Hollinger, a principal California-based JMP Golf Design Group, once called golf carts “the worst thing the Americans ever did for golf,” but they’ll be required at Jiuzhaigou, for the course has been laid out on a hilly, rugged site. Previously, HonYee had commissioned Hollinger to design Luxe Hills Golf & Country Club, a 27-hole complex in Chengdu, where HonYee is headquartered. In all, Hollinger has created more than a dozen courses in China, although he believes the quality of the work produced by the nation’s golf contractors is “pitiful.”
Sunday, March 16, 2014
The Week That Was, march 16, 2014
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club covets one of its neighbors’ goods: the Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course at National Golf Club. North Carolina’s premier golf destination aims to create a private club by combining its #7 course with National’s 18-hole, 25-year-old layout. “It will be a premier club like no other in the country,” a Pinehurst official told the Southern Pines Pilot. “Our amenities will be second to none.” The sellers are Ken and Claudia Robinette, who plan to continue building houses in the accompanying community. “We believe [the sale] will enhance the value of real estate within the club,” said Claudia Robinette. The transaction must be approved by both clubs’ members and boards.
The golf courses in California’s Coachella Valley have set out to reduce their water use by at least 10 percent. A large majority of the valley’s 124 courses use ground water for irrigation, and local stocks are rapidly being depleted. The courses haven’t adopted a specific water-saving game plan, but many will likely start by reducing the amount of turf they routinely water. “There are no quick fixes,” Craig Kessler of the Southern California Golf Association said in a comment published by the Desert Sun. “But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to start doing things seriously now that will accumulate and accelerate over a period of years and add up to change.” In addition, the Coachella Valley Water District has pledged to expedite its efforts to connect more courses to recycled and Colorado River water. Today, only 50 of the valley’s courses are hooked to these sources.
The top executives of Troon Golf now have a reason to buy Rosetta Stone’s French-language program. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based firm has secured a management contract on its first property in France, the historic Château d’Augerville in Augerville-la-Rivière. The 265-acre estate, an hour’s drive south of Paris, features an 18-hole, Olivier Dongradi-designed golf course and an ancient château that’s been transformed into a 40-room hotel. It also makes its own chocolate. Dongradi has designed at least five other golf courses in France, among them Golf & Country Club de Maison Blanche in Echenevex, Garden Golf de Margaux in Margaux, and Golf du Pays de Sarrebourg in Sarrebourg. Bruce Glasco, the director of Troon’s overseas operations, believes that Dongradi’s course at Château d’Augerville will soon become “something special for golfers looking at fresh international options.”
What do India’s top industrialists and business leaders discuss during their get-togethers? The best international golf destinations, naturally. The favored nation this year, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry: Thailand.
Pacific Links International continues to offer its club members more for their money. The Canada-based, Chinese-owned company has added nine properties to its Pacific Links Golf Network, among them Clearwater Golf Club in New Zealand; Tobiano Golf Club in British Columbia, Canada; Sutera Golf Club in Malaysia; and the Members Club at Four Streams in Maryland. “Our goal is to offer members access to many of the world’s great courses, with membership levels and plans that make sense in their life and their budgets,” said Bruce Simmonds, PLI’s CEO. The company’s network now includes about 100 golf properties in North America, Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Over the next three years, it intends to establish a greater presence in North America -- primarily in California, Arizona, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania -- and also in Canada and New Zealand.
Charlotte Golf Links, a property in North Carolina that was once part of Jeff Silverstein’s Carolina Trail, has closed after being foreclosed upon by its lender. Hunting Dog Capital, a San Francisco-based firm that held the course’s loan, acquired the course at an auction and took possession of it last week, according to the Charlotte Observer. Billy Casper Golf, the firm managing the course, turned out the lights shortly thereafter. Charlotte Golf Links and another Silverstein-owned venue, Skybrook Golf Club in Huntersville, were turned over to receivers last summer. Earlier this month, a Toronto-based lender foreclosed on two Charlotte-area properties that remain part of the trail, Tradition Golf Club and the Divide Golf Club.
As he scopes out the future of the former Lodge at Doonbeg, Donald Trump is doing his best to ingratiate himself to the Irish. “I love Irish golf and I love the people of Ireland,” he proclaimed in a conversation with the Irish Examiner. Trump also has the highest regard for his most recent acquisition, which apparently has a treasured spot in his golf portfolio: “Doonbeg may be just the most important of all,” he told the Telegraph. What’s more, the resort’s future is going to be glorious (“We’re going to bring it to the next level, a level that will be at the highest levels of golf and luxury that there is in the world”), and his new neighbors will share the wealth (“We’re going to create a lot of tourism and a lot of jobs”). Of course, all of Trump’s love and affection will be void if his redevelopment plans aren’t approved.
I’m shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that wagers are sometimes made at a golf course in Florida. Police have opened an investigation into the way Tarpon Springs Golf Course conducts its league play, and the facility’s customers are teed off. “Every golf course in this country does it,” one of them groused to the Tampa Bay Times, “and why they singled out this golf course I’ll never know.” But the course’s general manager knows why: A former employee squealed.
The golf courses in California’s Coachella Valley have set out to reduce their water use by at least 10 percent. A large majority of the valley’s 124 courses use ground water for irrigation, and local stocks are rapidly being depleted. The courses haven’t adopted a specific water-saving game plan, but many will likely start by reducing the amount of turf they routinely water. “There are no quick fixes,” Craig Kessler of the Southern California Golf Association said in a comment published by the Desert Sun. “But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to start doing things seriously now that will accumulate and accelerate over a period of years and add up to change.” In addition, the Coachella Valley Water District has pledged to expedite its efforts to connect more courses to recycled and Colorado River water. Today, only 50 of the valley’s courses are hooked to these sources.
The top executives of Troon Golf now have a reason to buy Rosetta Stone’s French-language program. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based firm has secured a management contract on its first property in France, the historic Château d’Augerville in Augerville-la-Rivière. The 265-acre estate, an hour’s drive south of Paris, features an 18-hole, Olivier Dongradi-designed golf course and an ancient château that’s been transformed into a 40-room hotel. It also makes its own chocolate. Dongradi has designed at least five other golf courses in France, among them Golf & Country Club de Maison Blanche in Echenevex, Garden Golf de Margaux in Margaux, and Golf du Pays de Sarrebourg in Sarrebourg. Bruce Glasco, the director of Troon’s overseas operations, believes that Dongradi’s course at Château d’Augerville will soon become “something special for golfers looking at fresh international options.”
What do India’s top industrialists and business leaders discuss during their get-togethers? The best international golf destinations, naturally. The favored nation this year, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry: Thailand.
Pacific Links International continues to offer its club members more for their money. The Canada-based, Chinese-owned company has added nine properties to its Pacific Links Golf Network, among them Clearwater Golf Club in New Zealand; Tobiano Golf Club in British Columbia, Canada; Sutera Golf Club in Malaysia; and the Members Club at Four Streams in Maryland. “Our goal is to offer members access to many of the world’s great courses, with membership levels and plans that make sense in their life and their budgets,” said Bruce Simmonds, PLI’s CEO. The company’s network now includes about 100 golf properties in North America, Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Over the next three years, it intends to establish a greater presence in North America -- primarily in California, Arizona, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania -- and also in Canada and New Zealand.
Charlotte Golf Links, a property in North Carolina that was once part of Jeff Silverstein’s Carolina Trail, has closed after being foreclosed upon by its lender. Hunting Dog Capital, a San Francisco-based firm that held the course’s loan, acquired the course at an auction and took possession of it last week, according to the Charlotte Observer. Billy Casper Golf, the firm managing the course, turned out the lights shortly thereafter. Charlotte Golf Links and another Silverstein-owned venue, Skybrook Golf Club in Huntersville, were turned over to receivers last summer. Earlier this month, a Toronto-based lender foreclosed on two Charlotte-area properties that remain part of the trail, Tradition Golf Club and the Divide Golf Club.
As he scopes out the future of the former Lodge at Doonbeg, Donald Trump is doing his best to ingratiate himself to the Irish. “I love Irish golf and I love the people of Ireland,” he proclaimed in a conversation with the Irish Examiner. Trump also has the highest regard for his most recent acquisition, which apparently has a treasured spot in his golf portfolio: “Doonbeg may be just the most important of all,” he told the Telegraph. What’s more, the resort’s future is going to be glorious (“We’re going to bring it to the next level, a level that will be at the highest levels of golf and luxury that there is in the world”), and his new neighbors will share the wealth (“We’re going to create a lot of tourism and a lot of jobs”). Of course, all of Trump’s love and affection will be void if his redevelopment plans aren’t approved.
I’m shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that wagers are sometimes made at a golf course in Florida. Police have opened an investigation into the way Tarpon Springs Golf Course conducts its league play, and the facility’s customers are teed off. “Every golf course in this country does it,” one of them groused to the Tampa Bay Times, “and why they singled out this golf course I’ll never know.” But the course’s general manager knows why: A former employee squealed.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Operations, march 14, 2014
The Republican administration in Tennessee is in the “research phase” of a plan that would put the operations of 11 state parks into private hands. Nine of the parks feature golf courses. Three of the nine -- the 18-hole tracks at the Tims Ford, Cumberland Mountain, and Harrison Bay state parks -- are part of the state’s Bear Trace, a collection of five Jack Nicklaus-designed courses that were built to compete with Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones-designed golf trail. The state’s proposal has elicited protests from the Tennessee State Employment Association, which believes that it’ll lead to a loss of jobs. “They are trying to fix something that isn’t broken,” the group’s executive director told the Tennessean. Nonetheless, the state’s department of environment and conservation has solicited expressions of interest from groups that might be willing to take over “certain hospitality operations” at the parks.
Mosaic Clubs & Resorts has established a presence deep, deep in the heart of Texas. The Alpharetta, Georgia-based firm has been retained to manage Rancho Viejo Resort & Country Club, a 1,400-acre private resort community in the Rio Grande Valley outside Brownsville, the southernmost city in the state. Rancho Viejo offers villas and other lodging, meeting space, and a pair of golf courses, the nine-hole El Angel and the 18-hole El Diablo. Mosaic, a recently established spin-off of Affiniti Golf Partners, was created to operate “the world’s most prestigious private and resort clubs.” These days, it also operates two properties in Georgia and one in South Carolina. Whitney Crouse, Mosaic’s chairman, describes Rancho Viejo as a place of “renown, tropical beauty, and enriched heritage.” It’s located in a part of the nation where golf can reportedly be played on 340 days a year.
KemperSports has added a third management contract in Tennessee, this one for a historic club in Bristol. Brent Roswall has hired the Northbrook, Illinois-based company to operate Country Club of Bristol, a 120-year-old venue. Steve Skinner, KemperSport’s CEO, has promised “to take the property to the next level” by enhancing experiences for both members and guests. Bristol, which was established as a private club in 1894, calls itself “the birthplace of organized golf” in the state. It’s had a hard time finding new members of late, and last year it made its 18-hole course available for public play. “We’re changing with the times,” Roswall told the Bristol Herald Courier at the time. KemperSports’ other properties in Tennessee are the Governors Club in suburban Nashville and WindRiver Golf Club in Lenoir City.
Sequoia Golf’s aggressive marketing in Southern California continues to pay dividends. Joe Guerra’s company has assumed management of Spanish Hills Country Club, a 21-year-old venue in Camarillo. Spanish Hills, the fourth property in the state that Sequoia has signed since mid 2012, features an 18-hole, Bob Cupp-designed golf course and all the expected private-club amenities. “We made reference calls to other clubs in their management portfolio,” the club’s president said in a press release, “and they told us that not only has Sequoia met their expectations, they’ve exceeded them.” Sequoia’s other properties in California are Pauma Valley Country Club in suburban San Diego, Rancho Vista Golf Club in Palmdale, and Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach. In total, the firm owns and/or operates nearly 50 properties in Georgia, Texas, Florida, Colorado, and five other states, about half of them under the Canongate brand.
In an effort to restore lost profits, city officials in Brigantine Beach, New Jersey may turn over their financially ailing 18-hole golf course to the private sector. Links at Brigantine Beach, a Scottish-style 18-hole track that’s been around since 1927, reportedly rang up only $905,000 in revenues last year, less than half of what it collected in 2007. The course finished 2013 with a deficit of $188,000, according to the Press of Atlantic City. To generate more play, the course needs an estimated $2 million worth of improvements, an amount the city can’t afford. As a result, some in the city think it would be wise to seek professional managers willing to make an investment in exchange for a long-term operating contract. Last year, the city hired Stephen Kay, a New Jersey-based architect, to prepare a master plan that prospective operators could use to identify the necessary upgrades.
Arnold Palmer Golf Management has taken control of a golf club in Tucson, Arizona that needs to dig out of a deep financial hole. Skyline Country Club defaulted on a $3.5 million loan last year, and its golf memberships have fallen from 462 in 2006 to 290 today. In an attempt to fend off foreclosure, it offered Palmer a 25-year lease. “It’s very, very difficult for clubs to be self-managed in this modern world,” a board member told the Arizona Daily Star. Skyline has settled with its lender and agreed to pay Palmer $600,000 annually beginning in year three of their contract. To pay for Palmer’s services, the residents in the accompanying gated community voted to raise their annual homeowners’ association fees from $1,800 to $3,100.
OB Sports has secured a major maintenance contract in what amounts to its back yard. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based management firm has been hired to service the five golf courses owned by the city of Phoenix. OB Sports believes the agreement will “provide significant annual savings” to the city and improve “the presentation and playing conditions of each golf course.” OB Sports is now involved in golf operations at the state’s two largest cities. Earlier this year, it signed a contract to manage the five courses owned by the city of Tucson.
Troon Golf has been tapped to manage the long-delayed Potomac Shores Golf Club outside Dumfries, Virginia. The community’s Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course will be the centerpiece of a 1,920-acre spread that includes more than 3,800 houses, a town center, a business park, a marina along the Potomac River, two schools, and other attractions. The course was built five years ago but was never opened, as the Great Recession put a squeeze on residential sales in the Washington, DC area. Nicklaus describes his 18-hole, daily-fee course as “a masterpiece” and says it’ll offer a “European-style playing experience.” Suncal, the current owner of Potomac Shores, believes the track will become “the golf getaway of choice for Northern Virginians and DC dignitaries alike.” Troon promises to provide “the finest playing surfaces, incredible guest service, and exquisite dining.” The course, originally called Harbor Station, is scheduled to open next month.
Mosaic Clubs & Resorts has established a presence deep, deep in the heart of Texas. The Alpharetta, Georgia-based firm has been retained to manage Rancho Viejo Resort & Country Club, a 1,400-acre private resort community in the Rio Grande Valley outside Brownsville, the southernmost city in the state. Rancho Viejo offers villas and other lodging, meeting space, and a pair of golf courses, the nine-hole El Angel and the 18-hole El Diablo. Mosaic, a recently established spin-off of Affiniti Golf Partners, was created to operate “the world’s most prestigious private and resort clubs.” These days, it also operates two properties in Georgia and one in South Carolina. Whitney Crouse, Mosaic’s chairman, describes Rancho Viejo as a place of “renown, tropical beauty, and enriched heritage.” It’s located in a part of the nation where golf can reportedly be played on 340 days a year.
KemperSports has added a third management contract in Tennessee, this one for a historic club in Bristol. Brent Roswall has hired the Northbrook, Illinois-based company to operate Country Club of Bristol, a 120-year-old venue. Steve Skinner, KemperSport’s CEO, has promised “to take the property to the next level” by enhancing experiences for both members and guests. Bristol, which was established as a private club in 1894, calls itself “the birthplace of organized golf” in the state. It’s had a hard time finding new members of late, and last year it made its 18-hole course available for public play. “We’re changing with the times,” Roswall told the Bristol Herald Courier at the time. KemperSports’ other properties in Tennessee are the Governors Club in suburban Nashville and WindRiver Golf Club in Lenoir City.
Sequoia Golf’s aggressive marketing in Southern California continues to pay dividends. Joe Guerra’s company has assumed management of Spanish Hills Country Club, a 21-year-old venue in Camarillo. Spanish Hills, the fourth property in the state that Sequoia has signed since mid 2012, features an 18-hole, Bob Cupp-designed golf course and all the expected private-club amenities. “We made reference calls to other clubs in their management portfolio,” the club’s president said in a press release, “and they told us that not only has Sequoia met their expectations, they’ve exceeded them.” Sequoia’s other properties in California are Pauma Valley Country Club in suburban San Diego, Rancho Vista Golf Club in Palmdale, and Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach. In total, the firm owns and/or operates nearly 50 properties in Georgia, Texas, Florida, Colorado, and five other states, about half of them under the Canongate brand.
In an effort to restore lost profits, city officials in Brigantine Beach, New Jersey may turn over their financially ailing 18-hole golf course to the private sector. Links at Brigantine Beach, a Scottish-style 18-hole track that’s been around since 1927, reportedly rang up only $905,000 in revenues last year, less than half of what it collected in 2007. The course finished 2013 with a deficit of $188,000, according to the Press of Atlantic City. To generate more play, the course needs an estimated $2 million worth of improvements, an amount the city can’t afford. As a result, some in the city think it would be wise to seek professional managers willing to make an investment in exchange for a long-term operating contract. Last year, the city hired Stephen Kay, a New Jersey-based architect, to prepare a master plan that prospective operators could use to identify the necessary upgrades.
Arnold Palmer Golf Management has taken control of a golf club in Tucson, Arizona that needs to dig out of a deep financial hole. Skyline Country Club defaulted on a $3.5 million loan last year, and its golf memberships have fallen from 462 in 2006 to 290 today. In an attempt to fend off foreclosure, it offered Palmer a 25-year lease. “It’s very, very difficult for clubs to be self-managed in this modern world,” a board member told the Arizona Daily Star. Skyline has settled with its lender and agreed to pay Palmer $600,000 annually beginning in year three of their contract. To pay for Palmer’s services, the residents in the accompanying gated community voted to raise their annual homeowners’ association fees from $1,800 to $3,100.
OB Sports has secured a major maintenance contract in what amounts to its back yard. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based management firm has been hired to service the five golf courses owned by the city of Phoenix. OB Sports believes the agreement will “provide significant annual savings” to the city and improve “the presentation and playing conditions of each golf course.” OB Sports is now involved in golf operations at the state’s two largest cities. Earlier this year, it signed a contract to manage the five courses owned by the city of Tucson.
Troon Golf has been tapped to manage the long-delayed Potomac Shores Golf Club outside Dumfries, Virginia. The community’s Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course will be the centerpiece of a 1,920-acre spread that includes more than 3,800 houses, a town center, a business park, a marina along the Potomac River, two schools, and other attractions. The course was built five years ago but was never opened, as the Great Recession put a squeeze on residential sales in the Washington, DC area. Nicklaus describes his 18-hole, daily-fee course as “a masterpiece” and says it’ll offer a “European-style playing experience.” Suncal, the current owner of Potomac Shores, believes the track will become “the golf getaway of choice for Northern Virginians and DC dignitaries alike.” Troon promises to provide “the finest playing surfaces, incredible guest service, and exquisite dining.” The course, originally called Harbor Station, is scheduled to open next month.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The Week That Was, march 9, 2014
Will Donald Trump experience development déjà vu all over again in Ireland? Greg Norman’s golf course at the former Doonbeg resort doesn’t quite measure up to Trump’s standards, so Martin Hawtree, the designer who won government approval to build Trump’s layout on protected dunes in Scotland, has been hired to “enhance the existing course or completely redesign a new links,” according to the Irish Examiner. A new, world-class layout is Trump’s preference, but building the new holes where he wants them -- on the same snail habitat that was off-limits to Norman -- will pit him against Irish environmentalists. “Greg Norman did an incredible job, considering he wasn’t allowed to work in the dunes,” Trump told the newspaper. “I have a lot of time and I have a lot of money, and the best thing for Ireland is that you allow that great site to have one of the great courses of the world.” Trump believes he can twist enough politicians’ arms to win permission for his plans, but Norman isn’t so confident. “Maybe times change, but I doubt it,” he said. “I think those snails have a bigger voice than us. And they have multiplied since then.” For now, Trump has many friends in Ireland. How long before he begins making enemies?
The rich are getting richer, and the really rich are getting fabulously wealthy. Around the world, there are now more than 167,000 people worth at least $30 million, according to Knight Frank’s “Wealth Report 2014.” The number of these ultra-high net-worth individuals has climbed by 59 percent since 2003, with growth more than doubling in the Middle East, Latin America, Australasia, and Africa. And it’s predicted that their numbers will increase by 28 percent during the next decade, reaching 215,000 by 2023. All told, the world’s 167,669 UHNWIs control assets worth $20.1 trillion, which is 25 percent more than the value of the U.S. economy.
All those young people who are so desired by the golf industry -- who are they, exactly? Millennials (people aged 18 to 33) are devoted to technology, burdened by debt, distrustful of social institutions, and relatively unattached to religion, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. They are America’s most racially diverse generation. Politically, they describe themselves as independents, but they tend to support an activist government and vote Democratic. Socially, they support the liberal agenda, including gay rights and the legalization of marijuana. Obviously, Millennials don’t have much in common with today’s typical golfers. Are they a lost generation? And if they are, what are the implications for golf’s future?
Just weeks after elected officials in Dallas, Texas publicly accused them of stealing water, the owners of Prestonwood Country Club have gotten out of the golf business. Henry S. Miller Companies has sold Prestonwood, a two-location, 36-hole facility, to ClubCorp for an undisclosed price. “The time has come to sell,” said Greg Miller, whose family has owned Prestonwood for 36 years. “It’s not really our core business.” Golf is undoubtedly ClubCorp’s business, though. The company owns and/or operates 10 other golf properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and more than 100 overall. ClubCorp plans to upgrade Prestonwood’s golf courses and clubhouses, and it’ll most likely pay about $46,000 a year for water.
Not everyone was as impressed by the turnout at this year’s Golf Industry Show as its sponsors were. “While attendance was supposedly up,” Steve Garske of Par Aide writes on his blog, “it sure seemed down to us, though not by a lot.” He continues: “It is not hard to see that the scope of the show is considerably less than in days gone by. More than one person remarked how they could easily see from one end of the hall to the other.” Garske spells out why he thinks people have “less and less interest in trade shows” these days, and he suggests that the GIS be held not annually but once every 18 months. With less frequency, he writes, “It might become a more special event, to not be missed.” The show’s sponsors haven’t yet responded to the suggestion.
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation has parted with Grande Pines Golf Club, a 28-year-old, 170-acre property in Orlando, Florida. MVW, a time-share operator, reportedly accepted $24 million for Grande Pines, whose original Joe Lee-designed course was later redesigned by Nick Faldo and Steve Smyers. “It was something where we thought we’d get a better return if we sold it,” one of MVW’s vice presidents told the Orlando Sentinel. MVW, a publicly traded company that was once affiliated with Marriott Corporation, has owned Grande Pines since 1997. The new owner, an LLC led by Angelo Gordon & Company and Ridgewood Real Estate Partners, is expected to replace the golf course with houses and stores, but not for a year or more.
You can add Tony Jacklin’s name to the list of people who think golf needs to enter a dead-ball era. “I am frustrated that golf’s governing bodies have not done more to limit the distance of the golf ball,” the four-time Ryder Cup captain told Golf Retailing. “The fact that golf balls fly so far does not make golf a better game.” Not that anyone is listening.
Jack Nicklaus has convinced himself that his hands are objets d’art. And anyone gullible enough to agree with him can now purchase limited-edition “original handprints” that commemorate the major championships won by Nicklaus during his monumental career. The price: $3,490 to $3,890 for the autographed units, $740 without the signature. The prints have been done in gold and other colors. They’re remarkably similar to the handprints kindergartners make, except that they’re printed on acid-free paper and have nicer handwriting.
The rich are getting richer, and the really rich are getting fabulously wealthy. Around the world, there are now more than 167,000 people worth at least $30 million, according to Knight Frank’s “Wealth Report 2014.” The number of these ultra-high net-worth individuals has climbed by 59 percent since 2003, with growth more than doubling in the Middle East, Latin America, Australasia, and Africa. And it’s predicted that their numbers will increase by 28 percent during the next decade, reaching 215,000 by 2023. All told, the world’s 167,669 UHNWIs control assets worth $20.1 trillion, which is 25 percent more than the value of the U.S. economy.
All those young people who are so desired by the golf industry -- who are they, exactly? Millennials (people aged 18 to 33) are devoted to technology, burdened by debt, distrustful of social institutions, and relatively unattached to religion, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. They are America’s most racially diverse generation. Politically, they describe themselves as independents, but they tend to support an activist government and vote Democratic. Socially, they support the liberal agenda, including gay rights and the legalization of marijuana. Obviously, Millennials don’t have much in common with today’s typical golfers. Are they a lost generation? And if they are, what are the implications for golf’s future?
Just weeks after elected officials in Dallas, Texas publicly accused them of stealing water, the owners of Prestonwood Country Club have gotten out of the golf business. Henry S. Miller Companies has sold Prestonwood, a two-location, 36-hole facility, to ClubCorp for an undisclosed price. “The time has come to sell,” said Greg Miller, whose family has owned Prestonwood for 36 years. “It’s not really our core business.” Golf is undoubtedly ClubCorp’s business, though. The company owns and/or operates 10 other golf properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and more than 100 overall. ClubCorp plans to upgrade Prestonwood’s golf courses and clubhouses, and it’ll most likely pay about $46,000 a year for water.
Not everyone was as impressed by the turnout at this year’s Golf Industry Show as its sponsors were. “While attendance was supposedly up,” Steve Garske of Par Aide writes on his blog, “it sure seemed down to us, though not by a lot.” He continues: “It is not hard to see that the scope of the show is considerably less than in days gone by. More than one person remarked how they could easily see from one end of the hall to the other.” Garske spells out why he thinks people have “less and less interest in trade shows” these days, and he suggests that the GIS be held not annually but once every 18 months. With less frequency, he writes, “It might become a more special event, to not be missed.” The show’s sponsors haven’t yet responded to the suggestion.
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation has parted with Grande Pines Golf Club, a 28-year-old, 170-acre property in Orlando, Florida. MVW, a time-share operator, reportedly accepted $24 million for Grande Pines, whose original Joe Lee-designed course was later redesigned by Nick Faldo and Steve Smyers. “It was something where we thought we’d get a better return if we sold it,” one of MVW’s vice presidents told the Orlando Sentinel. MVW, a publicly traded company that was once affiliated with Marriott Corporation, has owned Grande Pines since 1997. The new owner, an LLC led by Angelo Gordon & Company and Ridgewood Real Estate Partners, is expected to replace the golf course with houses and stores, but not for a year or more.
You can add Tony Jacklin’s name to the list of people who think golf needs to enter a dead-ball era. “I am frustrated that golf’s governing bodies have not done more to limit the distance of the golf ball,” the four-time Ryder Cup captain told Golf Retailing. “The fact that golf balls fly so far does not make golf a better game.” Not that anyone is listening.
Jack Nicklaus has convinced himself that his hands are objets d’art. And anyone gullible enough to agree with him can now purchase limited-edition “original handprints” that commemorate the major championships won by Nicklaus during his monumental career. The price: $3,490 to $3,890 for the autographed units, $740 without the signature. The prints have been done in gold and other colors. They’re remarkably similar to the handprints kindergartners make, except that they’re printed on acid-free paper and have nicer handwriting.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Desolation Row, march 7, 2014
Developers have their eye on San Luis Rey Downs Country Club, but not for the usual reasons. The Downs’ owners aim to sell their 185-acre property in suburban San Diego, California to a group that intends to strip away all vestiges of the golf course and restore the site to the condition it was in during the early 1940s. From there, the property can serve as a mitigation bank, and Conservation Land Group will be able to sell mitigation credits to developers and other entities needing to offset the environmental damage they create elsewhere. Residents who live near the club have protested, but at this point their arguments will carry weight only if they put a better offer on the table. And there doesn’t appear to be a compelling reason for them to do so. “The golf course has lost money each of the last nine years,” the club’s owner, Bill Thead, said at a recent public gathering. Roughly speaking, one acre of land equals one mitigation credit, and Conservation Land reportedly believes a credit will sell for anywhere between $20,000 and $200,000.
The asking price for Blarney Golf Resort, in County Cork, Ireland, is falling through the floor. The eight-year-old resort, which is said to be “no more than a stone’s throw” from the famous Blarney Stone outside the city of Cork, has been in the hands of receivers since 2009. The receivers were originally hoping to get €12.5 million ($17.4 million) for the 420-acre property -- it features a John Daly-designed golf course, a 61-room hotel, and meeting space -- but soon dropped their price to €10 million and then to €3.9 million. Today, it’s move-in ready for only €2.5 million ($3.47 million). The Irish Times reports that Blarney’s original owners spent more than €30 million ($41.6 million) to build the place.
Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club, a 27-hole facility in North Augusta, South Carolina, shut its doors in early February. The Augusta Chronicle, citing “money woes,” says that “the future of the club is unknown.” The club almost bit the dust several years ago, before it was purchased by Mike Hooker in 2011. Hooker’s LLC tried to file for bankruptcy protection in January, but its petition wasn’t accepted.
The long, cold winter will be permanently extended for Sundance Golf & Bowl, a combination golf course and bowling alley in Dayton, Minnesota. The 44-year-old property, which is owned by Robert H. Allen and family, closed in late January. Its 18-hole golf course was designed by Ade Simonson, its original owner. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that Sundance is one of five golf properties in the Twin Cities that have closed since September 2013.
Last fall, a golf club in Suffolk, England that’s said to be “thriving, with a growing membership” turned itself over to administrators. The reason: The club’s operator, a group called Golf GB, has “historic debt” that it’s been “unable to service effectively.” The club has assumed a “business as usual” mentality while the administrators look for a buyer.
Eight years after it opened, a debt-riddled golf club in Ontario, Canada is facing an uncertain future. Receivers are now operating OslerBrook Golf & Country Club and searching for a buyer. They may not have to look far, because a group of members is trying to develop a rescue plan. “There is a deal to be done, and we’re confident that we’ll be golfing this year,” the group’s chairman told the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin. The club, outside Collingwood, features a Graham Cooke-designed course that marketing materials say “combines the traditional elements of both parkland and links styles.”
Clouds are gathering over one of the more affordable 18-hole golf courses in the Valley of the Sun. The owner of Villa de Paz Golf Club, the centerpiece of a 40-year-old community in western Phoenix, Arizona, is said to be under financial stress and looking for a bail-out from a residential developer. One problem, according to KTVK-TV: Under the current zoning, the property must remain a golf course. Things can change, however, and some residents of the community have mobilized to fight a proposed rezoning.
The clock is ticking on the 18-hole golf course at the King’s Deer community outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 15-year-old, Scottish-inspired track, designed by Ric Buckton of Redstone Golf, was closed unexpectedly last month. “All of us thought things were going better,” a King’s Deer resident told KRDO-TV. “New memberships were being sold.” The golf course is now controlled by its lender, a bank in Nebraska, which intends to turn it over to receivers and then look for a buyer or lessee. The Colorado Springs Gazette says that residents in the accompanying community, based on conversations with the bankers, are “optimistic” that the course will reopen later this year. There apparently isn’t much chance of the course being redeveloped, as much of it is located in a floodplain.
A Toronto-based lender has foreclosed on a pair of golf properties in the Charlotte, North Carolina area owned by entities related to Jeff Silverstein. Court documents allege that Tradition Golf Club and the Divide Golf Club owe more than $26 million to affiliates of Romspen Investment Corporation. The foreclosure wasn’t unexpected, as Silverstein’s Carolina Trail properties have been under extreme financial duress for more than a year. Three other properties that are part of the trail -- the Highland Creek and Birkdale golf clubs in North Carolina and Waterford Golf Club in South Carolina -- are also in hock to Romspen, but they haven’t been foreclosed upon. Silverstein doesn’t intend to contest the proceedings.
The party’s over at Cypress Bay Golf Club, an 18-hole course on the Grand Strand in South Carolina that’s said to be “on the low end of green fees in the Myrtle Beach golf market.” Cypress Bay’s Russell Breeden-designed course opened in 1972. It was sold to a residential developer last year, and the new owner shut off the lights for good in late February. Development activities are expected to begin later this year, and houses will likely be on sale in mid 2015.
Cheval Golf & Country Club, the centerpiece of a gated, new-money community in suburban Tampa, Florida, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Cheval owes almost $5 million to various creditors, but the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that it registered a slight uptick in revenues last year. “Golf memberships and revenue are now stabilized,” the Journal writes, “and the club believes it can successfully reorganize by restructuring the golf course loan and other financing agreements.” The club features an 18-hole, Steve Smyers-designed golf course that opened in 1985. Surrounding the course are 1,100 upscale houses, an equestrian center, and a large bronze horse.
The asking price for Blarney Golf Resort, in County Cork, Ireland, is falling through the floor. The eight-year-old resort, which is said to be “no more than a stone’s throw” from the famous Blarney Stone outside the city of Cork, has been in the hands of receivers since 2009. The receivers were originally hoping to get €12.5 million ($17.4 million) for the 420-acre property -- it features a John Daly-designed golf course, a 61-room hotel, and meeting space -- but soon dropped their price to €10 million and then to €3.9 million. Today, it’s move-in ready for only €2.5 million ($3.47 million). The Irish Times reports that Blarney’s original owners spent more than €30 million ($41.6 million) to build the place.
Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club, a 27-hole facility in North Augusta, South Carolina, shut its doors in early February. The Augusta Chronicle, citing “money woes,” says that “the future of the club is unknown.” The club almost bit the dust several years ago, before it was purchased by Mike Hooker in 2011. Hooker’s LLC tried to file for bankruptcy protection in January, but its petition wasn’t accepted.
The long, cold winter will be permanently extended for Sundance Golf & Bowl, a combination golf course and bowling alley in Dayton, Minnesota. The 44-year-old property, which is owned by Robert H. Allen and family, closed in late January. Its 18-hole golf course was designed by Ade Simonson, its original owner. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that Sundance is one of five golf properties in the Twin Cities that have closed since September 2013.
Last fall, a golf club in Suffolk, England that’s said to be “thriving, with a growing membership” turned itself over to administrators. The reason: The club’s operator, a group called Golf GB, has “historic debt” that it’s been “unable to service effectively.” The club has assumed a “business as usual” mentality while the administrators look for a buyer.
Eight years after it opened, a debt-riddled golf club in Ontario, Canada is facing an uncertain future. Receivers are now operating OslerBrook Golf & Country Club and searching for a buyer. They may not have to look far, because a group of members is trying to develop a rescue plan. “There is a deal to be done, and we’re confident that we’ll be golfing this year,” the group’s chairman told the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin. The club, outside Collingwood, features a Graham Cooke-designed course that marketing materials say “combines the traditional elements of both parkland and links styles.”
Clouds are gathering over one of the more affordable 18-hole golf courses in the Valley of the Sun. The owner of Villa de Paz Golf Club, the centerpiece of a 40-year-old community in western Phoenix, Arizona, is said to be under financial stress and looking for a bail-out from a residential developer. One problem, according to KTVK-TV: Under the current zoning, the property must remain a golf course. Things can change, however, and some residents of the community have mobilized to fight a proposed rezoning.
The clock is ticking on the 18-hole golf course at the King’s Deer community outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 15-year-old, Scottish-inspired track, designed by Ric Buckton of Redstone Golf, was closed unexpectedly last month. “All of us thought things were going better,” a King’s Deer resident told KRDO-TV. “New memberships were being sold.” The golf course is now controlled by its lender, a bank in Nebraska, which intends to turn it over to receivers and then look for a buyer or lessee. The Colorado Springs Gazette says that residents in the accompanying community, based on conversations with the bankers, are “optimistic” that the course will reopen later this year. There apparently isn’t much chance of the course being redeveloped, as much of it is located in a floodplain.
A Toronto-based lender has foreclosed on a pair of golf properties in the Charlotte, North Carolina area owned by entities related to Jeff Silverstein. Court documents allege that Tradition Golf Club and the Divide Golf Club owe more than $26 million to affiliates of Romspen Investment Corporation. The foreclosure wasn’t unexpected, as Silverstein’s Carolina Trail properties have been under extreme financial duress for more than a year. Three other properties that are part of the trail -- the Highland Creek and Birkdale golf clubs in North Carolina and Waterford Golf Club in South Carolina -- are also in hock to Romspen, but they haven’t been foreclosed upon. Silverstein doesn’t intend to contest the proceedings.
The party’s over at Cypress Bay Golf Club, an 18-hole course on the Grand Strand in South Carolina that’s said to be “on the low end of green fees in the Myrtle Beach golf market.” Cypress Bay’s Russell Breeden-designed course opened in 1972. It was sold to a residential developer last year, and the new owner shut off the lights for good in late February. Development activities are expected to begin later this year, and houses will likely be on sale in mid 2015.
Cheval Golf & Country Club, the centerpiece of a gated, new-money community in suburban Tampa, Florida, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Cheval owes almost $5 million to various creditors, but the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that it registered a slight uptick in revenues last year. “Golf memberships and revenue are now stabilized,” the Journal writes, “and the club believes it can successfully reorganize by restructuring the golf course loan and other financing agreements.” The club features an 18-hole, Steve Smyers-designed golf course that opened in 1985. Surrounding the course are 1,100 upscale houses, an equestrian center, and a large bronze horse.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
The Week That Was, march 2, 2014
Mike Keiser’s forthcoming golf complex in Rome is already having an impact on golf development in Wisconsin. Herb Kohler appears ready to green-light a fifth Pete Dye-designed course for his American Club in Sheboygan, and Andy Ziegler has unveiled a possible “short” or par-3 layout at Erin Hills in suburban Milwaukee. While those venues prepare for a more competitive future, it looks as if Keiser has settled on a near-term development plan for Sand Valley. According to the Golf Channel, the Chicago-based developer intends to build three golf courses over the next eight years.
At Chambers Bay, will two Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed courses be better than one? Bob Sonnenblick thinks so. The Los Angeles-based developer has proposed to build a clubhouse, a 220-room hotel, a conference center, and a complementary 18-hole track at the municipal venue outside Tacoma, Washington. Unlike Chambers Bay’s existing course, Jones’ second track will welcome carts. Sonnenblick has until mid June to line up financing, an issue that he doesn’t believe will be a problem. “There’s a lot of money around today for well-conceived, well-located, first-class projects,” he told the Tacoma News Tribune. If Sonnenblick gets all his ducks in line, construction could begin next summer, after the U.S. Open is contested at the facility.
Donning its green eye shades, the National Golf Foundation has tallied 4,050 private clubs in the United States, an 8 percent decline from the number (4,400) counted in 2008. The decline is only incidentally a function of a rotten economy, the NGF believes, and more a result of desperate revenue-seeking clubs opening up to the public. “Since 2008,” the group has concluded, “more than 400 changed their operating model from exclusively serving members and their guests to opening their doors (some a little, some a lot) to public play.” One other noteworthy fact: The NGF reports that the nation’s private golf clubs now have roughly 1.9 million members, a number it describes as “significantly below peak.”
The number of naturalist, destination-worthy golf courses in the pipeline on Tasmania may soon be reduced by one. Citing concerns about coastal erosion and evaporating water supplies, the Clarence City Council has nixed a proposed Mike Clayton-designed layout that was to be built at Seven Mile Beach, outside Hobart. The Hobart Mercury describes the council’s rejection as “a dramatic setback” but notes that the decision could be overturned by a local planning commission later this year. Mat Goggin, the course’s developer, hasn’t commented on the matter, but a spokesperson for his group warns that the project’s denial would compromise the island’s opportunity to become an international golf mecca. To tighten the screws, the spokesman claimed that Clayton, the co-designer of the first course at Barnbougle Dunes, believes the layout at Seven Mile Beach is “going to rate higher than Barnbougle.”
Australia’s foremost casino operator has purchased one of greater Melbourne’s high-profile, high-luxury golf properties. Crown Resorts reportedly paid $67.6 million ($60.2 million in U.S. currency) for Capital Golf Club, a sumptuous, 17-year-old property that features a Peter Thomson-designed golf course. Crown has managed the facility since it opened and has been angling to buy it for years. The seller was Lloyd Williams, a local developer who fashioned the track out of what’s been described as a flat, featureless site. He reportedly took his inspiration from Steve Wynn’s Shadow Creek Golf Club. Crown is controlled by James Packer, one of Australia’s richest people. Packer’s holdings include Ellerston Golf Club in New South Wales, which features one of Australia’s top-rated golf courses.
Singapore will lose part of its golf inventory in coming years, but local golf leaders believe that the popularity of the game will remain undiminished. In fact, Channel News Asia reports that the Singapore Golf Association “is confident that interest will continue to grow among amateurs and that there will be capacity to meet demand.” The number of golfers in the city-state has increased by 13 percent in recent years, according to the SGA, from 27,649 in 2009 to 35,785 in 2013.
Regarding the proposed rezoning and redevelopment of Hampshire Country Club: The village of Mamaroneck, New York has called the developer’s bluff. The village has denied a request for permission to build 121 condos and a parking lot on Hampshire’s property, potentially setting up a battle over the future of the club’s 18-hole, Devereux Emmet-designed golf course. The question now is whether the developer, a group controlled by Westport Capital Partners and New World Realty Advisors, will follow through on its threat to raze the course and replace it with 106 McMansions. The property is already zoned for a subdivision, but the Westchester Business Journal reports that local anti-development forces believe the proposal on the table “will not pass muster in terms of compliance with environmental impact reviews.” This is a dispute that has it all -- money, power, greed -- and is therefore definitely worth watching.
Slow play got you down? Looking for a way to speed things up? Maybe you should take a flyer on Wild Golf, a novelty golf game created by Wilderness Xtreme Sports. Wild Golf is played like traditional golf, but holes are won and lost according to the time it takes to play them, not by counting strokes. Players sprint to their balls as fast as they can and don’t waste precious seconds lining up their shots. “It’s tailor-made for today’s got-to-have-it-now, short-attention-span society,” one of the creators told the Southgate Press & Guide. One caveat, particularly for older golfers: Those par-5s can kill you.
At Chambers Bay, will two Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed courses be better than one? Bob Sonnenblick thinks so. The Los Angeles-based developer has proposed to build a clubhouse, a 220-room hotel, a conference center, and a complementary 18-hole track at the municipal venue outside Tacoma, Washington. Unlike Chambers Bay’s existing course, Jones’ second track will welcome carts. Sonnenblick has until mid June to line up financing, an issue that he doesn’t believe will be a problem. “There’s a lot of money around today for well-conceived, well-located, first-class projects,” he told the Tacoma News Tribune. If Sonnenblick gets all his ducks in line, construction could begin next summer, after the U.S. Open is contested at the facility.
Donning its green eye shades, the National Golf Foundation has tallied 4,050 private clubs in the United States, an 8 percent decline from the number (4,400) counted in 2008. The decline is only incidentally a function of a rotten economy, the NGF believes, and more a result of desperate revenue-seeking clubs opening up to the public. “Since 2008,” the group has concluded, “more than 400 changed their operating model from exclusively serving members and their guests to opening their doors (some a little, some a lot) to public play.” One other noteworthy fact: The NGF reports that the nation’s private golf clubs now have roughly 1.9 million members, a number it describes as “significantly below peak.”
The number of naturalist, destination-worthy golf courses in the pipeline on Tasmania may soon be reduced by one. Citing concerns about coastal erosion and evaporating water supplies, the Clarence City Council has nixed a proposed Mike Clayton-designed layout that was to be built at Seven Mile Beach, outside Hobart. The Hobart Mercury describes the council’s rejection as “a dramatic setback” but notes that the decision could be overturned by a local planning commission later this year. Mat Goggin, the course’s developer, hasn’t commented on the matter, but a spokesperson for his group warns that the project’s denial would compromise the island’s opportunity to become an international golf mecca. To tighten the screws, the spokesman claimed that Clayton, the co-designer of the first course at Barnbougle Dunes, believes the layout at Seven Mile Beach is “going to rate higher than Barnbougle.”
Australia’s foremost casino operator has purchased one of greater Melbourne’s high-profile, high-luxury golf properties. Crown Resorts reportedly paid $67.6 million ($60.2 million in U.S. currency) for Capital Golf Club, a sumptuous, 17-year-old property that features a Peter Thomson-designed golf course. Crown has managed the facility since it opened and has been angling to buy it for years. The seller was Lloyd Williams, a local developer who fashioned the track out of what’s been described as a flat, featureless site. He reportedly took his inspiration from Steve Wynn’s Shadow Creek Golf Club. Crown is controlled by James Packer, one of Australia’s richest people. Packer’s holdings include Ellerston Golf Club in New South Wales, which features one of Australia’s top-rated golf courses.
Singapore will lose part of its golf inventory in coming years, but local golf leaders believe that the popularity of the game will remain undiminished. In fact, Channel News Asia reports that the Singapore Golf Association “is confident that interest will continue to grow among amateurs and that there will be capacity to meet demand.” The number of golfers in the city-state has increased by 13 percent in recent years, according to the SGA, from 27,649 in 2009 to 35,785 in 2013.
Regarding the proposed rezoning and redevelopment of Hampshire Country Club: The village of Mamaroneck, New York has called the developer’s bluff. The village has denied a request for permission to build 121 condos and a parking lot on Hampshire’s property, potentially setting up a battle over the future of the club’s 18-hole, Devereux Emmet-designed golf course. The question now is whether the developer, a group controlled by Westport Capital Partners and New World Realty Advisors, will follow through on its threat to raze the course and replace it with 106 McMansions. The property is already zoned for a subdivision, but the Westchester Business Journal reports that local anti-development forces believe the proposal on the table “will not pass muster in terms of compliance with environmental impact reviews.” This is a dispute that has it all -- money, power, greed -- and is therefore definitely worth watching.
Slow play got you down? Looking for a way to speed things up? Maybe you should take a flyer on Wild Golf, a novelty golf game created by Wilderness Xtreme Sports. Wild Golf is played like traditional golf, but holes are won and lost according to the time it takes to play them, not by counting strokes. Players sprint to their balls as fast as they can and don’t waste precious seconds lining up their shots. “It’s tailor-made for today’s got-to-have-it-now, short-attention-span society,” one of the creators told the Southgate Press & Guide. One caveat, particularly for older golfers: Those par-5s can kill you.
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