The Week That Was, january 25, 2015

     Gil Hanse, the only golf architect on the planet who can count both Mike Keiser and Donald Trump as clients, has won the commission to design the third course at Mosaic Company’s Streamsong resort in central Florida. His Black track will complement Streamsong’s critically acclaimed Red and Blue layouts, which were created, respectively, by Coore & Crenshaw and Tom Doak. Hanse called the commission “a dream come true” and commended Streamsong for delivering “an authentic golf experience.” A spokesperson for the resort, which is now indisputably on track to become Bandon Dunes without the water (imitation, it must be noted, is the sincerest form of flattery), described the site of the Black course as “highly conducive to compelling golf,” with “abundant sand,” and “rolling elevation changes, native grasses, and stunning views.” Mosaic expects to break ground on the course this summer, with an opening tentatively scheduled for 2017.

     The announcement about Streamsong’s third course contained an additional fun tidbit: Mosaic Company says that it’s “assessing various alternatives” for a fourth course on its 16,000-acre spread outside Fort Meade, Florida. Word has it that the resort is seriously considering a proposal -- a proposal from Mike Keiser, no less -- to recreate Lido Golf Club, a legendary venue on Long Island that opened in 1914 and was razed sometime during World War Two. Lido’s 18-hole track, once described as “the finest course in the world,” was co-designed by C. B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, reportedly with help from Alister MacKenzie, and Keiser apparently has the original plans. If he truly believes that the Streamsong property can accommodate a Lido replica, Mosaic has an opportunity that’s way too good to pass up.

     The last time Giles Morgan threatened to take his marketing money elsewhere, golf’s power elite swiftly sprung into action. And now the head of sponsorship for HSBC is flexing his muscle again. Morgan, who writes the checks that underwrite the Open Championship and other high-profile golf events, believes that our industry is at “a crossroads moment” in its history and fears that it isn’t keeping up with changing times. “Those who are in charge of the game need to be brave,” he pronounced in an interview with the BBC. “They need to take some risks.” Last year, Morgan complained that HSBC had grown weary of funding professional tournaments held at male-only clubs and that he no longer wanted to be “in a situation where I’m having to justify our sponsorship.” The result: Just months later, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews voted overwhelmingly to end its gender bias and open its doors to women. Last week, Morgan criticized golf’s institutional leaders for failing to realize “the potential of the diversity of the game” and expressed a worry, shared by many of us, that while golf “will still be very attractive to some people, it might fall into slow decline.” We all know that money talks. Soon we’ll learn exactly who is listening.

     In an indication of where the game of golf may be headed, the Golf Channel has cozied up to Topgolf International, the fast-growing chain of entertainment venues where customers eat and drink, listen to music, watch TV, and test their golf skills by shooting high-tech golf balls at targets. In a press release, the Golf Channel praises Topgolf for “providing a new direction to propel the game forward,” and Topgolf declares that the collaboration “signifies our commitment to growing the sport.” The multi-year agreement calls for Topgolf and the Golf Channel to promote the heck out of each other, because they believe that what’s good for them is ultimately good for golf.

     Teresa Harbottle has filed a lawsuit against her late husband’s doctor, claiming that “serious medical negligence” caused his death. John Harbottle, a fast-rising Tacoma, Washington-based golf architect, died in an airport in 2012, at the age of 53, allegedly of a heart condition that wasn’t properly diagnosed. As a result of his death, the lawsuit reportedly states, Teresa Harbottle and the couple’s children have suffered “enormous personal, emotional, and financial losses.” According to the Tacoma News Tribune, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

     Just a week after ClubCorp acquired its first golf property in Illinois, the publicly traded firm is closing in on a second. ClubCorp has agreed to buy Rolling Green Country Club, a property in Arlington Heights that’s said to have 225 members. “The market has shifted for country clubs," a Rolling Green board member told the Chicago Daily Herald. “For the kinds of facilities and amenities that customers are looking for today, private clubs struggle to deliver that at a price point that's affordable.” Club Industry estimates that ClubCorp paid “between $8 million and $9 million” for Rolling Green, which credits the design of its 18-hole, 90-year-old golf course to Bill Diddel. The company promised to reduce Rolling Green’s initiation fee and dues and to spend $1.5 million on improvements to the club’s course, clubhouse, and pool complex.

     While the law tries to figure out the truth about how Robert Allenby got his face bashed in, the rest of us in golf must ponder another



mystery: How did Tiger Woods lose a front tooth? And while we’re on the subject, what’s with that death mask a Chicago Tribune
 
photographer caught him wearing? And finally: Whose dark side is darker, his or Michelle Wie’s?