The Week That Was, february 1, 2015

     Among the male-only golf clubs in the rotation for the Open Championship, the dominoes are beginning to fall. Just months after the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews voted to admit women as members, Royal Troon Golf Club -- the host of next year’s open -- has decided to “undertake a comprehensive review to consider the most appropriate membership policy for the future.” The Guardian interprets this painfully dense prose as an indication that Royal Troon is “likely to follow the Royal & Ancient’s lead,” and Reuters thinks that the Scottish club “may start allowing women members in time for the 2016 championship.” The remaining clubs that need to review their membership policies are Muirfield and Royal St. George’s, though they don’t need to end their gender bias for several years. Their turns in the open rotation won’t arrive until 2021 at the earliest.

     Royal Troon isn’t the only high-profile institution in golf that needs to fix its woman problem. The World Golf Foundation, our industry’s most powerful policy-making force, has taken to promoting the game to females through a new website, GolfForHer.com. In a press release, the WGF’s CEO called the website “an innovative and appealing content aggregator” that will attract women and girls by showcasing “the fun, networking, and lifestyle aspects of the game.” By happy coincidence, the website is supported by all but one of the U.S. groups represented on the WGF’s board, namely the PGA of America, the PGA Tour, the LPGA, and the United States Golf Association. (Yes, it’s fair to wonder why Augusta National Golf Club, another member of the WGF’s board, isn’t a sponsor.) It would be premature to predict the outcome of this sales effort, but it’s worth noting that several of the aforementioned groups have created and spent who knows how many millions of dollars on various grow-the-game initiatives without much in the way of results.

     A world-famous architect and a slew of awards haven’t made the city of Laredo, Texas’ municipal golf course a money-maker. Golf Digest named Max Mandel Golf Course as one of the best to open in 2013, and Golf ranks it among the nation’s top 100 municipal tracks. But the course, which was supposed to have rung up 22,000 rounds “in the last year,” according to KGNS-TV, rang up only 19,000, and now the city has to cough up more than $300,000 to cover operating losses. The Max’s $9 million price tag is unquestionably a tough nut for the city to crack, but the course’s location, 10 miles outside the city center, isn’t doing it any favors. Foresight Golf has been managing the Max since it opened, but the city appears to be ready to seek for a replacement.

     The Nicklaus empire’s seventh golf course in South Africa is the centerpiece of a “visionary lifestyle estate” whose residents have the means to “escape the chaotic lifestyle that can be associated with living in the city.” Those are two of the phrases that have been used to describe Steyn City, a luxurious community that’s taking shape on 2,300 acres north of Johannesburg. At build-out, the master-planned spread, surrounded by a 10-foot electrified fence, is expected to feature 11,000 houses and apartments, office space, a hospital, four schools, a shopping area, and a variety of recreational amenities, including Steyn City Golf Club, which opened late last year. Douw Steyn, the wealthy insurance-industry mogul who’s developing Steyn City, will live in the community’s showpiece property, a 33,300-square-foot mansion that’s believed to be the nation’s largest residence. He hopes that the city’s 18-hole course, a Nicklaus Design track that’s been tailored for recreational golfers, will eventually receive a top-10 national ranking.

     Speaking of Nicklaus Design, the “signature” course that the company created on Hawaii’s Kauai Island has a new owner. On the last day of 2014, Marriott Vacations Worldwide sold Kauai Lagoons Golf Club other properties to Tower Development, Inc., a company led by Ed Bushor, reportedly for $60 million. “The economy is back, and Hawaii is firing on all cylinders,” Bushor told Pacific Business News. “It’s really an exciting time for Hawaii.” The golf club is part of a 601-acre community that was conceived by the late Chris Hemmeter and opened in the mid 1980s. Only 18 of its 27 holes are currently open, but Bushor intends to revive the third nine soon, perhaps by the end of the year.