The Pipeline, march 13, 2015

     Turkmenistan. The world’s favorite “signature” architect has agreed to design what will likely be the first golf course in energy-rich Turkmenistan. “We’re going to do the first one for them,” Jack Nicklaus said last fall, after meeting with the nation’s president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. No details have been announced, but it appears that Turkmenistan wants to open the track by 2017, when it hosts the Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games. Despite its increasing wealth, generated by huge reserves of natural gas, Turkmenistan remains a secretive, largely backward nation, in the same class as North Korea, Myanmar, Somalia, and Sudan. The BBC describes it as “one of the most repressive states in the world.” Turkmenistan is also virgin territory for golf, and Berdimuhamedov appears to understand that the sport can play an important role in boosting his nation’s tourism business, and perhaps its public image as well.

     Tallin, Estonia. Annika Sorenstam, the greatest female golfer of all time, will put her “signature” on the second 18-hole course at Estonian Golf & Country Club in suburban Tallin. She’ll be co-designing with an architect from European Golf Design, a British firm owned in part by the European Tour. The track will complement Estonian’s Sea course, an 18-hole layout that Golf Digest ranks as the nation’s best, and replace the club’s nine-hole Stone course, which will be razed. Sorenstam believes it’ll win over accomplished golfers by being “strategic, competitive, and visually appealing” but will be “equally enjoyable and engaging for newer golfers and young players.” Hanno Kross, Estonian’s owner, expects to break ground on the course in 2016, along with a 150-room hotel, a tennis academy, and a spa. If all goes as planned, the layout will open in 2019.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the January 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     Sarasota, Florida. The 18-hole golf course at the Forest Lakes community, abandoned and overgrown since 2007, is expected to reopen by the end of the year. The former Forest Lakes Golf Club, which opened in 1964, was created by Otto Graham, the professional football star, but has gone through several owners over the past two decades. A firm controlled by Neil Neilinger acquired the Forest Lakes community in 2011, after purchasing a delinquent mortgage, and soon thereafter outlined plans to revive its Roy Albert Anderson-designed golf course. “We want to really do something for the community and finally change the course of history there,” he said in 2013. Neilinger has commissioned Gordy Lewis to create a par-63 track that will operate as Palms Golf Club at Forest Lakes.

     Strahan, Tasmania. As he prepares to break ground on his first golf venture, an Australian touring pro has his eyes on a possible second. Mat Goggin has already secured permission to build one of the two courses in the master plan for Golf Preserve, his forthcoming 36-hole complex on Seven Mile Beach, near Hobart. Now he’s reportedly considering a venue that would take shape on a publicly owned site near Hells Gates, the name of the mouth of Macquarie Harbour, outside the town of Strahan. One of Goggin’s associates believes that a destination-worthy layout could emerge on the property for as little as $5 million. The Burnie Advocate supposes that a course at Hells Gates might be “another potential jewel in the crown of Tasmanian golf tourism,” but it’s never wise to count your chickens before they hatch. Hells Gates got its name, according to Wikipedia, because it’s “notoriously shallow and dangerous.”

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

     Taroudant, Morocco. A group of U.S. and Saudi Arabian companies have reportedly agreed to build a resort community, including an amusement park and a golf course, in the Sous Valley of southwestern Morocco. The unnamed, 2,150-acre spread will include more than 5,000 houses, several hotels, schools, and a spa that specializes in weight loss. A specific location hasn’t been identified, but various news reports suggest that the community will take shape near Taroudant, a walled, Berber city roughly 120 miles southwest of Marrakech. The venture is being facilitated by Knowledge Corner Marketing & Real Estate Services, a Riyadh-based company that signed a development agreement with Taroudant Province late last year. The golf course and some of the planned hotels will be tied to the amusement park, which Morocco World News says will be operated by “an internationally known American brand.”

     Kajiado County, Kenya. For an emerging resort in southern Kenya, a 27-hole golf complex -- one that will offer “a golfing experience second to none” -- is just what the doctor ordered. The doctor in question is Anthony Monyo, an obstetrician and gynecologist as well as the chairman of a Nairobi-based development group known as Gee Twenty Holdings. Monyo has enlisted two other doctors, along with an engineer and a marketing professional, to develop Wyndham Amboseli Golf Resort & Spa, a luxurious, eco-friendly resort that aims to “meet the expectations of a demanding clientele.” To attract demanding vacationers, Monyo and his partners aim to create a golf venue that ranks among Kenya’s best. The resort’s 18-hole course, they say, will provide “an inspiring and thrill-packed round of unrivaled golf” and be capable of hosting professional events, while their nine-hole, par-3 track will be “audacious.” Gee Twenty hopes to open the resort in 2017.

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

     Popivičky, Czech Republic. Sometime this spring, a Czech group hopes to break ground on a “lifestyle development,” including a golf course, in suburban Prague. Oaks Prague will take shape on 350 acres in the town of Popivičky, roughly 15 miles southeast of the capital city. In addition to the golf course, the community is expected to feature 220 villas, apartments, and other housing types, a hotel, a village center with stores and restaurants, and a spa. Its developer, Prague-based Arendon Development Company, has vowed to create “a sustainable and vibrant community” for people who have “an appetite for contemporary architecture.”

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

     Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Regarding Tiger Woods and Diamante Cabo San Lucas: Once was not enough. At the recent unveiling of Woods’ much-anticipated El Cardonal track, the resort community on Mexico’s Baja California Sur announced that the freshly minted “signature” architect has also been contracted to produce a second 18-hole track, the Oasis, along with a forthcoming “short” course. The layouts will complement Diamante’s acclaimed Davis Love III-designed Dunes course, which was “the best course to open outside the U.S. in 2010,” according to Golf magazine. “I don’t think anyone else can move the needle like [Woods] has for us,” Ken Jowdy, the leader of Diamante’s ownership group, said at the unveiling. Jowdy hasn’t yet set a groundbreaking date for the Oasis, but Woods appears to be doing what Diamante most needs him to do: Sell real estate.