Vital Signs, august 28, 2015

     Golfers dedicated to playing on impeccable links aren’t the only people looking forward to the opening of the Sand Valley resort in Rome, Wisconsin. The town’s elected officials are anticipating a significant increase in revenues from property taxes, as Mike Keiser’s forthcoming five-course complex is projected to boost local property values by more than $42 million. The extra income will help to offset the $140 million decline in real-estate values that Rome has experienced as a result of the still-lingering Great Recession. What’s more, the jobs created by Sand Valley -- roughly 100 per course, it’s said -- will also inject a little more life into the area’s economy. According to the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, the resort’s first course, a Coore & Crenshaw design, is expected to debut in 2017.

     Donald Trump’s insulting mischaracterizations of Mexican immigrants haven’t affected his popularity among Republican voters, but they’ve undoubtedly affected the Trump Organization’s bottom line. The Huffington Post has calculated the losses that the Organization has suffered in recent weeks, and they add up to a whopping $68.8 million. Nearly half of the loss -- $32.5 million -- came as a result of Trump being dismissed as the host of NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice.” The rest comes in what the super-wealthy view as rounding errors: $13.5 million from Univision, $10.5 million from Macy’s, $3 million from Serta, $2.7 million from Univision, and lesser amounts from canceled events at Trump-owned properties. Some of the Post’s numbers are clearly speculative, but generally they seem to be in the ball park. And let’s not forget that the financial sting of Trump’s comments will also hurt the Organization in the future, as it’ll miss out on licensing opportunities that many viable potential partners won’t be willing to risk.

     North of the border, the golf business appears to have perked up. Citing figures provided by the National Allied Golf Associations, the Aurora Banner reports that the number of rounds played in Canada through the first six months of this year increased by 27 percent from those posted during the same period in 2014. The full-year figures are what really matters, of course, but the gains registered so far have certainly given many operators a reason to believe.

     Like so many other nations, Thailand has set out to lure a larger share of the world’s free-spending golf travelers. At last count, in 2013, “the Land of Smiles” welcomed roughly 460,000 people who, according to the nation’s tourism authority, arrived either specifically to play golf or as “part of a wider package of leisure activities.” The authority believes that many more are ripe for the picking, and it’s embarked on a marketing campaign that will highlight the many delights that Thailand offers, not least among them female caddies who, in the words of Sport 360, “bring a warm friendliness and hospitality that enhances any round.” Yes, sex still sells.