The Week That Was, june 28, 2015

     In what can only be described as a publicity stunt, Jim Justice has enlisted a quartet of famous old-timers -- Jack Nicklaus (age 75), Arnold Palmer (85), Gary Player (79), and Lee Trevino (76) -- to co-design a celebrity-studded golf course that he hopes will bring a U.S. Open championship to his Greenbrier resort. The 18-hole track will be called IV Greats of the Game, and for additional marketing pizzazz it’ll take shape on property that overlooks the Greenbrier’s Oakhurst Links, the first golf course to be built in the United States (age 131). “To get the super legends of golf that made the game what it is today and do something that has never been done and do it in West Virginia is just wonderful,” Justice told the Beckley Register-Herald. “It will be a legacy to them and a legacy to the game, because it’s right on top of the first golf course ever in America.” As always in our great nation, gimmickry knows few bounds. The track will be private, for members of Greenbrier Sporting Club (and presumably for guests of the resort), and it’ll be accompanied by houses, a private ski area, and other attractions. Justice hopes to break ground on it next month and to open it in the fall of next year.

     Pacific Links International has put Ernie Els on its payroll. The well-decorated PGA Tour pro and “signature” architect has become a “brand ambassador” -- a role defined more vulgarly as “paid spokesman” -- for fast-growing PLI, which has set out to export its version of “luxury, Western-style golf” to “the Asian market.” Specifically, PLI aims to transform an existing 27-hole complex in metropolitan Beijing, China into a Tiger Woods “signature” layout that will operate as Pacific Links National Golf Club. If all goes according to plan, the club will serve as the crown jewel in a 12-property chain of private clubs that PLI intends to establish in the Beijing and nearby Tianjin areas. Els will put his “signature” on at least one of the clubs, and he isn’t the only golf celebrity who’s agreed to shill for PLI. The company also reportedly writes checks to Greg Norman, Annika Sorenstam, Nick Price, and Mark O'Meara.

     The press release announcing Ernie Els’ ambassadorship to China also contained a juicy news nugget, as Els stated that he’s “proud” to represent Pacific Links International and “excited” to design “a new 18-hole course in Beijing.” Els’ comment may answer a question related to PLI’s 27 Club, the chain of 12 private golf venues that the company wants to create in the suburbs of Beijing and Tianjin over the next three to five years. Because Chinese government officials are loathe to authorize new golf construction nowadays, PLI plans to purchase existing golf properties and hire “signature” architects -- namely Els, Tiger Woods, Pete Dye, Greg Norman, and Fred Couples -- to transform them into “the most sought-after courses in the world.” Here’s my question: Has PLI given Els an existing course to redesign, as it did with Woods, or is Els creating a new course from scratch? After all, according to his website, Els has had a course “under development” in Beijing for a long, long time. Needless to say, no specific details have been revealed about the course. For what it’s worth, though, the press release announcing Els’ relationship with PLI describes the tracks he’s previously created as “attractive, classically inspired, and critically acclaimed.”

     Some information in the preceding post first appeared in the April 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     Gifts of Gab, Part One: Alice Dye doesn’t often comment on the work of other architects, but she apparently couldn’t resist offering an opinion about Chambers Bay. “I just think a golf course where you have to walk 10 miles to play it is inexcusable,” Dye told the Palm Beach Post. “I don’t think that’s a golf course. That’s not what we’re about when we’re trying to encourage people to play golf.” Dye, who often co-designs courses with her legendary husband, also offered a prediction about Chambers Bay’s financial future. “I didn’t see any cart paths,” she said, “which means people will either have to pull a cart or carry their clubs, and I don’t think that’s going to fly with the people who can afford to play it.”

     Sorry for the delay, but this week I stumbled across another golf course that’s bitten the dust as a result of California’s persistent drought. It’s Hank’s Woodlake Ranch Golf Course, a track in the Fresno Valley that went belly up in January. “This was something you couldn’t foresee,” the course’s owner, Hank Bochini, told KSEE-TV. “I mean, the economy was bad enough, but when the well went dry, I couldn’t fix that.” Bochini hopes he can eventually re-open Woodlake Ranch, which had been in business since 1998. For now, he’s doing whatever he can to ensure that his other golf property, Hank’s Swank Par-3 Golf Course in Fresno, continues to operate. 
 
     Gifts of Gab, Part Two: A “gangsta” rapper who made his reputation by writing what Billboard describes as “brutally honest odes to urban anguish” is saying nice things about golf. “The game of golf slows the whole world down and gives you time to think,” says Scarface, one of



the Geto Boys. “Inner-city kids could learn a lot about patience. Golf teaches you class and character.” Sounds as if he’s angling for a gig with the First Tee, doesn’t it? But actually, the 45-year-old “hip-hop pioneer” has a larger goal. “When I’m 50,” Scarface says, “I want to play on the Senior PGA Tour.” Talk about a culture change.

Desolation Row, june 26, 2015

     San Diego, California. Riverwalk Golf Club is a dead man walking. In the not too distant future -- by, say, 2017 or 2018 -- the flood-prone 27-hole complex, created by Ted Robinson in the late 1990s, will gradually begin to erode, nine holes at a time, and be replaced with 4,000 condos and apartments. “There aren’t too many 200-acre sites in coastal California left,” a developer told the San Diego Union-Tribune, “much less that have a river running through it and also mass transit.” Back in the 1950s, when the property had 18 holes and was known as Mission Valley Country Club (it became Stardust Country Club in the early 1960s), it hosted the PGA Tour’s San Diego Open, crowning Gary Player, Billy Casper, and Tommy Bolt (among others) as winners. Riverwalk is owned by Steve Cushman and members of his family. The property has been in the family since the 1870s.

     North Port, Florida. Regarding the new “replica” golf course that was to be built at Sabal Trace Golf & Country Club: Forget about it. Charlotte Golf Partners has pulled the plug on Sabal Trace and its 18-hole, Charles Ankrom-designed layout. The club, in metropolitan Sarasota, had been in business since the early 1970s. CGP blames its lender for the club’s demise, as it posted a message on Sabal Trace’s website saying that it couldn’t negotiate an extension on a loan that’s been in place for five years. The lender may have a different story, but it isn’t talking.

     Hemlock, Michigan. Jim Kruszynski and Gregg Matekel have stopped trying to resuscitate Maple Hill Golf Club, in suburban Saginaw. The duo purchased the 64-year-old club last year, after it had closed for the season, and had hoped to re-open it this spring, as a “no-frills” private venue. To do so, however, they needed to sign 200 members, and they couldn’t come anywhere close. “We even lowered our goal to 140 members, just to try to make it work, and we only got 67,” Matekel told the Saginaw News. “It was sad. We had, you know, put a lot of effort into it, and it just wasn’t going to work.” The new owners say that they don’t know what they’re going to do with the property, but it’s worth noting that Matekel works in real estate and owns a home-building company.

     Marion, Indiana. The end is near for Shady Hills Golf Course. James Swan, who’s in the real estate business, has purchased the 18-hole, Bill Diddel-designed track at a public auction, reportedly for $725,000. Swan doesn’t figure to operate Shady Hills beyond the current season. “We’re going to develop it,” he told the Marion Chronicle-Tribune. Shady Hills made its debut in the early 1930s.

     Cordova, Tennessee. The future of Cordova Club, which occupies 88 acres in suburban Memphis, is “very much in doubt,” according to the president of the surrounding homeowners’ association, although it may ultimately be saved by a restrictive covenant. “It didn’t have enough play, like so many other golf courses around town,” the course’s operator told the Memphis Commercial Appeal in April, after he shuttered the property. “It’s a tough, tough, tough business.” An ownership mess is compounding the uncertainty surrounding Cordova, for the club’s 18-hole golf course is owned by one party (a church group, Baptist Missions, Inc.), while its clubhouse is owned by the lessee, Cordova Financial Group Partnership. The clubhouse is already under contract to be sold. The course may sit idle for a while, however, as the home owners in the accompanying subdivision contend that it can only be used for golf purposes. “We intend to use every resource to enforce that covenant if necessary,” the association’s president wrote in a letter to his neighbors. And here’s another red flag for prospective buyers: Cordova reportedly had only about 100 members when it closed.

     Charlottesville, Virginia. McIntire Park Golf Course has finally and perhaps mercifully reached the end of the line. The nine-hole layout, opened originally in 1930, still had sand greens and was only minimally maintained, as the city charged just $2 for all-day play. McIntire Park was effectively doomed years ago, when the city unveiled a master plan that proposed new uses for its site. Still, the track wasn’t supposed to close until December 2016.

     Erie, Pennsylvania. Roughly half of Gospel Hill Golf Course disappeared years ago, and the rest will disappear shortly. The track, which once had 18 holes, is owned by Penn State University’s Behrend College, which no longer wishes to fund its operating expenses. “It just doesn't fit our purpose,” a spokesperson for the college told the Erie Times-News. “There is significant expense in maintaining it, including a full-time groundskeeper, additional support, and the costs of fertilizer and mowing equipment.” Gospel Hill opened in two phases, in 1962 and 1966. The college bought the course in 2010 and allowed local residents to play it for free. The school figures to eventually develop the 118-acre property.

     Rio Rancho, New Mexico. It’s been a foregone conclusion, but now it’s official: The long-abandoned North nine at Club Rio Rancho will never again operate as a golf course. The club’s owner, Jhett Browne, has struck an agreement with a big national home builder that intends to put 180 houses on the 67-acre tract. The sale may signal a turnaround in the fortunes of Club Rio Rancho, a struggling venue that formerly operated as Rio Rancho Country Club and Chamisa Hills Golf & Country Club. Club Rio Rancho has a pair of remaining nines, one designed by Desmond Muirhead and one designed by Gene Sarazen.

     Duluth, Georgia. Pending approval by government officials, an apartment complex is going to take shape on the 45 acres occupied by Georgia Trail at Sugarloaf. The nine-hole course calls itself “the perfect location for a complete golf experience the entire family can enjoy,” but Brand Properties believes that 290 apartments would “protect and promote the quality of life of the surrounding community while allowing the property to be developed to its highest and best use.” It appears that local planners support the developers’ request for a rezoning.

     Wichita, Kansas. After operating for nearly a century, Braeburn Golf Course will close on November 3, 2015. The handwriting has been on the wall for Braeburn since the late 1960s, when it was acquired as a site for expansion by Wichita State University. Now the anticipated expansion is about to arrive, in the form of what the school calls an “innovation campus.” Braeburn opened in the early 1920s, as Crestview Country Club. A few of its holes will be maintained, to serve as a practice area for the university’s golf teams.

The Week That Was, june 21, 2015

     The U.S. golf industry’s customer base continues to shrink. According to Pellucid Corporation’s recently published Consumer Franchise Health report, our nation currently has 22 million golfers, signifying a loss of about 1 million over the past year and 8 million since 2002. It’s worth mentioning, as Jim Koppenhaver does in the current issue of the Pellucid Perspective, that in 2010 both the PGA of America and the National Golf Foundation predicted dramatic growth for recreational golf in the current decade. The PGA calculated that we’d count 40 million golfers by 2020, while the National Golf Foundation envisioned 30 million. Needless to say, these predictions were misleading and incorrect. Considering how deeply flawed their work is, how do golf’s leaders justify their salaries?

     To exactly nobody’s surprise, Mike Keiser appears certain to secure the financial support he sought from the state of Wisconsin, as the state’s legislators have approved a bill that will enable the town of Rome to create a special taxing district to facilitate the development of the Sand Valley resort. “The topography of Rome and its rich natural resources have the ability to make this a world-class golf destination,” a state senator said in a press release. “The Sand Valley Golf Resort will strengthen the economy of Rome and Adams County.” The bill will become law if Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker, signs it. Not to suggest a quid pro quo, but Keiser has previously made campaign contributions to Walker.

     Gifts of Gab, Part One: Gary Player made himself the center of attention this week by taking some cheap shots at Chambers Bay, the site of this year’s U.S. Open, but, to be fair, he also made some sensible, less publicized comments about recreational golf. “We’re making golf courses longer and longer, more expensive, more water, more fertilizer, more labor, [and] people are resigning,” the Black Knight complained during a rant on the Golf Channel. One possible solution: “We’ve got to cut the ball back for the pro golfer [but] leave it for the amateur golfer.” He added: “An average golfer playing this course, if he’s a 15 or 16 handicap, he’s going to shoot 110 and he’s not going to go home a very happy man. We’ve got to make golf where it’s quicker, where it’s more enjoyable.” But Player also left something unsaid: He was among the architects who sought the design commission for Chambers Bay and failed to get it.

     Gifts of Gab, Part Two: Gary Player variously described Chambers Bay’s Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf course as “a monster,” “a tragedy,” and “terrible,” but another “signature” architect had a different opinion. “It’s an awesome piece of property, and I think it’s one of the great courses in the United States,” Johnny Miller told the Seattle Times. “I think it has the potential to be one of the great treasures in America, golf-wise.”

     The premier venue in one of Europe’s top golf destinations is for sale. Oceânico Golf reportedly wants more than €45 million ($51.2 million) for Vilamoura, a resort in Portugal’s Algarve with a well-regarded collection of golf courses, including tracks that have hosted the Portugal Masters and the World Cup of Golf. A spokesperson for Savills, the company that’s marketing Vilamoura, called the collection “one of the largest and most prestigious golf course portfolios in Europe” and “a highly profitable business.” Oceânico Golf is selling five courses: the Old course (designed by Frank Pennink), the Pinhal course (a Pennink track redesigned by Robert Trent Jones), the Victoria course (Arnold Palmer), the Millennium course (Martin Hawtree), and the Laguna course (Joe Lee). The company aims to complete a sale by the end of this year.

     Another one bites the dust: At the end of this month, Bass Lake Golf Course, in Rescue, California, will succumb to the drought. “We can’t put out enough water to maintain conditions golfers expect,” the course’s general manager told Fox 40 TV. Bass Lake’s 18-hole layout opened in two phases, in 1996 and 1999. Sabrina Ho, a co-owner of the course since 2002, plans to use her allotment of water on the property’s driving range, which will remain open.

     On the eve of this year’s U.S. Open, the owners of Payne Stewart Golf Club announced that they’ve changed the club’s name. The club, in Branson, Missouri, is now called Branson Hills Golf Club. Branson Hills Golf Company LLC says that the change was made because a licensing agreement with Payne Stewart Enterprises has expired. Stewart won the U.S. Open twice, in 1991 and in 1999, and he died in a plane crash just a few months after the second championship. The parties didn’t explain why the licensing agreement wasn’t extended, and the timing of the name change could have been better.

Transactions, june 19, 2015

     Scottsdale, Arizona. A monument to the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s has changed hands. Starwood Hotels & Resorts has sold the Phoenician, which features a 27-hole golf complex, to Host Hotels & Resorts, reportedly for $400 million. In addition to the golf complex, the 300-acre resort has a 643-room hotel, meeting space, nine bars and restaurants, the obligatory spa, and other attractions. The Phoenician was built by the late Charles Keating, a developer who became wealthy by capitalizing on opportunities offered by a deregulated S&L industry. (His motto: “The weak, meek, and ignorant are always good targets.”) Keating’s Lincoln Savings & Loan collapsed spectacularly in 1989, and a government rescue officially cost U.S. taxpayers $3.4 billion, though the true cost was probably much more. The Phoenician, which was known as “Club Fed” after the government seized Keating’s assets, has golf courses designed by Homer Flint (the Oasis and Desert nines) and Ted Robinson (the Canyon nine).

     Sherrard, Illinois. Earlier this month, at a public auction, a pair of businessmen from the Quad Cities reportedly paid $502,765 and change -- literally, 91 cents -- for Fyre Lake Golf Course, a golf property whose tortured history is reflected in the price. Mike Thoms and Larry Whitty bought the Nicklaus Design layout from Todd Raufeisen, who once likened his property to a “train wreck.” Fyre Lake opened in 2013, but it’s been making life miserable for its various owners and lenders since 1992, and Raufeisen wasn’t sorry to see it go. “For the first time,” he told the Quad City Times, “all the crap will be done.” Given what Whitty calls the “prior negative publicity,” the new owners are thinking about changing the course’s name. Probably not a bad idea.

     Lake Elsinore, California. Less than two years after a shady Chinese entity agreed to pay $1.65 million for Links at Summerly, some Los Angeles-based investors are expected to purchase the seven-year-old course for just $750,000. The Chinese entity, which operated either as Kingdom Capital Market or World Capital Market, had acquired Summerly in October 2013. Several months later, however, prosecutors accused it of running an investment scam, and control of the 18-hole, Cal Olson-designed layout went to a court-appointed receiver. The receiver couldn’t operate the track profitably, nor could it find a buyer willing to beat Saint Springs LLC’s low-ball bid.

     Fayetteville, Arkansas. One of the U.S. golf industry’s biggest owner/operators has acquired the city’s oldest golf course, with the aim of putting the nearly 60-year-old track out of business. Lindsey Management Company has agreed to buy Razorback Park Golf Course, an 18-hole layout that opened in two phases, in 1958 and 1992. Lindsey has more than 40 affordably priced golf properties in its portfolio, three of them in Fayetteville, but it believes that Razorback Park’s 125 acres are better suited to single-family houses, apartments, and footgolf. The sellers, Ron and Linda Caviness, have owned Razorback Park since 1985.

     Weirton, West Virginia. Between mid April and mid May, one of the top golf venues in West Virginia changed hands twice. First, the members of Williams Country Club, which was created by Weirton Steel Company in the 1930s, sold their 175-acre property at a public auction to Gary Smith, who bid $1.775 million. Then, a month later, Smith sold the club to one of its longtime members, James Markowitz, for $900,000. Why the price difference? Smith has retained the mineral rights to the property. Markowitz intends to continue operating Williams as a private club. Golf Digest ranks the property’s 18-hole golf course, which was co-designed by Emil Loeffler and John McGlynn, as the eighth best in the state.  

     Venice, Florida. A New York City-based investment fund has purchased Pelican Pointe Golf & Country Club, the main attraction of a 1,000-acre community that describes itself as “truly a place where life feels different.” Lex Pelican LP, an entity controlled by E. Robert Roskind, reportedly paid $16.85 million for the 360-acre club, a fixture in suburban Sarasota since the mid 1990s. Pelican Pointe’s main attraction is a 27-hole golf complex that was designed by Ted McAnliss. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the seller, Cabot Golf, paid $13 million for the property in 2007, just prior to the economic crash.

     Kingman, Kansas. Here’s a twist: A developer has rescued a financially troubled golf course. At an auction in April, Shaun Weaver agreed to pay $345,000 plus closing costs for Kingman County Club, which features a nine-hole course that opened in 1923. “It just seems like a community needs a golf course,” Weaver told the Hutchinson News. Kingman was shuttered last year and donated to the Kansas Masonic Foundation, which put it up for auction. According to the Kingman County appraiser, the club’s property is worth more than $626,000.

     Naco, Arizona. In what the Sierra Vista Herald suggests is “the steal of the century,” an investment group led by Harold Vaubel, a former golf course superintendent, has acquired the oldest golf course in Arizona. At a public auction, Vaubel’s HGM Golf Enterprises paid $600,000 for Turquoise Valley Golf Course, which has reportedly been in business since 1908, four years before Arizona became a state. “In Arizona,” Vaubel told the Herald, “golf courses can be purchased for about 50 cents on the dollar.” HGM bought Turquoise Valley from Pete Lawson, a Canadian who, according to the newspaper, “had reached his own personal timetable on how long he wanted to own the course.” The new owners are in the market for other golf properties, and Redhawk Golf Course, in Temecula, California, is on their radar.

      Grants Pass, Oregon. For what’s been described as “totally sentimental” reasons, a co-founder of Dutch Bros. Coffee has purchased Dutcher Creek Golf Course. Travis Boersma paid an undisclosed price for the 18-hole track, which is located on a former dairy farm that his family used to own, late last year or in early 2015. Boersma grew up working on the farm, and he learned to make coffee there. His father built the golf course, which opened with nine holes in 1994.

     Harrisburg, South Dakota. The clock has begun to tick on Spring Creek Country Club. The roughly two dozen owners of Spring Creek have sold their 200-acre property to the South Dakota Parks & Wildlife Foundation, reportedly for $2 million. The foundation, which feared that Spring Creek would be developed, has agreed to lease the club to its former owners for the next 10 years, and then it’ll donate the site to the adjacent Good Earth State Park. Spring Creek features an 18-hole, Marty Johnson-designed golf course that opened in 1994.

     Las Vegas, Nevada. Cyrus Tang and a few of his wealthy neighbors have taken possession of Spanish Trail Country Club. The club, which features a 27-hole, Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf complex, was established in the mid 1980s and served as the centerpiece of a 640-acre community where both Las Vegas royalty (Andre Agassi, Siegfried Fischbacher of Siegfried & Roy) and true royalty (the sultan of Brunei) had homes. The community didn’t fare well during the Great Recession, however, and it was forced to seek bankruptcy protection in 2011. It really hasn’t been the same since. Tang, who was born in China, attended the Illinois Institute of Technology and made a fortune by selling, among other things, office furniture and scrap metal. He and his partners bought Spanish Trail from PPM America, a Chicago, Illinois-based investment management firm. The price hasn’t been disclosed.

The Week That Was, june 14, 2015

     The way golf’s opinion-makers are analyzing data these days, it’s getting near impossible to tell up from down and better from worse. A case in point: In “Golf Participation in Europe 2015,” KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice contends that the Continent’s golf industry is experiencing “the start of a meaningful recovery” due to “the recent tentative European economic upturn and the continuing initiatives aimed at recruiting new members.” It believes that these factors “will have a positive impact on golf in Europe in 2015.” KPMG’s argument is hard to accept, however, for its data indicates that Europe’s golf business isn’t recovering in any meaningful way. Last year, for example, the number of registered golfers in Europe fell by 1.8 percent. Demand is falling in more than half of the nations that KPMG has analyzed, with the biggest drops in the established golf markets, and in recent years there’s been a steady decrease in play from women and juniors. And if you’re trying to determine how well those grow-the-game initiatives are working, well, KPMG admits that their impact has so far been “difficult to notice.” For whatever reason, KPMG doesn’t want to acknowledge that the golf industry in Europe hasn’t yet bottomed out. I hope it’s reading the tea leaves correctly, but recovery truly shouldn’t be equated with “a slowdown in the decrease in golf participation.” Down is down, and worse is worse. In difficult times, it’s important to distinguish between facts and fictions.

     For the second time this year, the European Tour’s real estate subsidiary has found a partner in Southeast Asia. Saujana Golf & Country Club, considered by many to be the top golf property in Malaysia, has joined the growing network of “world-class” golf communities affiliated with European Tour Properties, the Continent’s equivalent of PGA Tour Properties. Just weeks ago, ETP made Black Mountain Golf Resort, arguably Thailand’s top golf property, a member of its exclusive club. ETP now counts 15 golf communities in its network, but three are, strictly speaking, not in Europe. (The third outsider is Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.) ETP’s business model, like that of the European Tour itself, calls to mind Ned Beatty’s speech in Network: There are no nations, only corporations and the international dominion of dollars.

     It appears that Donald Trump can check off another item on his to-do list. According to the Aberdeen Press & Journal, the European Tour is going to award the Scottish Open -- or, strictly speaking, the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open -- to Trump International Golf Links Scotland. The event has grown dramatically in stature in recent years -- it’s become an almost obligatory tune-up for the Open Championship, so it attracts a high-prestige field -- and it’ll be held at Trump’s property in Aberdeenshire in 2017, 2019, and 2020, and most likely in future years as well. The contract, when it becomes official, will further solidify Trump’s bona fides as one of our industry’s most influential people. Here at home, it occasionally seems that Trump is only reluctantly accepted by golf’s high and mighty. But the Powers That Be in Europe’s golf business love Trump, and he loves them. They complete each other.

     Sometime this summer, vacationers in the summer capital of Estonia will begin teeing off on a course unlike most others in Europe. Lassi Pekka Tilander, the Finnish designer of Pärnu Bay Golf Course, thinks his layout, with its seaside location, sandy soils, and wide fairways, “will remind golfers of famous links courses” in the British Isles. “There will be no other courses like it in the Baltic States and only a few comparable ones in all of Northern Europe,” he’s said. The course’s owner, Peter Hunt, is a Swede who made his money in the textile business. In addition to Pärnu Bay’s 18-hole track, Hunt sprung for a five-hole, par-3 course and a short-game practice area, and in the future he plans to add a hotel and a spa. Tilander has designed a dozen or more golf properties in three nations, two of them in Estonia: a 27-hole complex Estonian Golf & Country Club in suburban Tallinn (the club’s 18-hole course is ranked among Europe’s top 100) and Saare Golf Course on the island of Saaremaa. Hunt bought a controlling interest in Saare last year, with the hope of selling package deals to golf travelers.

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

     With Kern County, California progressively drying to a crisp, Kern River Golf Course’s water supply may evaporate in just a couple of weeks. As a result, Kern River’s long-time operator, Jim Foss, is begging for his facility’s financial life. “We are asking the [county] board for a temporary solution, to give us enough water to keep greens, tees, aprons, and trees -- roughly 50 percent of what we would normally use,” he told a local television station. Kern River reportedly rings up 40,000 rounds a year and has more than two dozen employees. The county, which owns the 62-year-old track, has threatened to shut of its water supply on July 1. If it follows through, Foss says the layout will bite the dust by the Fourth.

Vital Signs, june 12, 2015

     KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice is expecting an upturn in Europe’s golf fortunes this year, but golfers aren’t going to find many new venues to play. In “Golf Participation in Europe 2015,” KPMG concludes that literally one course was added to the inventory in 2014. While the Continent’s golf industry may be showing signs of life, growth clearly remains elusive in the construction side of the business. The current total of nine- and 18-hole regulation-length courses in Europe: 6,786.

     For as much attention as China’s golf industry gets, the number of “core” or “avid” golfers in the nation remains small. Citing data provided by Forward Management Group, China Daily reports that the nation’s “regular golfer population” consists of only 410,000 players, the vast majority of them men. The group includes 77,900 female golfers, or 19 percent of the total. By contrast, men account for roughly two-thirds of the “registered” golfers in Europe, according to “Golf Participation in Europe 2015,” while women account for 25 percent.

     Slowly but surely, Tasmania has been emerging as a high-quality golf destination. Now, with a pair of true world-class links nearing their debuts on nearby King Island, it’s legitimate to ask: How big a wave can Tasmania catch, and how long might it last? Last year, close to 27,000 traveling golfers visited Tasmania, an increase of 33 percent over the number recorded in 2013, and that’s with just one main draw: Barnbougle Dunes, which features two of the world’s top-ranked layouts. Once the much-anticipated tracks on King Island open -- Cape Wickham Links this fall and Ocean Dunes early next year -- how many more golfers can the remote island be expected to attract? “Tasmania could be the number-one golf touring destination in [the] Asia Pacific,” argues Greg Ramsay, who envisioned Barnbougle Dunes and assembled the group that built it. It’s true that Tasmania has plenty of upside, but don’t forget that it’s still a relative unknown. In addition, it faces stiff competition both in Australia and New Zealand, and Southeast Asia is aggressively marketing itself as an ideal place for golf tours. Tasmania will no doubt register with those who crave a pure links experience, but supplies of such golfers are limited.

     The golf season in Great Britain has gotten off to a promising start. In the first quarter of this year, the number of rounds played at British golf facilities increased by 14 percent over the number played during the same period in 2014, according to data provided by Sports Marketing Surveys. SMS attributed the results to the weather, which was warmer and drier than usual. This is a small sample size, to be sure, but the British golf industry appears to be trending in the right direction, as the number of rounds played in 2014 increased by 3.5 percent over those posted in 2013. A spokesperson for SMS called the latest results “fantastic news for the industry.”

     The average golf course superintendent in the United States is 46.2 years old and earns $85,204, according to a survey by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Superintendents who are “certified” earn 22 percent more: $103,993. The survey also determined that superintendents’ salaries have increased in every two-year period since the GCSAA began tracking the data, in 1993. Since the last survey, in 2013, “certified” superintendents have seen their salaries rise by 5.9 percent, while other superintendents posted a 3.2 percent gain.

The Week That Was, june 7, 2015

     In what it calls as “the Asia golf scoop of the year,” Golfasian reports that a pair of resorts in Indonesia are in line to become Trump International Golf Clubs. The resorts to be re-branded are Nirwana Bali Golf Club, on the southwestern coast of Bali, and Lido Golf Club, in West Java. In the June 2015 edition of its online newsletter, Asian Golf Travel Nation, Golfasian says that the Greg Norman-designed layout at Nirwana Bail will get “a complete makeover,” while Lido, which is currently in the midst of a major overhaul, will become the centerpiece of “one of Southeast Asia’s most luxurious golf resorts.” The resorts are scheduled to reopen under Trump’s management in 2018, according to Golfasian. Nirwana Bali and Lido are owned by entities controlled by Hary Tanoesoedibjo, one of Indonesia’s wealthiest people. He’s the CEO of MNC Investama, a holding company whose assets include MNC Group, Indonesia’s largest media conglomerate, and at least two banks. Forbes says he’s worth $1.15 billion, but, as we all know, billionaires aren’t as unique as they used to be. In fact, Forbes believes that 1,323 people on the planet are richer than Tanoesoedibjo, and one of them is Donald Trump, who has an estimated net worth of $4.1 billion. The Trump Organization won’t comment on Golfasian’s story.

     Speaking of wealth, every once in a while it’s important to remind billionaires that money can’t always buy everything. Last week, this point was made emphatically to Donald Trump, who lost yet another legal battle against the Scottish off-shore wind farm that he’s been fighting against ever since William Wallace originally proposed it in 1298. In the most recent court skirmish, Trump’s lawyers argued that the government’s decision to approve the wind farm was illegal, in part because of something that somebody said during what was described as “an amazing lunch” in a hospitality tent at a Scottish Open. Hard to believe, but it’s s true. As most everyone knows, Trump objects to the wind farm because he believes it’ll ruin the views at Trump International Golf Links Scotland, put a chill on the vacation business in Aberdeenshire, and ultimately destroy Scotland’s entire tourism industry. So if you think that he’s tilting at windmills purely out of self-interest, you’re completely wrong. He’s out to save Scotland. He’s trying to prevent a great nation from making a fatal mistake when nobody else is brave enough to do so.

     Xanterra Parks & Resorts has given up trying to complete the development plans for its golf resort in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Colorado-based parks concessionaire has decided to sell the Kingsmill Resort, a property it bought in 2010, reportedly for close to $24 million. Among other things, Kingsmill features a 422-room hotel, a conference center, a marina, three 18-hole golf courses (designed by Pete Dye, Arnold Palmer, and Curtis Strange), and a nine-hole, executive-length track. An asking price hasn’t been disclosed. Xanterra hasn’t said why it’s putting Kingsmill on the market, but the Virginia Gazette reports that the company has had a series of “disagreements” with “a dissident group of homeowners over control of the homeowners' association.”

     In the wake of a monumental natural-gas discovery, the state petroleum company in one of Africa’s poorest nations aims to build a new port city that will have at least one golf course. The city is to be called Palma, and it’ll be located along the Indian Ocean in the northern part of Mozambique, near a huge reserve of off-shore liquefied natural gas. As a result of the discovery, an energy-industry analyst believes that Mozambique “will probably become the next Qatar.” In addition to factories and office space, Palma has been master-planned to include houses, hotels, shopping areas, schools, hospitals, and parks. Its golf courses will cater primarily to the foreign, white-collar professionals who’ll be relocating to Palma, as Mozambique has virtually no indigenous golfers. Today the nation has just two golf courses, both nine-hole tracks, one in Maputo and one in Beira.

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

     KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice believes that Europe’s golf industry is experiencing “the start of a meaningful recovery,” but you wouldn’t know it based on data from the construction side of the business. In “Golf Participation in Europe 2015,” KPMG says that just one course -- literally, one -- has been added to the inventory since 2013, when it last issued a report on golf participation in Europe. For the record, KPMG counts 6,786 courses on the Continent, the largest number of them in England (1,849).