The Week That Was, january 10, 2016

     The Carolinas can no longer contain McConnell Golf. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based ownership group now owns one of Tennessee’s top golf properties, Holston Hills Country Club, a venue that’s said to have a “nearly untouched” Donald Ross-designed golf course. Holston Hills, in suburban Knoxville, opened in the late 1920s. It’s McConnell Golf’s 11th property, and its acquisition signals the company’s willingness -- and perhaps even its desire -- to operate outside its comfort zone in North and South Carolina. “I think a lot of these clubs don’t want to run them anymore,” John McConnell told the Raleigh News & Observer. McConnell Golf’s portfolio features courses designed by Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, and Arnold Palmer, but the firm appears to be actively collecting Ross layouts. “Once I saw [Holston Hills’] golf course, I knew it was one we wanted,” McConnell said. “This gives us four Donald Ross courses. Nobody has four Donald Ross golf courses.” McConnell continues to search for undervalued golf properties, and the newspaper reports that he’s currently “working on a deal” to purchase one in the Charlotte area.

     One of the world’s preeminent golf properties -- the first venue in Continental Europe to host a Ryder Cup championship -- has changed hands. In a measure of Spain’s gradually improving real-estate markets, a British affiliate of Grupo la Zagaleta Holding reportedly paid €40 million (almost $43.7 million) for Valderrama, a tony resort community in Cádiz. Valderrama’s championship-worthy 18-hole golf course, a Robert Trent Jones design, is generally acknowledged to be the nation’s best, and it checks in at #79 on Golf Digest’s recently published list of the World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses. The master plan for Valderrama has identified a site for another 18-hole track -- Robert Rulewich, who once served as Jones’ right-hand man, was originally expected to design it -- and Grupo la Zagaleta has already announced a plan to build it. Valderrama is Grupo la Zagaleta’s second golf property. The company also owns a 36-hole complex at La Zagaleta, a high-profile resort community in Andalucia.

     Christy O’Connor, Jr., a retired professional golfer turned “signature” architect, died last week while vacationing in Tenerife. He was 67. During his career as a touring pro, he won four events on the European Tour and two Senior British Open titles, and he was one of the stars of Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 1989. As an architect, he designed or co-designed close to 20 courses, all but two of them in Ireland. Among them: Fota Island Golf Club in County Cork (with Peter McEvoy), Galway Bay Golf Resort in County Galway (he was reportedly a part owner of the property), Knightsbrook Golf Club in County Meath, and Rathsallagh Golf & Country Club (again with McEvoy) in County Wicklow. “Professional golfers do not always make great golf course architects, but Christy was an exception,” said Tom Mackenzie, the president of the European Institute of Golf Course Architect, in a press release. “His talent, enthusiasm, and dedication to the sport made him one of the most prolific architects of recent years, and his loss will be mourned by the whole of the golf industry.” At the time of his death, O’Connor had also agreed to design courses in Ireland, France, Hungary, and St. Lucia.

     Pacific Links International may be acquiring golf properties and making its presence felt all over the world, but it’s downsizing in Hawaii. The Chinese/Canadian company plans to reduce its Makaha golf holdings on Oahu -- the 18-hole Makaha Golf Club (also known as the West course) and the 18-hole Makaha Valley Country Club (the East course) -- to what’s been described as a “PGA Tour-certified” 27-hole complex. The re-do will be overseen by Greg “the Living Brand” Norman, who was, several years ago, commissioned to turn the West track into “an unforgettable championship course” and to oversee what a newspaper said would be “enhancements” to the East course. PLI has obviously had a change of heart. The likely reason: The company’s project manager told Pacific Business News that “we lose some money” on the West course.

     The National Golf Foundation has added two new board members: Brendan Ripp of Sports Illustrated Group and Dick Sullivan of PGA Tour Superstore. The rest of the NGF’s 10-member board consists of executives from industry associations, manufacturers of clubs, balls, and apparel, a turf-equipment manufacturer, a course management company, and a tour operator. Although it claims to serve “all segments of the [golf] business,” the group’s board has no representatives from the development, design, and construction wings of the industry. It does, however, collect annual dues from companies that work in those areas.