The Pipeline, january 20, 2017

     Inverness, Scotland. Fingers crossed, but Arnold Palmer’s golf course at Castle Stuart could be just weeks away from its groundbreaking. The “signature” layout, appropriately to be called the Tribute, will be Palmer’s first in the birthplace of golf. If construction begins in April, as expected, it’ll open in 2019. “If everything goes according to plan,” Castle Stuart’s general manager told the Aberdeen Press & Journal, “the new course will provide a fitting tribute in Scotland to the great man and his momentous career.” Before he died, Palmer promised to deliver what he’s described as “an iconic golf course” at Castle Stuart. The 18-hole track will complement the property’s existing layout, a co-design by Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse, that’s been hailed as “a golfing masterpiece.” Parsinen, the managing partner of the entity that owns Castle Stuart, will co-design the new course with Palmer’s associates, Thad Layton and Brandon Johnson, who are getting a golden opportunity to establish their architectural bona fides. Palmer’s firm has reportedly been involved in more than 300 golf ventures on five continents, but only one – Tralee Golf Course in County Kerry, Ireland – has a place on Golf Digest’s top 100 outside the United States, at #82. If their course lands on the list, Layton and Johnson will have a valuable marketing chip to play when they set out to secure future commissions.

     Borough of Bolton, England. One of Great Britain’s best-known investment groups wants to build a golf venue capable of hosting a Ryder Cup competition. Peel Group has submitted plans for a to-be-named community that’s to take shape on the 1,000-acre Hulton Park Estate in suburban Manchester. The community will include high-end houses, a hotel with a conference center, a spa, a golf academy, and a golf course that will be, in the words of a company spokesperson, “one of the most exciting in the country.” The course will be designed by Berkshire-based European Golf Design, a firm that’s co-owned by the European Tour and whose portfolio includes courses that have hosted the Ryder Cup and other events on par with it. An unnamed source told the Bolton News that Peel is “very serious,” and the newspaper suggests that it hopes to stage the Ryder Cup, one of the world’s elite golf events, at Hulton Park in 2026.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the October 2016 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     Baja California Sur, Mexico. Mexico’s biggest and best-known golf developer has set out to create what it says will be “the most spectacular resort in Los Cabos.” Grupo Vidanta’s resort, Vidanta East Cape, will take shape on 3,000 acres a few miles north of San José del Cabo, the more traditional of the two major cities in Los Cabos. The master plan for the property includes several mountaintop hotels, an 18-hole, Greg Norman-designed golf course (his second for Grupo Vidanta), and what’s being billed as “the largest pool on the planet.” Grupo Vidanta, which believes its mission is “to deliver the essence of happiness,” owns and operates resort-style hotels, several of them with golf courses, in Nuevo Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Mazatlán, and other popular Mexican vacation spots. What’s more, the company knows how to fill its hotels. It built an international airport near its resort in Puerto Peñasco and a Cirque du Soleil Theater at its resort on the Riviera Maya, and it wrote a check to help persuade Eon Productions to film parts of Spectre, the James Bond movie, in Mexico.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the July 2016 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     Vĩnh Phúc Province, Vietnam. As many as four golf courses could be part of a long-delayed horse-racing complex outside Vietnam’s capital city. G. O. Max I&D, a South Korean company, hopes to build the to-be-named facility on 1,875 acres roughly 35 miles northwest of Hà Nội. If it can secure construction permits, the company will build a race track with seats for more than 15,000 spectators, an undisclosed number of villas and other housing types, a sports and entertainment venue, an equestrian center, a polo club, and a 72-hole golf complex. G. O. Max originally submitted a proposal for the facility to Vĩnh Phúc Province’s people’s committee in 2005, but it’s made no progress due to prohibitions on gambling in Vietnam. If the restrictions are ever lifted – and government officials have reportedly written draft legislation – the company intends to stage races three times a week and open at least 70 betting parlors around the nation.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the October 2016 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     New South Wales, Australia. Shortland Waters Golf Club, in suburban Newcastle, is about to undergo a transformation that will make it, in the words of a letter written to its members, “so different and so much improved on what it is today.” The club, which has operated in its current location since 1935, will make property available to a developer that plans to build 300 villas for retirees and an assisted-living center. With the money it receives, Shortland Waters will build six new holes and make other improvements to its 18-hole golf course. “We couldn’t have survived without the money this will bring,” the club’s treasurer told the Newcastle Herald. “We were in dire straits.” The upgrades to the golf course will be overseen by Richard Chamberlain, who’s had a hand in creating at least a half-dozen courses, among them three in New South Wales: Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Pagewood, Kooindah Waters Golf Course in Wyong, and Royal Sydney Golf Club in suburban Sydney. At Shortland Waters, Chamberlain expects to deliver a course that will reportedly be “a lot more challenging” than the one the members currently play. The track is scheduled to debut in early 2018.

     Chon Buri Province, Thailand. A U.S. firm is responsible for an international-standard golf course that’s under construction in one of Southeast Asia’s favorite golf destinations. Santa Rosa, California-based Golfplan-Dale & Ramsey Golf Course Architecture has designed an 18-hole track for Master Golf Resort, which is taking shape on a 250-acre site roughly 20 miles south of Pattaya, an area that vies with Phuket as Thailand’s most popular vacation spot. The course, which is scheduled to open in late 2017, will be operated by IMG Golf. Pattaya has at least 30 golf properties, the best known of which is probably Siam Country Club, which has a 63-hole complex. The area’s collection also features some notable tracks by “signature” architects, among them Jack Nicklaus (Laem Chabang International Country Club), Pete Dye (Khao Kheow Country Club), Gary Player (Sriracha Golf Club), and Peter Thomson (Greenwood Golf Resort). Master is the first golf venture for Chartered Square Holding Company, Ltd., a Bangkok-based real-estate investment and management firm. Chartered Square expects Master to become “one of Thailand’s premier golf clubs.”