The Week That Was, june 11, 2017

     During its second year of operation, beginning in April 2016, the Trump Golf-operated municipal track in New York City was a loser. Read ’em and weep: The number of rounds played at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point fell to 26,127, down from 28,291 during the course’s first 12 months of operation (that’s a 7.6 percent decline), and the facility’s gross revenues fell by 12.7 percent, from $8.07 million to $7.04 million. A spokesperson for the Trump Organization called these numbers “misleading” and attributed the decline in play to “inclement weather forecasts” – a point well taken, because a year’s performance is a small sample size. What’s more, a sweetheart deal with the city relieves the operator of considerable financial pressure in the short term. That being said, however, here’s a number that should trouble Trump Golf’s accountants: The course’s income from banquets has dropped precipitously, decreasing by 47 percent, from $837,000 to $444,000. Such deterioration suggests that people looking to host meetings and throw parties aren’t inclined to line the president’s pockets, a mindset that could conceivably affect Trump-branded hotels as well. You know what they say: All that glitters is not gold.

     Though it remains the top revenue producer among New York’s courses, in 2016 Trump Golf Links at Ferry Park almost single-handedly dragged the city’s municipal golf operation into negative territory. As a group, the city’s 13 golf properties rang up $41.5 million in gross receipts last year, down by $1 million from the tally posted in 2015 – an exact match of the $1 million decrease registered at the Trump-branded course. The total number of rounds played at the city’s courses dropped by 3,800, from 620,009 in 2015 to 616,212 in 2016, which means that the fall-off at Trump’s course – 2,164 rounds – accounted for more than half of the network’s overall losses. The city’s fiscal year may not correspond precisely to the one at Trump’s course, but these numbers ought to make us pause and reflect.

     If the third time really is the charm, the golf industry has lucked out: It’s going to get a third chance to strike gold at the Olympics, as the International Olympic Committee has voted to stage men’s and women’s golf events not just in Tokyo in 2020 but also at the 2024 Games, wherever they may be held. Golf’s popularity doesn’t appear to have experienced a significant boost from last year’s competition in Rio de Janeiro, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to have what may eventually become a permanent place on the world’s greatest sports stage.

     A year after making their third golf purchase, some wealthy, Nebraska-based investors have acquired a fourth. An entity linked to the Peed family, which made its money in ranching and publishing, has purchased Briggs Ranch Golf Club, a venue in suburban San Antonio, Texas that features an 18-hole, Tom Fazio-designed golf course. Zach Peed, who manages the family’s golf properties, believes Briggs Ranch has “phenomenal golf,” and he expects the 16-year-old club to complement his growing chain of “pristine private destination courses” that serves “the needs of executives and corporate entities for retreats and other events.” Last year, the Peeds bought Ballyhack Golf Club in Roanoke, Virginia, and their other holdings include Sutton Bay Golf Club in Agar, South Dakota and ArborLinks in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Briggs Ranch will be operated by a division of Landscapes Unlimited, which has also been engaged to develop lodging on the 260-acre property.

     Surplus Transactions – George Cascino has accepted $1.8 million for Oak Harbor Golf Club, a 25-year-old venue in Slidell, Louisiana that calls itself “the most talked-about layout in the Deep South.” Justin Lotz, the new owner, has worked in various capacities at Oak Harbor for 18 years, currently as its pro. The club features an 18-hole, Lee Schmidt-designed course. . . . Hillcrest Golf & Country Club, in Lubbock, Texas, has been sold to a group of its members. J. D. Dickerson and others paid an undisclosed price for Hillcrest, which has an 18-hole Ralph Plummer-designed course that’s operated since the mid 1950s. The seller, Glen Robertson, had owned Hillcrest for more than a decade. . . . A former commercial airline pilot has purchased Sunset Hills Golf Course, a nine-hole, par-3 track in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. “I’ve been retired for about a year and was going crazy,” Mike Trowbridge told the Sheboygan Press. “I cannot not work. I can’t sit still.” Trowbridge bought Sunset Hills from Ed Kirchenwitz and Ron Krueger, for an undisclosed price. The course was designed by Kirchenwitz, a former superintendent of the Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits courses in nearby Kohler.

     The end is near for one of Greg Norman’s most notable achievements. GolfAsian reports that Norman’s 18-hole layout at Nirwana Bali Golf Club, an Indonesian track ranked by Golf Digest as #84 in the world, is counting down its final weeks. Nirwana Bali is the centerpiece of a resort owned by Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who’s decided to give his property the full Trump treatment. As part of the re-branding, says GolfAsian, Phil Mickelson has been enlisted to “rethink, redesign, and lengthen the course,” a job that ultimately carries little in the way of upside potential. Mickelson’s overhaul, which will forever be compared to Norman’s original, is expected to begin before the year’s end.