The Week That Was, august 13, 2017

     With apologies to Jon Landau: I have seen the future of golf, and it's Topgolf.
     Bruce Springsteen references aside, it’s become clear that a new center of power is emerging in a weakened, demoralized golf industry. Topgolf, which has opened nearly three dozen U.S. venues that cleverly combine golf with food, music, and a casual, fun vibe, is being offered new opportunities for growth in conventional golf operations. While Topgolf and its new-found partners always talk about being in win-win situations, at least for now traditional golf is doing more for Topgolf than Topgolf is doing for traditional golf.
     Just weeks ago, one of our industry’s true powerhouses – ClubCorp, the self-described “World Leader in Private Clubs” – announced a “strategic alliance” with Topgolf, as part of an effort to establish “the connections that bring people together for unforgettable good times.” The nature of the relationship between the parties hasn’t been spelled out, but it appears that Topgolf will install its ball-tracking technology at some ClubCorp-owned driving ranges, presumably to inject a little life into otherwise dull practice sessions.
     Last week, it was revealed that Topgolf may soon make a move into municipal golf operations. The city of Honolulu is looking for a private-sector group to take over management of the under-performing driving range at Ala Wai Golf Course, and Topgolf has reportedly expressed interest.
     In addition, last week Topgolf found its highest-profile partner to date, as the PGA of America has acknowledged that it’s persuaded Topgolf to do some things it apparently can no longer do for itself, namely find jobs for the nation’s PGA’s professionals and attract an audience for PGA-sponsored tournaments and development programs. We’ll get a sample of what’s to come as soon as tomorrow, when a Topgolf venue in Las Vegas is scheduled to host an “unforgettable” equipment demonstration for a PGA-organized event.
     Topgolf has operated in the United States since 2005 – a mere 12 years. It was dismissed at first, and even ignored. But today it looks young and exciting, while traditional golf looks old and tired. Which side would you rather be on? Topgolf could lose its appeal tomorrow, given the speed at which tastes change nowadays, but it’s clear that the Powers That Be in our business aren’t betting on it.

     Brown Golf Management has been sold, but it’s remaining in the Brown family. The sale was prompted by the retirement of John A. Brown, Jr., the family patriarch, who’s sold his majority interest in the firm to his sons, John M. and Todd, and Jason Harshbarger, all of whom have been principals in the firm since it was founded in 2011. A price hasn’t been announced. Brown Golf owns, leases, or manages 21 golf properties (29 total courses) in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and three other states. The group includes Palmetto Hall Plantation, a 36-hole venue on Hilton Head Island, Gainesville Country Club in Florida, and three properties owned by the time-share division of Holiday Inn Corporation: Holiday Hills Resort in Branson, Missouri; Apple Mountain Resort in Clarksville, Georgia; and Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Florida.

     Before the end of the year, Tim Lobb hopes to break ground on his third course in Egypt. The 18-hole track will take shape at the massive Somabay resort community, near Hurghada on the Red Sea coast, and it’ll complement the property’s Gary Player-designed Cascades layout, a venue that currently checks in at #2 on Golf Digest’s list of Egypt’s top courses. (When it opened, in 1998, Player called it “the next Pebble Beach.”) Lobb intends to produce a course that’s “player friendly and fun to play,” and the developers expect it to offer “a world-class, enjoyable, and memorable golf experience.” While working as a principal in now-defunct Thomson Perrett & Lobb, Lobb helped to create a course at another Red Sea resort, El Ein Bay, and these days he’s overseeing the construction of a TPL-branded track at New Giza, in suburban Cairo.

     Pipeline Overflow – A Vietnamese developer that aims “to touch people’s lives positively” is preparing to break ground on its third multi-course golf venue. PPC An Thinh Vietnam Investment & Infrastructure JSC – PPCAT for short – wants to build a 36-hole complex at the Bảo Ninh resort community in Quảng Bình Province. PPCAT also has two properties in Vĩnh Phúc Province, the 36-hole Bàn Long Golf Course and the 54-hole Gia Khau Golf Course. . . . Sometime next summer, Jonathan Davison expects to debut his second solo design in the Czech Republic. The par-3 track will take shape at Golf Park Lhotka, outside Ostrava in the northeastern part of the nation, and Davison, one of Europe’s up-and-coming architects, thinks it’s “exactly the type of facility” that nascent golf markets need “to help introduce people to the game.” Previously, Davison completed a pair of nine-hole tracks for the Heipark resort in Odry. . . . The design firm founded by Arthur Hills has opened its second golf course in Russia. First came Forest Hills Golf & Country Club, in suburban Moscow. Now Hills and Steve Forrest, the principals of Hills Forrest International Golf Course Architects, have unveiled Peterhof Golf Club, outside St. Petersburg. Peterhof has been in progress since 2011, if not before.

     Over the past decade, Great Britain has lost more than a quarter of its golfers. Sports Marketing Surveys counted 4.1 million British golfers in 2007 but fewer than 3 million last year.