The Week That Was, january 7, 2018

     Arnold Palmer’s heirs have figured out a way to capitalize on the impeccable brand they now control. A division of the King’s empire and a small Bahamian investment group aim to establish the Arnold Palmer Collection, a group of 20 “one-of-a-kind boutique resorts” to be located in “very special locations worldwide.” The resorts will feature golf courses, all of them part of “very unique and authentic clubs,” but the playing experiences that Palmer’s design wing intends to deliver appears to be an afterthought. Instead, Arnold Palmer Properties and SilkPort Capital Management promise “extraordinary experiences for a highly sought-after demographic” and “a compelling value proposition for investors and, ultimately, buyers.” Translation: The real estate is more important than the golf. Two of the first three resorts will take shape alongside courses that Palmer agreed to design before he died, at Castle Stuart in Scotland and at Club & Lodge at Ironwood on Grand Cayman Island. The third, with a 12-hole course, will emerge near the campus of Palmer’s alma mater, Wake Forest University in North Carolina. In a marketing pitch for this “remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” the partners tell potential investors that the collection is “destined to be one of the most successful boutique golf resort collections in history.” Just wondering: If the resorts fall short of the developers’ promise, do investors get their money back?

     The Trump Organization’s fast-eroding coastal golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland continues to bleed red on its bottom line. In 2016, according to financial documents filed with the Irish government, Trump International Golf Links Ireland lost $2.3 million, an amount that’s concerning but actually an improvement over the losses posted by the property in 2014 and 2015. The resort’s general manager reportedly believes that another loss is likely in 2017, but the final financial figures won’t be known until late 2018.

     Regarding the erosion at Golf International Golf Links Ireland: Over the holidays, the Trump Organization secured permission to build a pair of sea walls to fend off the waves that constantly, relentlessly batterer its coastal property. One barrier will stretch for nearly 700 yards, the other for nearly 300, and local opponents of the plan have until mid-January to appeal the decision. And in yet another example of the hypocrisy that pervades all things Trump, the Organization reportedly cited “rising seas” caused by “global warming” as threats to the resort’s existence.

     Dick Nugent, who proudly designed golf courses for a fellow he called “Joe Six-Pack,” died on the first day of the new year. Nugent operated out of an office in Chicagoland and worked mostly in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, so he’s sometimes viewed dismissively as “a regional architect.” The term does him a great disservice, because he was versatile enough to create, either on his own or with collaborators such as Ken Killian, a course that hosted a PGA Championship (Kemper Lakes Golf Club), a longtime PGA Tour venue (Tuckaway Country Club), one of the Windy City’s most popular public complexes (Harborside International Golf Center), and, with Mike Keiser, one of the world’s few destination-worthy nine-hole layouts (Dunes Club). All in all, Nugent had a hand in designing, redesigning, or renovating dozens of affordably priced courses in Arizona, Hawaii, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and several other states. But no matter where he was working, according to a recollection by Jeff Brauer, he held firm to the belief that “we probably do more for golf by designing a good green for some rural course than building a big-budget course for high-dollar players.” Nugent apprenticed with Robert Bruce Harris and served as a mentor to Brauer, Bob Lohmann, Jim Engh, Bruce Borland, and Jim Blaukovitch, and he helped to train his son, Tim, to become a golf architect as well. Tim now runs the family business. His father had moved to Arizona several years ago, and he died there at the age of 86.

     Dick Nugent wasn’t the only golf designer who died on New Year’s Day. Jeff Hardin, who’s been described as both “an old-school cowboy” – he was known for the cowboy boots he habitually wore – and “a true pioneer in golf design,” passed away in Arizona at the age of 84. Hardin was a civil engineer and a road builder before he became the in-house course architect for Del Webb Company, and he’s probably best known for the courses he created, often with Greg Nash, at the company’s retirement communities in suburban Phoenix. Hardin eventually hung out his own shingle, designing affordable courses on his own in Nevada (Los Prados Golf Course), Utah (Sky Mountain Golf Course), and other western states, and he continued to collaborate not only with Nash but also with “the Desert Fox,” Red Lawrence (Dobson Ranch Golf Course in Arizona). Hardin spent his final years in Wickenburg, Arizona, content that he’d created a parade of playable courses that could be enjoyed by golfers of all abilities.

     To his dismay, Peter Nanula has been rebuffed. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that a group of Golden Valley Country Club’s members have offered to loan the club “a collective figure worth potentially more than $1 million” to prevent a sale to Nanula’s deep-pocketed investment group, Concert Golf Partners. Curiously, the members’ offer – it’s a loan, let’s not forget, and not a gift – pales in comparison to the $9.5 million that Concert was willing to pay for Golden Valley, an ancient venue that was already $7 million in debt, in need of substantive capital improvements, and at a competitive disadvantage in its market due to the negative publicity it’s received about its precarious financial condition. “We cannot help clubs who do not want to be helped,” Nanula glumly acknowledged to the Journal. So Golden Valley will for now remain owned by its members, at least some of whom believe a better offer might eventually come around. As things currently stand, though, it’s hard to see how Golden Valley digs itself out of the hole it’s in. A year from now, it’s entirely possible that Concert will be able to strike a better deal for itself.

     In a reflection of continuing tough times for golf development, a veritable who’s who of U.S. architects are vying to design a municipal golf course in Boca Raton, Florida. The 15-member group is led by firms that wouldn’t have been caught dead bidding on a municipal job back when “signature” golf was all the rage – among them, firms led by Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Rees Jones, Robert Trent Jones, and Nick Price – but it also includes designers with decades of experience (Arthur Hills, Tom Lehman, Mark McCumber) as well as, naturally, a few that the average golfer doesn’t know from Adam. They’re all hoping to win a contract for Boca National Golf Club, a supposedly “world-class,” 27-hole complex that will take shape on the site of the old Ocean Breeze Golf Club. If all goes as planned, the lucky winner will be named later this month.