The Week That Was, february 25, 2018

     Reflecting the optimism that’s returned to golf operations, Henry DeLozier of Global Golf Advisors recently declared that “the growing economy” has led to “more participation” at U.S. golf courses. Unfortunately, the data on participation doesn’t support his claim, as the National Golf Foundation reports that the number of rounds played last year fell by 2.7 percent from the numbers posted in 2016. As is its habit, the NGF tried to put some lipstick on this statistical pig by characterizing the decline as “consistent with average weather-related fluctuation.” Maybe that’s true. But the Jupiter, Florida-based booster club also conceded that our industry has, sadly, “given back the gains from the prior two years.” Although the golf economy has most certainly improved, beware of those who view it through rose-colored glasses. It’s hard to find growth in a business that’s lost more than 6 million of its customers since 2006.

     Cuba hasn’t managed to open even one golf course for two decades, but its golf aspirations have gone forth and multiplied. In 2010, the socialist republic’s tourism ministers floated plans to build a dozen courses. Today, the number has swelled to 24, and still, vacationers to the island nation have but one 18-hole golf course to play, the same one Les Furber designed in Varadero in the late 1990s. Let’s face facts: Despite the hype, Cuba is where golf development dreams go to die.

     Slowly but surely, a partnership led by Northview Hotel Group is turning a sweet profit on the golf resorts it bought from Jeld-Wen Holdings. In 2010, the Westport, Connecticut-based company and its financier reportedly paid the window manufacturer $9.5 million for three properties in Oregon: Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls, Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond, and Brasada Ranch in Powell Butte. Northview sold Running Y in 2014, at a price said to be just over $3 million, and now it’s sold Eagle Crest, a venue that features three 18-hole courses, for $12 million. Northview still owns Brasada Ranch and has said that it isn’t for sale, but business plans are always subject to change. The company says it was created to make “opportunistic hotel investments.” If the sales figures are accurate, it’s succeeding.

     Surplus Transactions – Watermark Properties has agreed to buy its sixth golf course. Come the first of March, the company expects to close on Ravines Golf Club, a 19-year-old property in Saugatuck, Michigan that features an 18-hole, Arnold Palmer-designed track. A price hasn’t been disclosed. Watermark currently owns three properties in Grand Rapids – Watermark Country Club, Thousand Oaks Country Club, and Golf Club at Thornapple Pointe – and two others in nearby suburban communities. . . . Hickory Sticks Golf Club, a 170-acre venue that’s operated in rural northwestern Ohio since 1961, has changed hands. Mark White has given the financially challenged 27-hole, Jim Spear-designed complex to the YMCA of Van Wert County, which hopes to transform it into what Turfnet.com calls “a regional showcase for golf enthusiasts.” . . . Late last year, Chris Smith paid $850,000 for Pinewood Country Club, an 89-acre property that’s faced financial hardships since Hurricane Katrina blew through Slidell, Louisiana. In part two of the transaction, Luis Ochoa paid $300,000 for Pinewood’s bar, restaurant, ballroom, and other amenities. Pinewood, which features an 18-hole, Bill Bergin-designed golf course, now operates as Pinewood Golf Club.

     Heath Golf & Yacht Club, a resort-style community in suburban Dallas, Texas that was initiated in 2011, if not before, is finally under construction. The featured attraction of the 787-acre spread will be an 18-hole golf course that Roy Bechtol, its designer, says will be “fun and beautiful.” Bechtol, who formerly co-designed with Randy Russell, has worked mostly in Texas (Bechtol Russell Golf Design created Club at Comanche Trace in Kerrville and Golf Club of Texas in San Antonio, among others) but also in Oklahoma (Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City) and Louisiana (Black Bear Golf Club in Delhi). Most recently, Bechtol helped Jordan Spieth design a six-hole, par-3 track at University of Texas Golf Club. The course at Heath, described in a press release as “a blend of a links and parkland design,” is expected to open next summer.

     Pipeline Overflow – The government of Dubai aims to open what might be Montenegro’s first golf course. The Investment Corporation of Dubai, which manages the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, says that it wants to build “golf courses” in the beautiful Balkan nation, one of which may take shape in a forthcoming resort community called Porto Montenegro. Of course, the ICI is currently running in second place, because Luštica Bay, a slow-developing community along the nation’s Adriatic coast, aims to debut its Gary Player-designed layout in 2020. . . . If it can secure some tax advantages, Jacoby Development intends to build a master-planned community on 1,150 acres south of Cartersville, Georgia. The community, called Villages at Red Top, will include 1,400 single-family houses, 600 multi-family units, a commercial area, and a golf course. . . . Callaly Leisure, Ltd. has set out to build what appears to be an RV park on a former coal mine in Northumberland, England, the nation’s “Blue Sky County.” According to the Northumberland Gazette, the Chevington Castle Holiday Park will offer 200 lots for land yachts, 275 lots for “static caravans,” 475 lots for permanent houses, and some recreational attractions, among them a nine-hole golf course.

     Chris, Allison, and James A. Osborne want to pull the plug on one of the two golf courses they own in suburban Louisville, Kentucky. On the brink of extinction is Woodlawn Springs Golf Course, an 18-hole, David Pfaff-designed layout that’s been in business since the mid 1990s. The Osbornes have said that Woodlawn Springs “might just be the best-kept secret in the Louisville area,” but they gave the Kentucky Standard reason to believe that the track is “going broke.” The Osbornes bought Woodlawn Springs and Maywood Golf Course, both part of the Bardstown Country Club community, in 2004. Much to the distress of home owners in the community, they’re now seeking permission to build houses on the 140-acre spread. Local planning officials have approved the Osbornes’ plans, but Nelson County will reportedly have the final say.

     Desolation Row Extended – Salt Creek Golf Club, which the San Diego Union-Tribune says “has lost money since opening in 2000,” will end its short, unhappy life in mid March. The club, in Chula Vista, California, features an 18-hole course that was co-designed by John Cook and Cary Bickler. . . . It appears that one of the oldest golf courses on the Grand Strand will soon bite the dust. A residential developer has agreed to buy Conway Country Club, a 65-year-old venue (only Pine Lakes Country Club and Dunes Golf & Beach Club are older) with a nine-hole, Jimmy Self-designed golf course. The Myrtle Beach Sun-News reports that the club “was for decades a vibrant part of the social life” in Conway, South Carolina, but those days are obviously long gone. The club has been struggling for years, and if the transaction closes its 60 acres will be dotted with houses. . . . A residential developer has laid a claim on nine of the Stephen Kay-designed 27 holes at Blue Fox Run Golf Course in Avon, Connecticut. The complex’s owner, a group called Blue Fox Run Enterprises, will maintain an 18-hole layout on their property, but, pending approval by local elected officials, it’ll be accented by nearly 200 single-family houses and apartments.

     The future of what was supposed to be a “first-rate ecological golf course” in Nova Scotia, Canada is in doubt because its developer was found guilty of violating the province’s Environment Act.