The Week That Was, march 4, 2018

     Never mind that the Trump Organization lost its court battle against some disgruntled members of Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, and never mind that it quit fighting even though it vowed not to. Instead, focus on how the Very Stable Genius’ golf operation so adroitly minimized its losses, a move it’s been perfecting for decades. The judge in the case ordered a payment of $5.77 million, but the plaintiffs have agreed to accept, pending the court’s approval, just $5.44 million. The agreement is easily justifiable for both sides, as it ends the court proceedings and allows the parties to happily go their separate ways. The net result, however, is an extra $330,000 in the president’s pocket, an amount that certainly takes some of the sting out of losing. The plaintiffs’ attorney called the settlement “an exclamation point on a big win.” Doesn’t he realize that his clients got less than the law said they deserve?

     Just weeks after he was rebuffed by a golf club in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, Peter Nanula was welcomed by one in Lake Worth, Florida. By an overwhelming margin (405-13), the members of Fountains Country Club, the financially distressed centerpiece of a community that opened in the early 1970s, have agreed to sell their property to Nanula’s Concert Golf Partners. Fountains features a trio of 18-hole, Devlin/Von Hagge golf courses, but only two are currently operating. Although a price hasn’t been officially disclosed, a report on the community’s website indicates that Concert has agreed to assume the club’s debt ($10 million) and promised to make $11 million worth of future capital improvements. (Part of the money – an expected $5 million – will come from the sale of property currently occupied by Fountains’ defunct North Course.) Among other things, Concert has also promised to operate 36 holes for at least two years, after which it reserves the right to close nine holes. Florida has proved itself to be a land of opportunity for Nanula, as his company now owns six golf venues in the Sunshine State. All told, Concert owns 17 properties in 11 states.

     Surplus Transactions – For an undisclosed price, OC Welch has agreed to buy Wilmington Island Club, a venue in Savannah, Georgia that features an 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed golf course. “It’s buying a piece of history,” he told the Savannah Morning News. Welch also manages Bacon Park Golf Course, a municipal track in Savannah that likewise features a Ross course. . . . Also for an undisclosed price, Bill Vaughan has purchased the 1,023-acre Rainmakers community outside Ruidoso, New Mexico. The Texas-based developer told the Ruidoso News that he intends to take the property “to the next level and make it the best resort in New Mexico and the Southwest.” Rainmakers features an 18-hole, Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf course that opened in 2008. Golf Digest thinks it’s the fourth-best track in the state. . . . For $550,000, Brad Mitchell and Ali Serrani have acquired Milestone Golf Club, a 12-year-old venue in Whitehall, New York. The property features a nine-hole layout that was designed by the seller, Bruce Jones. Serrani told the Rutland Herald that she and Mitchell, her future husband – they plan to get married on the eighth tee in October – plan to revitalize the club but “keep it for the blue-collar guy.”

     An entire catalog of criticisms has been leveled at signature architecture over the years, but one stands out: The biggest names in the business, it’s often said, simply roll out courses on an assembly line, favoring quantity over quality. The signatures have always denied the charge, naturally, but one of their own recently acknowledged its veracity. Thad Layton, a long-time associate at Arnold Palmer Design Company, told Golf Advisor that during the heyday of the development boom, when his firm’s courses were much in demand, he and his colleagues didn’t have enough time to produce “truly great” work. “We had a huge staff, and there were a lot of people who wanted Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses,” Layton confessed. “When you’re doing that much volume, it’s harder to pay attention to the finer details to make a golf course truly great.” Today, of course, the late King’s firm is no longer the factory it used to be, and Layton says “we have the time to spend on site and pay attention to those details.” His new, fresh take may resonate with prospective clients, but it’s probably small consolation to the hundreds who paid top-dollar for the company’s previous work.

     Vietnam is still on pace to meet its goal of opening 96 courses by the year 2020. The socialist republic currently has 60 courses, according to a report from the nation’s ministry of natural resources and environment, and it’s expected to have “around 100” by its self-imposed deadline. The outlook for golf development after 2020 is still anyone’s guess, but it’s hard to imagine the nation’s tourism officials advocating for a complete shut-off.

     It’s back to the drawing board for Darius Oliver, who’s suffered a setback in his plans to design what his clients hoped would be “one of the world’s most spectacular destination golf courses” on Kangaroo Island in Australia. The team that aims to build Cliffs Kangaroo Island – the same team that created the exhilarating Cape Wickham Links on Tasmania’s King Island – had asked to buy some state-owned waterfront property for Oliver’s course, but their request was denied. So Oliver, the publisher of Planet Golf, will have to limit his ambitions to inland property, perhaps to the same area that Greg Norman had identified when he produced his routing for the Cliffs. His course will still be built, but it won’t have the coastal pizazz that helped to make Cape Wickham the #24 track on Golf Digest’s list of the world’s 100 greatest golf courses.

     Pipeline Overflow – Kazakhstan’s 10th golf course could take shape at a Disneyland-inspired amusement park in suburban Almaty, the nation’s largest city. Kazakhstan & Central Asia This Week (sorry, no link available) reports that the park, to be called Happy Land, is being developed by a company called Happylon, and it’ll include a resort-style hotel, a spa, and a golf course. . . . A Ben Davey-designed golf course will be the featured attraction of Baihua Ridge, an emerging resort on Hainan Island. The island is a popular vacation spot – it’s China’s version of Hawaii – but the 18-hole track is likely to frustrate many golfers, as Davey acknowledges that “the steep grades and dense jungle will make retrieving errant shots impossible.” Davey, an Australian architect who apprenticed with Tony Cashmore, expects the course to open next year. . . . Later this year, Putrajaya Holdings hopes to break ground on Putrajaya, an “eco destination township” in Sepang, Malaysia. In addition to “calming waves, soothing sea breezes, and swaying palms,” the 1,678-acre waterfront spread will feature houses, hotels, a 27-hole golf complex.

     Warning to anyone who plans to take a golf holiday in Australia: Beware of angry kangaroos. Last month, a kangaroo attacked a golfer during an otherwise uneventful a round in Queensland, and an expert on marsupials predicts that such assaults will likely become “more common” in the future. The expert is still trying to determine whether the kangaroo was mad at the world in general or at golfers in particular.