The Week That Was, september 2, 2018

     Not to wreck anyone’s Labor Day weekend, but the number of rounds played in the United States continues to fall. According to Golf Datatech, through the first six months of this year the number has declined by 3.3 percent, which suggests that all those grow-the-game initiatives that have been rolled out in recent years have yet to get any traction.

   A Las Vegas, Nevada-based casino operator has set out to build what it calls a “regional destination resort,” including an 18-hole golf course, in a remote part of eastern New Mexico. Full House Resorts has optioned 520 acres outside Clovis, near the Texas state line, for La Posada del Llano, which has been master-planned to include a casino, a horse-racing track, a hotel, an RV park, a water park, and other attractions. Full House, which has five casino properties in four western states, believes that La Posada del Llano will turn Clovis, which is at least 100 miles from a city of any substantial size (we’re talking Lubbock and Amarillo, in Texas), into “a year-round tourist destination.” Assuming it’s built, the resort’s course will be designed by Todd Eckenrode of Origins Golf Design.

     Pipeline Overflow – The people at Sandals Resorts International must be pleased with the renovation Greg Norman is doing for them on St. Lucia, because they’ve hired him to create a from-scratch course on nearby Tobago. Details are scarce, but it appears that the island’s golf association expects “the Living Brand” to deliver a track that will lure “international tournaments” and make Tobago “a golfing destination.” . . . A group of vacation spots, including at least one with a golf course, may someday take shape in the vicinity of Lake Charvak, in eastern Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government thinks that the area has natural advantages that would contribute to four-season tourism, so it’s laying plans to create the infrastructure and amenities necessary to make it happen. . . . The Bhavani Island Tourism Corporation, a government agency in Andhra Pradesh, India, is looking for a private-sector partner willing to build a golf course in suburban Visakhapatnam. The course will be accompanied by a convention center, a hotel, and other upscale attractions, including a helipad.

     Only a few weeks after Golf Club of Vistoso died an unhappy death, plans have been laid to bring the 23-year-old venue in suburban Tucson, Arizona back to life. Alan Mishkin’s Parks Legacy Project has reportedly paid $3.5 million for the club and its 18-hole, Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, a high-end, stand-alone facility that had previously operated with a business model that was said to be “just not sustainable.” To put the club on stronger financial footing, Mishkin’s group (which includes golf architect Forrest Richardson) plans to make the course “a more user-friendly layout” and invest in overdue upgrades, the bill for which could amount to $2.5 million. If all goes as planned, Golf Club of Vistoso will re-open in early 2019.

     Surplus Transactions – The city of Henderson, Kentucky has agreed to pay $750,000 for Players Club of Henderson, a facility whose finances have been dicey for several years. The club opened in 1999, and its 18-hole course was designed by Danny McQueen, one of the principals of the current ownership group. The city’s offer is accompanied by several contingencies, and the purchase could lead the city to close its nine-hole course. . . . In what’s been described as a “steal of a deal” and “a win-win all around,” the city of Dearborn Heights, Michigan has bid $1.8 million for Warren Valley Golf Course. Warren Valley, which has operated since the early 1920s, features a pair of 18-hole courses that were designed by Donald Ross. Elected officials in Wayne County, the current owner, approved the sale late last year. . . . Windwood Hollow Golf Course, a 52-year-old venue in northwestern Ohio, changed hands in June. An entity called R&L Land Company LLC, which appears to be controlled by Richard Anderson, reportedly paid $300,000 for the 18-hole course.

     Matrix Golf & Hospitality has turned out the lights at Woodlake Country Club, one of the three golf properties it owns in New Jersey. Matrix has said that the club, in Lakewood Township, is only closing “temporarily,” but in a statement to the Asbury Park Press it acknowledged that “demand for golf at the club has declined in recent years” and that it’s now trying to determine “the next best direction for the property.” Woodlake, which opened in 1972, features an 18-hole course that was designed by Larry Packard, and the newspaper reports that in recent months “rumors have spun through the fast-growing township” that the property “would be developed.” Matrix also owns Jumping Brook Country Club in Neptune and Hanover Country Club in Wrightstown, as well as golf venues in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

     Desolation Row Extended – Later this week, the resort that operates on tribal property in Warm Springs, Oregon is expected to close. Kah-Nee-Ta Resort & Spa, which opened in the early 1970s, features an 18-hole, William F. Bell-designed golf course, and its other amenities include a lodge, a hotel, and an RV park. . . . Timber Terrace Golf Course, a nine-hole track in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, didn’t open this year and may not operate in the future. Terry Durch, the owner, pulled the plug on Timber Terrace, which had its debut in 1985. . . . The future of Pontoosuc Lake Country Club is uncertain, but it’s certainly not bright. Jeff Moxon, the owner of the nearly century-old club in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, hopes to build houses on nine of his 18 holes, but he’s acknowledged that he might end up razing all 18. Of course, in a best-case scenario, he could find a buyer who’ll commit to continued operations.