The Week That Was, november 18, 2018

     In response to the flow of criticism that’s been directed at golf development, Vietnam’s ministry of planning and investment has issued what’s been described as “a draft decree” of new guidelines for golf construction and operations. The new proposals may not placate detractors, however, because, when boiled down, they basically only call for golf courses that are “environmentally friendly,” contribute to “local socio-economic development,” and support “national security.”
     If the guidelines are adopted, it appears that the most significant change for the industry is that golf development would be regulated “by business conditions instead of planning instruments,” an order that would presumably give government officials more flexibility to deny approval to projects. In addition, the proposals would oblige developers to secure investment certificates before they break ground, to limit construction to 54 holes in a given project, and to complete their work within 36 months.
     The golf courses themselves would have to be built according to “international standards,” and they could only take shape in “areas with the potential for tourism development” instead of properties designated for “national defense and security purposes, natural forest land, rice fields, or industrial and urban zones.”
     And finally, in another reflection of the ministry’s concerns, it would be expressly prohibited to use a golf course “to organize illegal gambling activities.”

     Paul Albanese has floated a makeover idea for a financially challenged 18-hole golf course in Plymouth, Michigan. The Plymouth-based architect, a principal of Albanese & Lutzke Golf Course Design, has proposed to shrink Hilltop Golf Course, a 90-year-old municipal track, to nine holes, and to surround those holes with sports fields, a collection of sculptures, and a dog park. To give the course some pizazz, Albanese plans what may be a reversible layout – a design that the Lansing State Journal, says would allow golfers to “play one nine-hole layout one day and a totally different layout the next.” Local elected officials are warm to the idea, but everyone involved counsels that the plan is still in what Albanese has characterized as “the exploratory phase.”

     Pipeline Overflow – After playing a round last summer, Donald Trump decided that the Ailsa links at Turnberry was “too difficult,” so he’s reportedly demanded that changes be made to at least two greens. The greens, according to the Very Stable Genius, “potentially punished good shots” by “allowing the ball to roll off the back of the green.” . . . If it can secure an estimated $1.3 million in tax concessions, a New York City-based development group will redesign and reopen Rondout Golf Club, an 18-hole track in suburban Poughkeepsie, New York. The course will lose nine holes, but the survivors will be re-recreated by Tad King and Rob Collins, the duo responsible for Sweetens Cove Golf Club, a much-acclaimed nine-hole layout outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. . . . Inveravante Inversiones Universales, a conglomerate led by billionaire investor Manuel Jove Capellán, has broken ground on what Golf Course Architecture calls “a strategic and attractive golf course” on a historic estate in A Coruña, the provincial capital of Galicia, Spain. The 18-hole track has been designed by Stirling & Martin, which reports that the property has “lush vegetation everywhere,” with topography that’s “almost ideal.”

     After months of debate, the city of Green, Ohio has decided to buy Raintree Country Club, a 26-year-old venue that features an 18-hole, Brian Huntley-designed golf course. The 145-acre property has reportedly been appraised for $2.7 million, but the city will pay the seller, John Rainieri, $3.3 million. Though Rainieri had described Raintree as “a money-maker,” he was eager to sell it, and the city feared that a residential developer would snap it up. “I value green space,” the city’s mayor said in a comment published by the Canton Repository. The city, in suburban Akron, expects to continue operating the site as a golf course in the immediate future, but it appears that the property will eventually become a park.

     Surplus Transactions – American Golf Corporation has found a buyer for another one of the 26 golf properties that it’s set out to sell. A partnership led by Robert Ridino and Mark Holcomb has reportedly purchased Seascape Golf Club, an 82-year-old venue in Aptos, California. A price hasn’t been disclosed, but it appears that AGC is going to take something like a $2 million loss on the transaction. . . . The city of Henderson, Kentucky has acquired the Players Club and contracted with a local company, K&J Course Management, to manage and revitalize the property’s 18-hole, Danny McQueen-designed golf course. When the layout is ready for play, likely sometime next summer, it’ll operate at Bridges Golf Course of Henderson. . . . Christopher and Roseana Duval, citing their willingness to take on “a challenge,” have paid $640,000 for Beaver Brook Golf Club, in suburban Springfield, Massachusetts. Beaver Brook’s nine-hole track opened in 1960, the new owners told the Republican that “there was no interest from any buyer to keep it as a golf course.”

     Duly Noted – China became home to 373 billionaires last year, up from 16 in 2006, and UBS Global Wealth Management has concluded that the People’s Republic is now “the leading country for entrepreneurs to create wealth.” What’s more, billionaires were created fast and furious in China last year: Two per week. To put that number into context, in 2017 the United States created 53 billionaires. . . . Like its Coore & Crenshaw-created predecessor, the second course at Sand Valley has been named as the year’s best course by Golf magazine. The editors cited Mammoth Dunes, a David McLay Kidd design, for its “joy-filled appeal for both low- and high-handicappers” and “plethora of individually memorable, strategy-laced holes,” and they praised the architect’s desire to deliver “maximum fun and minimal frustration.” . . . In what they’ve characterized as “an historic occasion,” the members of Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society have voted to admit women to their club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club, said to be the world’s fourth-oldest, believes the change in policy “will ensure we are well-positioned for the future.”

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