The Week That Was, december 2, 2018

     In a bid to host the Houston Open, perhaps as soon as the 2020 golf season, the city of Houston has hired Tom Doak to overhaul Memorial Park Golf Course. The commission will enable Doak, who’s working with professional golfer Brooks Koepka and a prominent local design team, to produce what Golf News Net calls “his first PGA Tour-hosting course.” Memorial Park is a 7,300-yard track that was created by John Bredemus in 1935, and it was once considered to be a tournament-worthy track, as it hosted the Houston Open for 13 consecutive years beginning in 1951. It’s said to host 60,000 rounds a year, but it reportedly needs a thorough overhaul.

     Pipeline Overflow – Come the spring of 2020, a community in suburban Madison, Wisconsin that hopes to become “a fun, family neighborhood” is expected to feature a 13-hole, par-3 golf course. Co-designing the course are Jerry Kelly, a player on the Champions Tour, and Lohmann Quitno Golf Course Architects, who’ve set out to create a track that’s “challenging but still cool for everybody to play.” . . . The first “signature” layout in Pakistan, an 18-hole track designed by Sir Nick Faldo, is under construction and scheduled to open in 2020. Faldo says that Rumanza Golf Course, the centerpiece of a community in Multan, will be “a memorable test of golf” and “serve as a source of inspiration for a new generation of golfers in Pakistan.” . . . Elsewhere in Pakistan – in Islamabad, specifically – Peter Harradine expects to soon break ground on a “unique” 18-hole golf course. The track will be among the attractions at Islamabad Capital Smart City, and a press release says it’ll take shape on “one of the most beautiful and challenging sites” that Harradine, a third-generation architect, “has ever worked on.”

     ClubCorp has become the latest in a series of owners of Ridge Club, a 30-year-old “lifestyle” property in Sandwich, Massachusetts that’s been called “one of the finest clubs in the Cape Cod region.” The Ridge, part of a gated community, features an 18-hole, Robert von Hagge-designed golf course. Despite its reputation – ClubCorp thinks it’s purchased “a truly unique club located in one of the most beautiful and historical parts of the country” – the Ridge has burned through owners in recent years. In 2003, it was sold to an individual for $2.5 million. In 2007, it was sold to an entity linked to Carlyle Group for $5.9 million. In 2011, it was sold for $3 million at a foreclosure auction, to the bank that held the mortgage on the property. It was sold again in 2012, this this time to a group of members (including Bobby Orr, the hockey legend) for $3 million. And now comes ClubCorp, which didn’t mention any of the previous sales in a press release. Nonetheless, the self-described “world leader in private clubs” claims to be “very excited” about the acquisition.

     Surplus Transactions – Mark Moore didn’t hang on to Sapona Ridge Country Club for very long. Moore, who bought the 50-year-old facility in Lexington, North Carolina just weeks ago, has sold it to a homeowners’ group, reportedly for $1.6 million. He turned a profit of roughly $400,000 on the deal, and he including a right of first refusal on a future sale, because he believes that “it’s going to fail again.” . . . An investment group led by Dan Coleman has paid an undisclosed price for River Valley Ranch Golf Course, a 20-year-old venue in Carbondale, Colorado. The club features an 18-hole, Jay Morrish-designed course that’s been called “the jewel of the Rockies,” and a lawyer involved in the sale told the Aspen Times that the top item on the new owners’ agenda is “to figure out if we can get the golf course open for next season.” . . . Crossings at Montevideo, a 95-year-old venue in Montevideo, Minnesota that’s reportedly been “struggling with money,” may soon have a new owner. Jim Hagen has made an acceptable offer for the former Montevideo Country Club, and the transaction could close by the end of the year.

     Duly Noted – Topgolf has entered into exclusive negotiations to build one of its golf-inspired entertainment centers alongside a nine-hole municipal golf course in El Segundo, California. If all goes as planned, the existing track will be renovated and outfitted with lights for nighttime play. . . . Pending an all-but-certain approval by city officials, WFAA-TV reports that the PGA of America will indeed be relocating its headquarters to Frisco, Texas. The group’s new digs will be part of a master-planned community that includes an 18-hole, Gil Hanse-designed golf course (one capable of hosting the PGA Championship), a less-challenging, Beau Welling-designed course, a nine-hole “short” course, a resort-style hotel with meeting space, and a PGA-branded golf academy. . . . Golf Digest’s best new courses for 2018: The Black Course at Streamsong, in Florida, on the public side, and Congaree, in South Carolina, on the private side. The runners-up are the Mammoth Dunes track at Sand Valley, in Wisconsin, and Trinity Forest Golf Club in Texas.