The Week That Was, january 13, 2019

     An unidentified group has set out to create a golf resort on waterfront property in Saudi Arabia, and it’s enlisted Kristine Kerr, a New Zealand-based course designer, to serve as the venue’s associate director of golf. Few details are available, but the resort (possibly named Red Sea) will take shape upon some 50 islands and sweep across more than 120 miles of what’s said to be “spectacular” coastline. Kerr told the New Zealand Herald that the resort will feature houses, hotels, and “potentially multiple golf courses” and that her clients want to build “more than just a run-of-the-mill or a high-ranking golf course.” She didn’t specifically tell the newspaper that she’d be involved in the resort’s golf designs, but she’s certainly capable of doing so. Though she appears to have only one original course to her name, she apprenticed with Nelson & Haworth and worked on several projects with Gary Player’s firm, and she’s the first female member of the Australian Society of Golf Course Architects. Her tastes run to courses that are “classic” and “strategic.” Today, as the principal of Kura Golf Course Design, her to-do list includes a few makeovers in New Zealand and one in Macau.

     Pipeline Overflow – Kevin Gaughan has reportedly raised half of the $10 million he needs to complete his hoped-for Nicklaus-designed golf courses, including a new 18-hole track, in Buffalo, New York. Although an opening date hasn’t yet been set, site preparation at the former industrial property is expected to begin this spring. . . . The Indore Municipal Corporation, in Madhya Pradesh, India, recently cleared a 100-acre garbage dump, and now it’s looking for a private-sector partner that’s willing to build a golf course on the property. If it comes up empty, it may turn the site into a park. . . . Regarding Kim Jong-un’s hoped-for golf resort at the proposed Wonsan-Mount Kumgang International Tourism Zone: After more than three years of trying, North Korea’s Peerless Leader still hasn’t found any investors. Not hard to figure out why.

     So far, American Golf Corporation has sold nearly half of the 26 properties that it wants to get rid of. Late last year the company, a subsidiary of Drive Shack, Inc., announced that it’s found buyers for 11 of the properties – eight in California and one each in Georgia, Idaho, and Oregon – and collected $82.5 million in the process. In a press release, Drive Shack said it used the money to pay off some debt and noted that American Golf will continue to manage eight of the properties, thereby ensuring a continuing revenue stream. Drive Shack wants to raise money so it can establish what it hopes will be a future profit center: A chain of Topgolf-like gaming facilities, each one with a $30 million price tag. The company believes the sale of all 26 properties it’s put on the market will bring $175 million, an amount that could cover, debt free, the construction of the first six.

     Surplus Transactions – On the final day of 2018, American Golf disposed of another unwanted asset, namely the Crossing Golf Club in Franklin, Tennessee. An LLC led by Brooks West, a PGA pro, paid an undisclosed price for the 49-year-old venue, which was known until 2017 as Forrest Crossing Golf Course. The name honored a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and American Golf correctly concluded that the association was repugnant. . . . Eagle Valley Golf Course, a 20-year-old venue in Evansville, Indiana, is now in the hands of the city’s school administrators. The Evansville School Corporation expects to eventually build a school on the Eagle Valley property, now the home of an 18-hole, Bob Lohmann-designed layout, but maybe not for decades. . . . CC Properties, Inc. has agreed to sell Lenawee Country Club, a nearly century-old venue in Adrian, Michigan. The prospective owners, Greg Hodges and David Walters, have pledged to “continue the golf operation and maintain the course in a superior condition.”

     The PGA Tour’s commissioner may believe that the sport of golf is “growing and thriving,” but golf courses continue to close at a distressing pace. Here’s the latest report from Desolation Row:
     – As it prepares to file for bankruptcy protection, Sol Long Term Land Investment Trust has turned out the lights at Sierra La Verne Country Club. The club, which occupies 111 acres in suburban Los Angeles, California, has reportedly had three owners since 2009.
     – Crystal River Golf Club, which promoted itself as “one of the most picturesque in all of Florida,” has gone dark, reportedly “for good.” The 50-year-old club, in Crystal River, features an 18-hole, Bill Amick-designed golf course that was prone to flooding.
     – The clock is ticking on Shawnee Lookout Golf Course, an 18-hole track in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio whose “rounds of play have remained flat and at times even declined” in recent years. This year will be the final one for the course, which was designed by Jack Kidwell and opened in 1979.
     – Germantown Country Club’s days are likewise numbered. The 49-year-old club in suburban Memphis, Tennessee, featuring an 18-hole, Press Maxwell-designed golf course, is expected to close next month, reportedly “for financial reasons.”
     – Steve Bander has donated his Sunset Lakes Golf Center, in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, to the city of Sunset Hills’ parks and recreation department. The department hasn’t determined what to do with the 122-acre property, but all indications are that Sunset Lakes’ 18-hole, Bob Lohmann-designed golf course has seen its last days.
     – River Oaks Golf Plantation, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, will likely soon exchange nine of its holes for more than 200 single-family houses. The plantation’s Bear track, a Tom Jackson layout, will be lost, but its 18-hole, Gene Hamm-designed track will continue to operate.
     – Royal Oaks Golf Course, a 25-year-old track in Maryville, Tennessee, has gone belly up. The owners claim to have “fought valiantly” to keep the D. J. DeVictor-designed course open but complained of “vandalism” and a lack of support from residents in the surrounding community.
     – It appears that Al and Kristi Gorick have drawn the curtains on River Run II Golf Links, their nine-hole, self-designed course in Kirkwood, New York. A local economic-development group has taken a one-year option on the 30-acre parcel, in the hope of finding an interested developer.
     – Though he’s described it as “a lucrative property” and “an asset to the community,” Perry Segura plans to close Squirrel Run Golf Club and its 18-hole, Joe Lee-designed golf course early next month. The club, in New Iberia, Louisiana, has been in business since 1986.

     Duly Noted – Three years after they paid a $400,000 fine to help settle a federal lawsuit, Jack Nicklaus and the other investors who own Bears Club, in Jupiter, Florida, are again the subject of legal proceedings. A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of some residents of the club’s accompanying community, who are said to be “angry at the way Nicklaus is running the community.” . . . Todd Eckenrode boldly contends that Twin Dolphin Golf Club, a just-opened track that he co-designed with Fred Couples, is “the most unique and natural course” in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and maybe “the best course in Cabo.” The reviews aren’t yet in, but Jack Nicklaus, Davis Love III, Tom Fazio, Tom Weiskopf, and Tiger Woods, all of whom have designed courses in the area, may beg to differ. . . . Not to cause any undue distress, but sometime next year the United States is expected to lose its status as the world’s largest economy. China, in spite of its current economic slowdown, is on track to assume the top spot.

     In compliance with recently issued European laws regarding data collection, I’ve been asked to provide a statement about my use of the data that’s collected about those of you who read the World Golf Report. So here’s what I have to say on the subject: I don’t collect any data, and I don’t put any cookies into your computer. That being said, here’s some language that Google, the company that maintains this slice of cyberspace, would probably approve of: “We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences. By using the site, you consent to these cookies.”