The Week That Was, march 31, 2019

     A 3,300-acre expanse in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, may soon become the home of what’s being billed as “the largest city park in the world,” one that will include an 18-hole, “international-standard” golf course. Arab News says that King Salman Park will be “four times larger than Central Park in New York,” but it doesn’t say anything about being four times better. When it’s fully completed, in 2024, the park is expected to feature not just the golf course but 12,000 housing units, 16 hotels, an office complex, an arts center with a half-dozen museums, water parks, parachuting and bungee-jumping areas, and, naturally, plenty of places to eat and drink. The park is a component in an image-improvement campaign that’s been orchestrated by the Kingdom’s leadership, which is being increasingly viewed as lawless, murderous, and corrupt. The European Tour doesn’t seem to mind, though, because earlier this year it played one of its events in King Abdullah Economic City. The event was welcomed by the royal family, which understands that golf conveys a sheen of respectability. It doesn’t really matter if the sheen is sometimes a sham.

     Pipeline Overflow – Emaar Properties, a prominent Middle Eastern developer, has broken ground on its fourth golf venue in Dubai. The 18-hole golf course, designed by Gary Johnson of European Golf Design, will serve as a drawing card for Emaar South, a mini city that’s expected to have 15,000 houses at build-out. The company’s other properties in the emirate are Arabian Ranches Golf Club, the Montgomerie, and Dubai Hills Golf Club. . . . The state of West Bengal, in eastern India, is looking for private-sector partners willing to build hotels, a campground, and a variety of recreational attractions, including a nine-hole golf course, on 208 acres outside Jalpaiguri. The venture, named Bhorer Alo, is said to be a “dream project” for the state’s chief minister. . . . Development activity, including the construction of a hotel and a shopping center, is expected to bring what’s been described as “a state-of-the-art” nine-hole golf course to Kasama Golf Club, in northern Zambia. Kasama’s main course is an 18-hole layout with sand greens.

     Brad Faxon, a player on the Champions Tour, is the public face of a group that’s agreed to buy Metacomet Golf Club, a venue in suburban Providence, Rhode Island that’s said to be in “financial distress.” A price hasn’t been announced, but the member-owned property was reportedly on the market for $3.5 million. The Met’s centerpiece is an 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed course that opened in 1926 and was once considered to be one of the state’s premier layouts. Faxon told the Providence Journal that he and his partners are “going to do everything we can to get back into the top five,” and to prove it he was recently seen sizing up the track with “members of Gil Hanse’s course-design team.” The newspaper reports that the Met is burdened with “substantial debt and sinking membership numbers,” but Faxon said he “couldn’t pass” on the opportunity to buy it, in part because he thinks it “can be a great golf course once again.”

     Surplus Transactions – In May or June, New Jersey’s West Orange Township expects to close on its $11.28 million purchase of Rock Spring Golf Course, an 18-hole track that was co-designed by Charles Banks and Seth Raynor. Rock Spring has operated since the mid 1920s, but it may be living on borrowed time, because the township has only promised to operate it for two years. . . . An unnamed entity hopes to buy Sundale Country Club, in Bakersfield, California, but apparently not with the intent of operating the property’s 18-hole golf course. The prospective owners, described by the Bakersfield Californian as “a group of investors active in San Jose's technology industry,” are exploring the idea of building houses on the club’s 167 acres. . . . Kirk Horton, who’s said to be a “businessman, rancher, investor, and pastor,” has agreed to buy Holiday Hills Country Club, a venue in Mineral Wells, Texas that the Mineral Wells Index says has experienced “several years of financial struggles.” Holiday, which will like have its name changed, features an 18-hole track that opened in the 1920s or 1930s, depending on which source you believe.

     Duly Noted – As the golf industry continues to struggle, the parent company of American Golf Corporation is following ClubCorp’s lead and transitioning from “a traditional golf company to a full-fledged entertainment business with great golf content.” In a press release, Drive Shack says it’s looking forward to “a transformative 2019,” with “expansion into dining and entertainment” being “our top priority.” . . . Steve Wolfard will soon be hanging out his own shingle. From an office in Dallas, Texas, under the banner of W Golf Design, D. A. Weibring’s longtime partner says he’s been “working towards this opportunity for a long time.” He plans to focus on new designs and renovations in the United States and Asia. . . . The Professional Golfers’ Association in England has licensed its brand to Argentario Golf Resort & Spa – make that “the luxurious and picturesque Argentario Golf Resort & Spa” – in Southern Tuscany. The property, now operating as PGA National Italy, is part of a portfolio that includes properties in Cyprus, the Czech Republic, England, Russia, Scotland, and Turkey.

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