Golf-course designers love awards, but they hate rankings. That being said, don’t look for Jack Nicklaus, Coore & Crenshaw, and Tom Doak to complain about where they fall on an evaluation recently published by a reputable British website: They’re regarded as being among the top five architects of all time.
Top 100 Golf Courses, which aims “to connect passionate golfers with the world’s greatest golf clubs,” has done what it calls “the unthinkable”: It’s developed “a scoring system” that it believes can “reasonably” identify the greatest architects in history. Readers who wish to wade through the details of how Top 100 came to its conclusions can do so on their own. Suffice to say that the website’s panelists crunched some numbers and weighed a wealth of opinions and eventually compiled a list of 100 designers who “positively impacted golf course design.”
Without question, this exercise has been designed to start some discussions and spark some arguments. To give itself a bit of cover, though, Top 100 notes that it “stopped short of actually ranking the architects.” Instead, it says it “loosely sequenced” the architects into 10-member “tiers,” starting with a group led by Harry Colt and Alister MacKenzie and ending with Robbie Robinson, Perry Dye, Charles Redhead, Ron Kirby, and Allan Robertson. The list skews toward famous dead architects, as such lists typically do, by roughly two to one.
Of the roughly one-third who are alive and generally regarded as U.S. architects, Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Pete Dye, and Tom Fazio are included among the top 10. Greg Norman finds a home among the top 20, while David McLay Kidd, Kyle Phillips, and Gil Hanse are ranked among the top 30. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find Gary Player (whose office is in the United States even if he often isn’t), Tom Weiskopf, Ernie Els (a situation similar to Player’s), Lee Schmidt & Brian Curley, Mike DeVries, Rees Jones, Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry, P. B. Dye, Arthur Hills, and Brian Silva.
Though golf architecture is a dynamic profession, Top 100 says it expects its list “to remain relatively static” in the near term. And while designers may object to rankings both in general and in particular, let’s face facts: We rank professional athletes, chefs, movie directors, vacation destinations, and just about every other group of people, places, and things anybody can think of. Course designers may wish for immunity, but it needn’t be granted.
Scrape away the irrelevant news about improved television ratings for professional events and increases in “off-course participation,” and there are three important takeaways from the National Golf Foundation’s Golf Industry Report for 2019.
First, U.S. golf participation as we’ve defined it for decades – by the number of people who pay money to play traditional games of golf on actual golf courses – grew only fractionally in 2018, from 23.8 million to 24.2 million. This may be, as the NGF notes, the “first measured increase in 14 years,” but it means that participation remains at the level our industry had prior to the Great Recession.
Second, the number of rounds played fell to 434 million, a decline of 4.8 percent from 2017. The NGF blames the decrease on “heavier precipitation levels than normal across the country during the busiest months for golf.”
Third, golf courses continue to go out of business at a precipitous pace. The NGF reports that 198.5 of what it inelegantly calls “18-hole equivalent courses” closed last year, while just 12.5 opened. The number of 18-hole equivalent golf courses in the United States currently stands at 13,777, down from 15,007 in the peak year of 2005. The “correction,” as the NGF has long framed it, that began in 2006 will continue “for another few years.”
The NGF claims to be “bullish” on golf’s future, but people who are currently involved in U.S. golf operations don’t have much cause for optimism. Progress remains elusive.
Arcis Golf, the second-largest owner/operator in the U.S. golf industry, has put one of its competitors out of business. For an undisclosed price, Blake Walker’s Dallas, Texas-based firm has acquired the five remaining golf properties, all of them in Texas, owned by Dominion Golf Group. The venues are located in and around Austin (Onion Creek Club, River Place Country Club, and Twin Creeks Country Club) as well as in suburban Dallas (Lantana Golf Club), and in San Antonio (Dominion Country Club). In a press release, Arcis described its latest acquisition as “one of the most attractive asset-quality portfolios in the golf industry” and said the purchase represented “a significant enhancement” to its “carefully curated collection of lifestyle properties.” (For what it’s worth, Golf Digest doesn’t list any of the clubs’ courses on its ranking of the Lone Star State’s top 25.) Arcis, which claims to be “reinventing the modern club experience,” now owns more than five dozen golf courses, 18 of them in Texas. Its press release doesn’t explain why Dominion chose to sell or shed any light on the plans of Steven Held, Dominion’s CEO.
Surplus Transactions – The family of the late Bill Burnette has accepted $1.975 million for Hyland Golf Club, a venue that’s operated outside Pinehurst, North Carolina since 1965. The new owners of the club aim to transform Hyland’s 18-hole, Tom Jackson-designed track from “a good golf course to a great golf course.” . . . Just months after it was shuttered and described as “no longer a viable business,” an 18-hole, Ron Garl-designed golf course in suburban Fort Wayne, Indiana is expecting a rebirth. The Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation has agreed to buy Stonehenge Golf Club, citing the property’s “importance to what our community offers residents and visitors alike.” A price hasn’t been announced, but in 2017 Stonehenge was put on the market for $2.875 million. . . . Jon Goin, a Memphis-area golf pro, is said to be “finalizing a deal” to acquire Plantation Golf Club, a 30-year-old venue in Olive Branch, Mississippi. Once he takes possession, Goin plans to change the club’s name to Bridges at Plantation.
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.”
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Sunday, April 21, 2019
The Week That Was, april 21, 2019
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and nowadays the apple of Mike Keiser’s eye is without doubt the design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.
The world’s premier golf developer has hired the Austin, Texas-based duo to create the fifth course at Bandon Dunes, an expected world-class layout that will take shape on the 150 acres currently occupied by the resort’s free-form, 13-green Sheep Ranch course. The site has been described as “spectacular,” “crazy good,” and “really unbelievable,” and Coore, who’s set foot on most of the planet’s finest linksland, thinks it has “some of the most magnificent natural contours for golf that I have ever seen.” Keiser and Phil Friedmann, the property’s co-owners, expect the 18-hole, 7,100-yard track to debut next year.
The existing Sheep Ranch course has operated as a poorly kept secret for more than a decade, but it’s been slated for redevelopment since 2016, originally with Gil Hanse as the front-runner for the commission. The stars had apparently aligned, as Keiser had been talking about finding a place for a Hanse-designed course at Bandon Dunes for years, but he changed his mind after he and Friedmann played the Hanse-designed course at the Streamsong resort in Florida. According to Golf Advisor, Keiser and Friedmann concluded that Hanse’s approach to greens design would be too “extreme” for the Sheep Ranch property.
As a result, Coore and Crenshaw, who’ve already designed two of Bandon Dunes’ 18-hole courses, got a chance to create a routing, and they delivered one that Keiser believes is “truly brilliant.” Their final product is also going to be Keiser’s last bite of the apple at Bandon Dunes, for he told Golf Advisor that the Sheep Ranch track will be the resort’s final regulation-length course.
An Indian tribe in Wisconsin has acquired Big Fish Golf Course, a Pete Dye-designed venue that claims to offer “a fun, challenging, and memorable golf experience” to players in the extreme northwestern part of the state. Via its governing board, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has paid $1.1 million for the 18-hole course, which is located on 173 acres adjacent to its reservation in Hayward. The tribe believes that Big Fish will boost the financial prospects of its Sevenwinds Casino, but it has no illusions about the course’s ability to generate profits. “We are telling tribal members this is not a gold mine,” a tribal official told the Sawyer County Record, “but if we can break even and drive more business to the casino, that will be a win for the tribe.” Big Fish opened in 2004. Dye has designed four other courses in Wisconsin, all of them at the Whistling Straits and Black Wolf Run resorts in Kohler.
Surplus Transactions – Thanks to an anonymous donation, the Dickinson County Conservation Board has acquired Brooks National Golf Club, a 27-hole facility in Okoboji, Iowa. The 230-acre venue, which will begin operating this season as Brooks Golf, has operated since 1932, and over the years it’s reportedly attracted players such Sam Snead, Walter Hagen, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias. . . . Sometime next month, a club in Shelby, North Carolina that’s said to have “declined in recent years” will change hands. Cleveland Country Club, which has been in business since 1928, will be sold to what’s been described as “a group of current and former members” who hope to “save the club for the next generation.” . . . Ron and Kathy Brown have sold Tall Pines Players Club, a venue in Friendsville, Pennsylvania (it’s outside Binghamton, New York) that’s been in business since 1992. Adam Diaz told a local newspaper that he bought Tall Pines and its 18-hole golf course because “it just fit with something I always wanted to do.”
Duly Noted – Greg Norman isn’t the only golf personality who’s hopped on the CBD bandwagon. Scott McCarron, a player on the Champions Tour, has become a spokesperson for a Colorado-based CBD provider (he claims that the substance relieves the “mental stress and anxiety that comes with pro golf”), and Phil “the Gambler” Mickelson was seen taking a shot of what appeared to be CBD oil during one of his rounds at the Masters. In fact, Golf News Net claims that the use of CBD products “has spread throughout the PGA Tour,” and some have speculated that Tiger Woods was chewing CBD-laced gum while he was winning his 15th major championship. Without question, CBD is trending. . . . The Central Coast of Vietnam is about to raise its profile as a golf destination. The marketing group that represents the area’s celebrity-designed golf courses has entered into a partnership with Golfasian, the top tour operator in Southeast Asia, to attract more golf travelers. Golfasian will be offering play at a half-dozen venues, among them tracks designed by Nick Faldo, Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Colin Montgomerie, and Greg Norman. . . . Four years after it acquired Honours Golf, which managed 10 golf properties in the Southeast, Troon has acquired OB Sports Golf Management, which manages more than 70, the vast majority of them west of the Mississippi. As professors in business school always say, buying in one fell swoop sure beats buying one by one.
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.”
The world’s premier golf developer has hired the Austin, Texas-based duo to create the fifth course at Bandon Dunes, an expected world-class layout that will take shape on the 150 acres currently occupied by the resort’s free-form, 13-green Sheep Ranch course. The site has been described as “spectacular,” “crazy good,” and “really unbelievable,” and Coore, who’s set foot on most of the planet’s finest linksland, thinks it has “some of the most magnificent natural contours for golf that I have ever seen.” Keiser and Phil Friedmann, the property’s co-owners, expect the 18-hole, 7,100-yard track to debut next year.
The existing Sheep Ranch course has operated as a poorly kept secret for more than a decade, but it’s been slated for redevelopment since 2016, originally with Gil Hanse as the front-runner for the commission. The stars had apparently aligned, as Keiser had been talking about finding a place for a Hanse-designed course at Bandon Dunes for years, but he changed his mind after he and Friedmann played the Hanse-designed course at the Streamsong resort in Florida. According to Golf Advisor, Keiser and Friedmann concluded that Hanse’s approach to greens design would be too “extreme” for the Sheep Ranch property.
As a result, Coore and Crenshaw, who’ve already designed two of Bandon Dunes’ 18-hole courses, got a chance to create a routing, and they delivered one that Keiser believes is “truly brilliant.” Their final product is also going to be Keiser’s last bite of the apple at Bandon Dunes, for he told Golf Advisor that the Sheep Ranch track will be the resort’s final regulation-length course.
An Indian tribe in Wisconsin has acquired Big Fish Golf Course, a Pete Dye-designed venue that claims to offer “a fun, challenging, and memorable golf experience” to players in the extreme northwestern part of the state. Via its governing board, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has paid $1.1 million for the 18-hole course, which is located on 173 acres adjacent to its reservation in Hayward. The tribe believes that Big Fish will boost the financial prospects of its Sevenwinds Casino, but it has no illusions about the course’s ability to generate profits. “We are telling tribal members this is not a gold mine,” a tribal official told the Sawyer County Record, “but if we can break even and drive more business to the casino, that will be a win for the tribe.” Big Fish opened in 2004. Dye has designed four other courses in Wisconsin, all of them at the Whistling Straits and Black Wolf Run resorts in Kohler.
Surplus Transactions – Thanks to an anonymous donation, the Dickinson County Conservation Board has acquired Brooks National Golf Club, a 27-hole facility in Okoboji, Iowa. The 230-acre venue, which will begin operating this season as Brooks Golf, has operated since 1932, and over the years it’s reportedly attracted players such Sam Snead, Walter Hagen, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias. . . . Sometime next month, a club in Shelby, North Carolina that’s said to have “declined in recent years” will change hands. Cleveland Country Club, which has been in business since 1928, will be sold to what’s been described as “a group of current and former members” who hope to “save the club for the next generation.” . . . Ron and Kathy Brown have sold Tall Pines Players Club, a venue in Friendsville, Pennsylvania (it’s outside Binghamton, New York) that’s been in business since 1992. Adam Diaz told a local newspaper that he bought Tall Pines and its 18-hole golf course because “it just fit with something I always wanted to do.”
Duly Noted – Greg Norman isn’t the only golf personality who’s hopped on the CBD bandwagon. Scott McCarron, a player on the Champions Tour, has become a spokesperson for a Colorado-based CBD provider (he claims that the substance relieves the “mental stress and anxiety that comes with pro golf”), and Phil “the Gambler” Mickelson was seen taking a shot of what appeared to be CBD oil during one of his rounds at the Masters. In fact, Golf News Net claims that the use of CBD products “has spread throughout the PGA Tour,” and some have speculated that Tiger Woods was chewing CBD-laced gum while he was winning his 15th major championship. Without question, CBD is trending. . . . The Central Coast of Vietnam is about to raise its profile as a golf destination. The marketing group that represents the area’s celebrity-designed golf courses has entered into a partnership with Golfasian, the top tour operator in Southeast Asia, to attract more golf travelers. Golfasian will be offering play at a half-dozen venues, among them tracks designed by Nick Faldo, Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Colin Montgomerie, and Greg Norman. . . . Four years after it acquired Honours Golf, which managed 10 golf properties in the Southeast, Troon has acquired OB Sports Golf Management, which manages more than 70, the vast majority of them west of the Mississippi. As professors in business school always say, buying in one fell swoop sure beats buying one by one.
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.”
Sunday, April 14, 2019
The Week That Was, april 14, 2019
Dan Hixson, a Portland, Oregon-based architect who’s earned praise for his naturalistic golf courses in the Pacific Northwest, has been commissioned to create Callahan Ridge, an 18-hole layout that will take shape on a sand-and-gravel mine outside Roseburg, Oregon. Kelly Guido, the mine’s owner, expects to break ground on the course’s first nine this year and the second nine next year. Hixson has said that the 6,300-yard track will be “scorecard short, reality long,” with “lots of exciting stuff.”
Pipeline Overflow – Robert Trent Jones, Jr. has unveiled his eighth course in South Korea. River Bend Golf Course, an 18-hole track, will serve personnel from U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek, which is expected to become our nation’s largest overseas military base. . . . This summer, Dream Valley Group plans to open an 18-hole, Phil Ryan-designed golf course at Vooty Golf County, a high-end community in Hyderabad, India. Vooty, which is being marketed as “a path-breaking venture that will complement your high-spirited lifestyle,” appears to be the first in what Dream Valley believes will be “a chain of golf resorts.” . . . This fall, Greg “the Living Brand” Norman expects to unveil the 18-hole golf course he’s designed for Rancho San Lucas, an 834-acre resort community outside Cabo San Lucas that’s being developed by Solmar Hotels & Resorts. According to a press release, Rancho San Lucas will offer “an array of luxury amenities” and “an unparalleled collection of residential options,” including Norman-branded “estates.”
The Bluffs on Thompson Creek Golf & Conference Resort, a 31-year-old venue in suburban Baton Rouge that describes itself as “Louisiana’s hidden treasure,” now belongs to an entity consisting of residents who live in the accompanying community. The Bluffs features an 18-hole, Arnold Palmer-designed course whose operation has in recent years been “a financial challenge,” according to the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. The newspaper says that the sellers, Jerry Dodson and Kenneth Carter, bought the Bluffs in 2015 for $100 “and other valuable consideration.” The new owners reportedly paid $3.15 million.
Surplus Transactions – A pair of would-be Parrotheads, one from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the other from Atlanta, Georgia, have acquired La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa, a 186-acre weekend getaway on Lake Conroe in greater Houston, Texas. The new owners plan to rebrand La Torretta, which features an 18-hole, Dave Marr-designed golf course that dates from 1981, into a Margaritaville property. . . . Don and Lewis Biad have agreed to sell Picacho Hills Country Club to Southwest Golf Management, pending the buyer’s successful acquisition of a liquor license. Picacho Hills, a 40-year-old venue in Las Cruces, New Mexico, features an 18-hole, Joe Finger-designed golf course. Southwest appears to be confident about completing the transaction, as it took over management of the 170-acre club earlier this year. . . . A nine-hole, Lee Johnson-designed golf course in Chetek, Wisconsin has changed hands. The Chetek Alert reports that Johnson and Rita Hong have sold Sioux Creek Golf Course, a 26-year-old venue, because “it was the right time for them to sell.”
The pace of course closings has slowed a bit this year, so it’s been two months since I last posted a run-down of activities on Desolation Row. Here are some of the latest closings:
– Philmont Country Club, a 112-year-old venue in north suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has drawn the curtains on its South Course, an 18-hole track that was originally designed by John Reid and later redesigned by Hugh Wilson and Willie Park, Jr., among others. The news comes as no surprise, because Concert Golf Partners said it would sell at least part of the track when it acquired Philmont in 2017.
– Sanctuary Golf Club, a 34-year-old venue outside Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The club, which is for sale, features an 18-hole, George Cobb-designed course that was refreshed in 2008 by Jeff Brauer.
– ASU Karsten Golf Course, a 30-year-old, Pete Dye-designed layout in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, will go dark in May. The 18-hole track’s closing has been expected for several years, as Arizona State University wants the space for development.
– Mahoning Valley Country Club, a venue that’s operated outside Lehighton, Pennsylvania since the mid 1920s. Lehigh Gas Corporation bought the club and its 18-hole golf course, a co-design by William and David Gordon, in 2010. It hopes to find a buyer.
– Village Greens Golf Course, a municipal track in Port Orchard, Washington that rang up just 9,600 rounds last year, won’t operate in 2019, and Kitsap County officials are listening to suggestions about what to do with the property. Village Greens features an 18-hole, executive-length course that opened in 1963.
– Colonial Acres Golf Course, a nine-hole track owned by the town of Bethlehem, in suburban Albany, New York. The course, which opened in the mid 1960s, is said to be “in extremely poor condition” and still suffering the after-effects of the Great Recession.
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.”
Pipeline Overflow – Robert Trent Jones, Jr. has unveiled his eighth course in South Korea. River Bend Golf Course, an 18-hole track, will serve personnel from U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek, which is expected to become our nation’s largest overseas military base. . . . This summer, Dream Valley Group plans to open an 18-hole, Phil Ryan-designed golf course at Vooty Golf County, a high-end community in Hyderabad, India. Vooty, which is being marketed as “a path-breaking venture that will complement your high-spirited lifestyle,” appears to be the first in what Dream Valley believes will be “a chain of golf resorts.” . . . This fall, Greg “the Living Brand” Norman expects to unveil the 18-hole golf course he’s designed for Rancho San Lucas, an 834-acre resort community outside Cabo San Lucas that’s being developed by Solmar Hotels & Resorts. According to a press release, Rancho San Lucas will offer “an array of luxury amenities” and “an unparalleled collection of residential options,” including Norman-branded “estates.”
The Bluffs on Thompson Creek Golf & Conference Resort, a 31-year-old venue in suburban Baton Rouge that describes itself as “Louisiana’s hidden treasure,” now belongs to an entity consisting of residents who live in the accompanying community. The Bluffs features an 18-hole, Arnold Palmer-designed course whose operation has in recent years been “a financial challenge,” according to the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. The newspaper says that the sellers, Jerry Dodson and Kenneth Carter, bought the Bluffs in 2015 for $100 “and other valuable consideration.” The new owners reportedly paid $3.15 million.
Surplus Transactions – A pair of would-be Parrotheads, one from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the other from Atlanta, Georgia, have acquired La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa, a 186-acre weekend getaway on Lake Conroe in greater Houston, Texas. The new owners plan to rebrand La Torretta, which features an 18-hole, Dave Marr-designed golf course that dates from 1981, into a Margaritaville property. . . . Don and Lewis Biad have agreed to sell Picacho Hills Country Club to Southwest Golf Management, pending the buyer’s successful acquisition of a liquor license. Picacho Hills, a 40-year-old venue in Las Cruces, New Mexico, features an 18-hole, Joe Finger-designed golf course. Southwest appears to be confident about completing the transaction, as it took over management of the 170-acre club earlier this year. . . . A nine-hole, Lee Johnson-designed golf course in Chetek, Wisconsin has changed hands. The Chetek Alert reports that Johnson and Rita Hong have sold Sioux Creek Golf Course, a 26-year-old venue, because “it was the right time for them to sell.”
The pace of course closings has slowed a bit this year, so it’s been two months since I last posted a run-down of activities on Desolation Row. Here are some of the latest closings:
– Philmont Country Club, a 112-year-old venue in north suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has drawn the curtains on its South Course, an 18-hole track that was originally designed by John Reid and later redesigned by Hugh Wilson and Willie Park, Jr., among others. The news comes as no surprise, because Concert Golf Partners said it would sell at least part of the track when it acquired Philmont in 2017.
– Sanctuary Golf Club, a 34-year-old venue outside Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The club, which is for sale, features an 18-hole, George Cobb-designed course that was refreshed in 2008 by Jeff Brauer.
– ASU Karsten Golf Course, a 30-year-old, Pete Dye-designed layout in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, will go dark in May. The 18-hole track’s closing has been expected for several years, as Arizona State University wants the space for development.
– Mahoning Valley Country Club, a venue that’s operated outside Lehighton, Pennsylvania since the mid 1920s. Lehigh Gas Corporation bought the club and its 18-hole golf course, a co-design by William and David Gordon, in 2010. It hopes to find a buyer.
– Village Greens Golf Course, a municipal track in Port Orchard, Washington that rang up just 9,600 rounds last year, won’t operate in 2019, and Kitsap County officials are listening to suggestions about what to do with the property. Village Greens features an 18-hole, executive-length course that opened in 1963.
– Colonial Acres Golf Course, a nine-hole track owned by the town of Bethlehem, in suburban Albany, New York. The course, which opened in the mid 1960s, is said to be “in extremely poor condition” and still suffering the after-effects of the Great Recession.
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.”
Sunday, April 7, 2019
The Week That Was, april 7, 2019
The transaction mostly went unnoticed, but a subsidiary of the PGA of America has acquired Nextgengolf, a Boston, Massachusetts-based group that organizes tournaments for a market that the golf industry is desperate to tap: High-school and college students and young adults. Unlike so many previous golf-industry partnerships that have aimed to grow the game, most of which seemed ill-fated from the get-go, this one appears to have potential. For starters, synergies are in play: Nextgengolf has nicely staked out a position with a desirable demographic, and its reach will be enhanced by the PGA’s considerable financial and marketing resources. More importantly, though, as the PGA’s chief innovation officer noted in a press release, “Nextgengolf provides authentic experiences that speak to the next generation of golfers.” Could a blend of competition and community, spiced with a little fun, be the recipe that cracks a very tough nut for golf?
By now most everyone knows what Rick Reilly reported about Individual #1’s golf behavior in his new book, Commander in Cheat. To those with an interest in business, however, the more noteworthy part of this whole sad discussion is what Reilly has to say about the president’s golf properties.
Doral, I went there and it was so empty you could shoot a machine gun, Reilly told Rolling Stone. In fact, the day I left someone did come in and sprayed the place with a machine gun and no one got hurt, because no one was there. I walked all over, and I saw one group. I walked every hole at Aberdeen and saw one group. Eric Trump lied at an opening and said, “Oh, we’re so busy here at Trump Ferry Point.” And I said, “Oh really?” So I went online Saturday night to get a Sunday tee time. I had my choice of the whole day.
Greg “the Living Brand” Norman has arguably become the most influential person in Vietnam’s golf industry. Named last year as the socialist republic’s tourism ambassador and this year as an advisor to its newly created Golf Tourism Association, the Great & Powerful LB has set out to create what he promises will be “30 years of prosperity and growth for Vietnam.” And what’s in it for him? “If I do it the right way,” he recently noted to an interviewer, “I’ll be rewarded.” Such is the self-obsession that beats at the heart of the LB, who’s so far designed three golf courses in Vietnam and has commissions in hand for a handful of others. The LB believes that “there is a massive opportunity” in Vietnam, and to ensure that the opportunity is fully and completely realized, he hopes to star in a documentary that will focus on – you guessed it – “my time in Vietnam, building golf courses, following the journey.” Before any more checks are written, someone should remind Vietnam that the LB’s journeys tend to be ego trips.
While the LB chases opportunities in Vietnam, he’s lost one in Hawaii.
Pacific Links International, which has in recent years been selling its U.S. golf properties, has hired Tiger Woods and Gil Hanse to design what’s been described as “world-class, tournament-quality golf courses” for its Mākaha resort on Oʻahu. PLI will be working with Hanse for the first time, but it has some history with Woods, because several years ago it commissioned the Jupiter, Florida-based “signature” architect to create a new course in metropolitan Beijing, on property formerly occupied by Beijing Tian’an Holiday Golf Club.
Mākaha once boasted a pair of 18-hole tracks, the West course (Makaha Golf Club) and the East course (Makaha Valley Country Club), and PLI had asked Norman to downsize. At one point the plan was to turn the West track into “an unforgettable championship course” and shrink the East course to nine holes, but PLI bailed when the construction costs got too high.
The courses by Woods and Hanse will serve as drawing cards for a venue that will operate as Mākaha Valley Resort, a 644-acre spread that will also feature housing, time-share condos, an arts center, and health and wellness facilities. A construction schedule hasn’t yet been set, but PLI expects to deliver a “unique and memorable golf experience for players of all levels.”
Are you wondering how much of a week’s golf news I cover in this blog? The answer, unfortunately, is just a fraction of what passes my way. The golf business, particularly the development side of the golf business, has unquestionably perked up over the past year or two, and there’s no way for me to address all of it. So if your business requires a more comprehensive news digest – a weekly compendium of stories collected from newspapers, magazines, and other sources – contact me via e-mail at golfcoursereport@aol.com. I’ll send you a sample issue of either U.S. or International Construction Clips, depending on your needs.
By now most everyone knows what Rick Reilly reported about Individual #1’s golf behavior in his new book, Commander in Cheat. To those with an interest in business, however, the more noteworthy part of this whole sad discussion is what Reilly has to say about the president’s golf properties.
Doral, I went there and it was so empty you could shoot a machine gun, Reilly told Rolling Stone. In fact, the day I left someone did come in and sprayed the place with a machine gun and no one got hurt, because no one was there. I walked all over, and I saw one group. I walked every hole at Aberdeen and saw one group. Eric Trump lied at an opening and said, “Oh, we’re so busy here at Trump Ferry Point.” And I said, “Oh really?” So I went online Saturday night to get a Sunday tee time. I had my choice of the whole day.
Greg “the Living Brand” Norman has arguably become the most influential person in Vietnam’s golf industry. Named last year as the socialist republic’s tourism ambassador and this year as an advisor to its newly created Golf Tourism Association, the Great & Powerful LB has set out to create what he promises will be “30 years of prosperity and growth for Vietnam.” And what’s in it for him? “If I do it the right way,” he recently noted to an interviewer, “I’ll be rewarded.” Such is the self-obsession that beats at the heart of the LB, who’s so far designed three golf courses in Vietnam and has commissions in hand for a handful of others. The LB believes that “there is a massive opportunity” in Vietnam, and to ensure that the opportunity is fully and completely realized, he hopes to star in a documentary that will focus on – you guessed it – “my time in Vietnam, building golf courses, following the journey.” Before any more checks are written, someone should remind Vietnam that the LB’s journeys tend to be ego trips.
While the LB chases opportunities in Vietnam, he’s lost one in Hawaii.
Pacific Links International, which has in recent years been selling its U.S. golf properties, has hired Tiger Woods and Gil Hanse to design what’s been described as “world-class, tournament-quality golf courses” for its Mākaha resort on Oʻahu. PLI will be working with Hanse for the first time, but it has some history with Woods, because several years ago it commissioned the Jupiter, Florida-based “signature” architect to create a new course in metropolitan Beijing, on property formerly occupied by Beijing Tian’an Holiday Golf Club.
Mākaha once boasted a pair of 18-hole tracks, the West course (Makaha Golf Club) and the East course (Makaha Valley Country Club), and PLI had asked Norman to downsize. At one point the plan was to turn the West track into “an unforgettable championship course” and shrink the East course to nine holes, but PLI bailed when the construction costs got too high.
The courses by Woods and Hanse will serve as drawing cards for a venue that will operate as Mākaha Valley Resort, a 644-acre spread that will also feature housing, time-share condos, an arts center, and health and wellness facilities. A construction schedule hasn’t yet been set, but PLI expects to deliver a “unique and memorable golf experience for players of all levels.”
Are you wondering how much of a week’s golf news I cover in this blog? The answer, unfortunately, is just a fraction of what passes my way. The golf business, particularly the development side of the golf business, has unquestionably perked up over the past year or two, and there’s no way for me to address all of it. So if your business requires a more comprehensive news digest – a weekly compendium of stories collected from newspapers, magazines, and other sources – contact me via e-mail at golfcoursereport@aol.com. I’ll send you a sample issue of either U.S. or International Construction Clips, depending on your needs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
