The Week That Was, july 28, 2019

     Early next year, Gil Hanse figures to give Thailand its initial taste of classic American golf. His 18-hole layout at Ballyshear Golf Links at Ban Rakat Club, an homage to Golden-Age legends C. B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, is taking shape outside Bangkok, on property that serves as the home of Kiarti Thanee Country Club. Golfasian describes Kiarti Thanee as “a favorite” of the area’s Japanese golfers, and the re-do of its Yoshiharu Aihara-designed golf course has been orchestrated by a Japanese golf operator, Yokohama International Golf Club Co., Ltd. The commission is Hanse’s first in the Land of Smiles, and in a press release the Malvern, Pennsylvania-based designer promises that it’ll be “like nothing else in Thailand.” He’s been inspired by Lido Golf Club, a long-lost venue on New York’s Long Island that opinion-makers in our industry revere even though not one of them has ever played it, as it disappeared in 1942. That’s part of the reason why Lido has, to use Hanse’s word, “mythic” status. Yokohama is promoting its rebranded club as “something completely unique to the market,” a pitch that will certainly resonate among some of the company’s prospective members. But few of Bangkok’s golfers appreciate golf’s history and mythology as much as Hanse does. In the end, one suspects that all the talk about Macdonald and Raynor and Lido is really being directed at golfers who are likely to visit Bangkok, not live there.

     Pipeline Overflow – In October, Tad King and Rob Collins expect to take the wraps off their re-do of the 18-hole, George Cobb-designed track at the storm-battered Sea Palms Resort. The resort, on St. Simons Island in Georgia, suffered damage from hurricanes in 2017 and 2018, and its new owners believe an improved golf course is key to the property’s revitalization. . . . Tom Fazio’s redesign of Wynn Golf Club, at the site of the former Desert Inn Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, is also scheduled to open in October. Citing a press release, Golfweek reports that the Fazio “enhanced” the property’s “desert atmosphere” with “significant elevation changes, water features and trees.” . . . Golfasian reports that Phil Ryan’s re-do of the former Thai Muang Golf Club, outside Phuket, Thailand, is on track to debut in mid 2020. The original course, an Andy Dye design, was washed away by the tsunami in 2015. When it re-opens, the property will operate as Aquella Golf Resort & Country Club.

     Cypress Creek Golfers' Club, which promotes itself as “a ‘must see/must play’ for everyone who enjoys a memorable Hampton Roads golf experience,” has changed hands. Dois Rosser, who’s said to be 98, reportedly accepted $775,000 for his 21-year-old club in suburban Norfolk, Virginia. The venue features an 18-hole course designed by Tom Clark, with assistance from his occasional “signature” collaborator, Curtis Strange. The new owners, a trio of local investors, has promised to make Cypress Creek “one of the best courses in our area.”  

     Surplus Transactions – Homeowners in a Sun City by Del Webb community in Apple Valley, California have voted to purchase their David Rainville-designed golf complex. Ashwood Golf Course, consisting of 27 executive-length holes, has reportedly lost $500,000 annually of late, despite ringing up roughly 45,000 rounds a year. . . . Government officials in Bluefield, Virginia, self-described as “nature’s air conditioned city,” have voted to buy Fincastle on the Mountain, an 18-hole, Dick Wilson-designed course that opened in the early 1960s. The town plans to open the former private club, which features a swimming pool, tennis courts, and other recreational amenities, to the public. . . . Grant County Port District 7 has agreed to sell Banks Lake Golf Course, in Electric City, Washington, to a group led by Scott Garrits, reportedly for $1.8 million. The 18-hole course, which is located just a short drive from the Grand Coulee Dam, was designed by Keith Hellstrom and opened in 1985.  

     Duly Noted – J. P. McManus’s €70 million ($78 million) bet on the promise of Adare Manor has paid off. The racehorse breeder’s recently refurbished, 840-acre resort in County Limerick, Ireland, with a golf course overhauled by Tom Fazio (“an absolute masterpiece,” according to the European Tour), will host the Ryder Cup competition in 2026, just as McManus imagined it would. . . . More data from the National Golf Foundation: The Jupiter, Florida-based trade group has determined that 198.5 of its so-called 18-hole equivalent courses closed permanently last year, roughly equal to the number that bit the dust in 2017, while 12.5 opened, down by three from 2017. The NGF predicts that another 165 to 240 courses will close this year, while 10 to 20 will open. . . . Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, the municipal course in New York City operated by you know who, lost money for the first time during its most recent fiscal year – $122,000, to be exact. Citing results provided by the city, the Washington Post reports that the number of rounds played at the venue has fallen every year since it opened, in 2015.

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