The Week That Was, october 20, 2019

     The groundbreaking may still be in the distant future, but elected officials in Orange County, California have found a replacement developer willing to build an 18-hole golf course and related attractions on the capped Coyote Canyon landfill in Newport Beach. Tait Development, a group led by a former mayor of Anaheim, has agreed to sign a 75-year lease on the 375-acre landfill, with the promise of creating a boutique hotel, meeting space, a restaurant, a “beer garden,” hiking and biking trails, and the aforementioned golf course. Tait is getting what it called “a tremendous opportunity” because the county’s deal with Chapman Investment Company, which had intended to complement its golf course with a PGA Tour-branded practice center, dropped out of the picture last year. Tait hasn’t yet provided any specifics about its plans, but it aims to establish “a national model of how to sustainably re-purpose landfill sites.” Such models apparently aren’t easy to formulate, because Tait reportedly has nine years to complete its feasibility studies and secure the necessary approvals and entitlements.

     Pipeline Overflow – Brian Curley reports that FLC Group will “soon” break ground on the third course at FLC Quảng Bình, its 7,500-acre resort community Vietnam’s Quảng Bình Province, and Golfasian says that the 18-hole track is expected to open in 2021 or 2022. An adept marketer, Curley has labeled Quảng Bình (once known as FLC Đồng Hới Golf Links) as “Pine Valley at the beach” and “one of the greatest year-round destination golf projects in Asia.” . . . On 120 acres outside New Delhi, India, the Noida Authority wants to build an “entertainment hub” that will include a golf course. The 90-acre course, to be developed by a private-sector partner, will be flanked by a helipad and an “adventure club.” . . . Pending a successful sale of its current property to a home builder, Bearsden Golf Club aims to reinvent itself with a new, 18-hole, Graeme Webster-designed golf course. A spokesperson for the club, outside Glasgow, Scotland, acknowledged that Bearsden’s future is currently “highly uncertain.”

     ClubCorp hasn’t yet added to its portfolio this year, but the giant Dallas-based course operator is said to be on the cusp of buying a pair of golf properties in and around Raleigh, North Carolina. The properties, both currently owned by Toll Brothers, are Hasentree Club, which features a 12-year-old, Tom Fazio-designed course, and Brier Creek Country Club, whose centerpiece is a 19-year-old, Arnold Palmer-designed course. The purchases are expected to close before the end of the month, and they’ll give ClubCorp five venues in the Raleigh area and 11 in total in the Tar Heel State.

     Surplus Transactions – The city of Mission Viejo, California has agreed to pay $13 million for a 104-acre parcel that includes Casta del Sol Golf Course, an 18-hole, executive-length track designed by Ted Robinson. The seller, American Golf Corporation, has generously agreed to manage the property for up to three years. . . . Lakeview Golf Resort & Spa, a 412-acre spread in Morgantown, West Virginia, has reportedly changed hands for $2.25 million. The buyers haven’t yet been identified, but they’ve purchased a 187-room hotel, a restaurant, meeting space, a fitness center, swimming pools, and a pair of 18-hole golf courses, one co-designed by James Harrison and Fred Garbin and the other by Tom Clark and Brian Ault. . . . Eric Wilber has found a buyer for his 18-hole, 22-year-old golf course in suburban La Crosse, Wisconsin. The prospective new owners of Trempealeau Mountain Golf Course are Chad and Amy Landis, who hope to make the track “a destination golf course for golfers throughout the Midwest for years to come.”

     Duly Noted – Answer: The Jack Nicklaus course, the José María Olazábal course, and the Greg Norman course. Question: What are the three most-played tracks at the Mission Hills resort in Shenzhen, China? . . . Answer: Interlachen Country Club, Minikahda Club, and Edina Country Club. Question: What are the top three revenue-producing clubs in the Twin Cities? . . . Answer: Three. Question: How many site visits has Tiger Woods so far made to the mostly completed Payne’s Valley track he’s designed for the Big Cedar Lodge?

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