cuba Has the Countdown Begun?
Don't get all hot and bothered, but CNN is reporting that “the bourgeois sport of the West” -- that would be golf, naturally -- “is poised for a comeback on the communist-run island” of Cuba.
I hate to sound like an old sourpuss, but haven't we heard this story numerous times before? Is there really any reason to believe golf will gain a foothold in Cuba anytime soon?
Well, maybe there is. If you believe CNN -- or if you believe what people are telling CNN -- Cuba may very well achieve lift-off in 2011.
Andrew MacDonald, the CEO of London, England-based Esencia Hotels and Resorts, tells the news service that he plans to break ground on Carbonera Country Club “in the next few months.”
“Golf is becoming a reality in Cuba this year,” he said boldly.
This is real news, especially when you consider that Carbonera has been in the works for something like seven years. And that MacDonald is in a position to make it happen.
But if MacDonald is so confident about the future of golf in Cuba, why didn't he mention that Esencia is working on a second golf project on the island? It's called Rancho Luna, and it's supposed to be built in the town of Cienfuegos, on Cuba’s southern coast.
Maybe it's because Rancho Luna isn't going to happen anytime soon.
And what about the other golf projects that are always mentioned in stories about golf in Cuba? Are they any closer to coming out of the ground?
I'm not holding my breath.
CNN reports that Vancouver-based Leisure Canada is “at advanced stages with three planned golf developments in the Pinar del Rio province on Cuba's west coast.” That's nice, but Leisure Canada has been working on its golf projects since the early 1990s.
CNN also reports that London-based Foster & Partners “has been commissioned by a Spanish developer to build a 2,000-unit golfing community with three courses” somewhere on the island. Again, that's nice. But Foster & Partners got the commission more than a year ago. It should have made a little progress by now.
MacDonald tells CNN that he's “impressed by the enthusiasm and golfing knowledge of the Cuban contractors and government officials” and is convinced that their vision of building 15 or 16 golf courses over the next five to seven years “will become a reality.”
“Golf just wasn't a priority in Cuba before, and now it is,” he said.
I hope that's true. When it comes to golf and Cuba, however, I'm taking my cues from the golf pro at Havana Golf Club. He was quoted in the story as saying, “When the new [courses] open, show them to me. Then I will know it is true.”
bahamas Baha Mar Finds Its Sugar Daddy
More good news from another island in the Caribbean: Baha Mar Resorts, Ltd. has broken ground on Baha Mar, its 1,000-acre resort along Nassau’s Cable Beach. The project had been in the tank for more than two years, ever since the developers’ original partner, Harrah’s Entertainment, bailed out on them.
The mega-resort is said to be the largest project of its kind in the Caribbean, even bigger than the gigantic Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. At build-out, Baha Mar is expected to have thousands of condos, a 100,000-square-foot casino, four hotels (a total of about 2,250 rooms), a convention center, a shopping area, an entertainment venue, a water park, and three spas. (Jeez, wouldn't two be enough?)
The work has begun because Baha Mar Resorts, a group led by Sarkis Izmirlian and Don Robinson, has persuaded a pair of Chinese companies -– Beijing-based Export-Import Bank of China and the government-owned China State Construction & Engineering Corporation -– to cough up $2.5 billion in funding.
I'd be remiss if I didn't note that Jack Nicklaus will create a “signature” golf course for the resort. The course will replace the developers’ Cable Bay Golf Club, the Bahamas’ first golf course. Some sources say the track, which opened in the late 1920s, was designed by Devereaux Emmet.
And here's another factoid worth noting: Baha Mar is expected to create about 4,000 construction jobs for Bahamian workers and about 7,000 jobs for Chinese workers.
“The great geographical distance between our two countries has not impeded our friendship,” the Chinese ambassador said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Baha Mar is scheduled to open in late 2014.
australia Eastern Golf Club Names Its Buyer
Eastern Golf Club has identified the preferred buyer of its 118-acre property in Doncaster, a suburb of Melbourne.
It's Mirvac Group, the company that owns Gainsborough Greens Golf Course in suburban Brisbane. Eastern didn't say how much Mirvac is going to shell out, but various sources believe the club's property is worth about $100 million.
Eastern was established in its current location in 1924. It's expected to relocate to a 605-acre tract in nearby Yering, where it'll have a new, Greg Norman-designed golf course. Mirvac plans to build houses on its current home.
Mirvac, which has been in business for nearly 40 years, is one of Australia’s biggest home builders. It's co-owned Gainsborough Greens since 2006 (it became the sole owner in 2009), and last year it commissioned Ross Watson to oversee a four-year makeover of the 6,637-yard track.
Eastern expects to provide more details about the sale in a couple of weeks.
spain The “Strip” Tease
The chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corporation wants to build a “mini Las Vegas” in Spain. He isn't too particular about where.
Sheldon Adelson hopes to build the little Vegas in Madrid or Barcelona, but he's looking for the best deal. He says the $20 billion venture could include as many as 20,000 hotel rooms, convention and meeting space, and a shopping area.
“We're very seriously considering this, we're very actively pursuing this,” Adelson said in a story originally reported by the Associated Press. “There's no reason why we can't do it.”
Las Vegas Sands operates two casinos on the Strip in Las Vegas, three in Macau, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Singapore.
Adelson didn't say anything about building a golf course at his “mini Las Vegas” in Spain, but I'm willing to bet he's got one penciled in somewhere. I mean, you can't gamble 24 hours a day.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
worth reading Who's Optimistic?
“For the first time in a long time,” says the opening line of a story in the Winston-Salem Journal, “there's optimism in the golf industry.”
That's good to hear, and a sentiment I generally agree with. My conversations with people in the golf business tell me that the vast majority are certainly more hopeful and more confident than they were last year. Without question, they're decidedly more upbeat than they were during the black days of 2009.
Unfortunately, the Journal's article left me asking a lot of questions about exactly where the golf industry stands today.
The paper bases the entire foundation of its article on a prepared statement from Rhett Evans, the CEO of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Evans contends that increased attendance at the industry's most important trade shows -- the PGA Merchandise Show and the Golf Industry Show, both of which were held in recent weeks -- suggest that happy days will soon be here again.
“There is definitely a different feeling than what prevailed last year at this time,” Evans said in a press release issued by the Golf Industry Show. “From a qualitative and quantitative perspective, the Golf Industry Show was quite successful.”
This sounds good until you consider that the attendance at the Golf Industry Show was down significantly in 2009 and 2010. The traffic at the event really had nowhere to go but up.
Despite that, I'm not convinced that the actual attendance really was up.
According to the Golf Industry Show's statistics, the event in 2009 had an “overall attendance” of 17,151, while the event in 2010 brought 16,156 through the turnstiles. I'm no mathematician, but that looks like a decline of about 1,000 to me.
In 2011, according to a statement issued earlier this month, the show recorded a “total attendance” of 14,781. This looks like another decline to me, but the GIS calls it “a 4 percent increase over 2010.”
Again, I can hardly balance a checkbook. Here's a link to the page with the post-show press releases from 2010 and 2011.
Let me post a simpler set of numbers that may give a clear-cut indication of where we are in the golf industry today. The press releases also say that GIS 2010 attracted 657 exhibitors, while GIS 2011 attracted 551.
Silly me, I read these numbers as a decline of about 100 exhibitors. The Golf Industry Show calls them “support to the growing wave of optimism that the golf industry is beginning to shake out of its doldrums.”
There's a truth hidden somewhere in all these numbers, but for now, at least, I can't find it.
That's good to hear, and a sentiment I generally agree with. My conversations with people in the golf business tell me that the vast majority are certainly more hopeful and more confident than they were last year. Without question, they're decidedly more upbeat than they were during the black days of 2009.
Unfortunately, the Journal's article left me asking a lot of questions about exactly where the golf industry stands today.
The paper bases the entire foundation of its article on a prepared statement from Rhett Evans, the CEO of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Evans contends that increased attendance at the industry's most important trade shows -- the PGA Merchandise Show and the Golf Industry Show, both of which were held in recent weeks -- suggest that happy days will soon be here again.
“There is definitely a different feeling than what prevailed last year at this time,” Evans said in a press release issued by the Golf Industry Show. “From a qualitative and quantitative perspective, the Golf Industry Show was quite successful.”
This sounds good until you consider that the attendance at the Golf Industry Show was down significantly in 2009 and 2010. The traffic at the event really had nowhere to go but up.
Despite that, I'm not convinced that the actual attendance really was up.
According to the Golf Industry Show's statistics, the event in 2009 had an “overall attendance” of 17,151, while the event in 2010 brought 16,156 through the turnstiles. I'm no mathematician, but that looks like a decline of about 1,000 to me.
In 2011, according to a statement issued earlier this month, the show recorded a “total attendance” of 14,781. This looks like another decline to me, but the GIS calls it “a 4 percent increase over 2010.”
Again, I can hardly balance a checkbook. Here's a link to the page with the post-show press releases from 2010 and 2011.
Let me post a simpler set of numbers that may give a clear-cut indication of where we are in the golf industry today. The press releases also say that GIS 2010 attracted 657 exhibitors, while GIS 2011 attracted 551.
Silly me, I read these numbers as a decline of about 100 exhibitors. The Golf Industry Show calls them “support to the growing wave of optimism that the golf industry is beginning to shake out of its doldrums.”
There's a truth hidden somewhere in all these numbers, but for now, at least, I can't find it.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
china Nicklaus Leaves a “Legacy”
The first Jack Nicklaus “legacy” course in Asia is supposed to open in early 2011, at Lan Hai International Golf Club on the island of Chongming, outside Shanghai.
I can’t say for sure what the “legacy” moniker means, but because the course has been co-designed by Nicklaus and his son Jack, I suspect that it ranks somewhere in the family hierarchy between a “signature” design and a Nicklaus Design. In any case, the club will eventually add a second 18 (it’s expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012) and a 30,000-square-foot, Tuscan-style clubhouse.
Lan Hai will be managed by IMG Golf Course Management, which reports that one of the courses will be capable of hosting “a significant international professional tournament.”
The club is part of a 617-acre community that’s being developed by Shanghai Zhongying Enterprises. IMG has said that the community will have a hotel and “an extensive real estate component,” and Nicklaus has said that the houses have been designed in the “Tuscan, Italian, and Spanish style.”
The Chinese are known for being great exporters, but they’re clearly great importers as well.
While I'm at it, I should note that a Nicklaus “signature” track is under construction at Changbaishan Golf & Ski Resort in Changbaishan (Jilin Province). Nicklaus has also been tapped to design a “signature” layout for Dayabay Nicklaus Golf Resort in Huizhou (Guangdong Province).
I can’t say for sure what the “legacy” moniker means, but because the course has been co-designed by Nicklaus and his son Jack, I suspect that it ranks somewhere in the family hierarchy between a “signature” design and a Nicklaus Design. In any case, the club will eventually add a second 18 (it’s expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012) and a 30,000-square-foot, Tuscan-style clubhouse.
Lan Hai will be managed by IMG Golf Course Management, which reports that one of the courses will be capable of hosting “a significant international professional tournament.”
The club is part of a 617-acre community that’s being developed by Shanghai Zhongying Enterprises. IMG has said that the community will have a hotel and “an extensive real estate component,” and Nicklaus has said that the houses have been designed in the “Tuscan, Italian, and Spanish style.”
The Chinese are known for being great exporters, but they’re clearly great importers as well.
While I'm at it, I should note that a Nicklaus “signature” track is under construction at Changbaishan Golf & Ski Resort in Changbaishan (Jilin Province). Nicklaus has also been tapped to design a “signature” layout for Dayabay Nicklaus Golf Resort in Huizhou (Guangdong Province).
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Week That Was: February 20, 2011
england Lobb Shot
The members of Wimbledon Park Golf Club have selected Thomson Perrett & Lobb to give their 5,483-yard, parkland-style golf course a minor makeover.
TPL plans to rebuild and relocate the bunkers on the 18-hole, par-66 track. The upgrades will be overseen by Tim Lobb, who operates out of TPL's office in suburban London.
“Our plans are to review the current bunkering across the whole course and implement a design plan that will enhance the playing experience for members and guests,” Lobb said in a press release.
The club, which has been in business since 1898, is in southwestern London, just a short hop from the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which hosts the annual Wimbledon tennis championship.
“TPL's work will undoubtedly give all golfers a greater strategic challenge when they play Wimbledon Park,” said the club's general manager, “but the improvements will also enhance the aesthetics of the course and make it much more appealing to the eye.”
The work is expected to start later this year.
canada Sutton Creek Seeks for a Buyer
A bankruptcy trustee is trying to sell Sutton Creek Golf Club in Essex, Ontario.
The club went into receivership in late 2010. Its 18-hole, 6,900-yard golf course was designed by Robert Heaslip and opened in 1991.
A story in the Windsor Star suggests that Debbie Aliberti, the club's owner and general manager, hopes to get $3.6 million for her 169-acre property.
“We’ve had some considerable interest already,” the bankruptcy trustee told the Star, “all from individuals or groups interested in operating it as a golf course.”
Sutton Creek has been in a financial pinch for years. In 2010, in an attempt to attract members, Aliberti cut its initiation fee from $15,000 to $2,000.
“Like most clubs in the area, we are struggling financially and will for the next couple of years,” Aliberti said late last year.
Robert Thompson, a Canadian golf critic, says that Heaslip has designed “straight-forward, affordable golf courses throughout Canada” but is “not particularly adept at marketing” his talents.
Essex is a 30-minute drive south of Windsor.
ghana Improvements Planned at Achimota
Ghana's premier golf course is looking to spiff up its clubhouse, modernize its irrigation system, and build a better practice area.
Those are among the plans outlined by Rene L. Gameli-Kwame, the recently appointed captain of Achimota Golf Club. Gameli-Kwame, who attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to secure grants from the R&A, the United States Golf Association, and the Tiger Woods Foundation to help pay for the improvements.
The upgrades are designed to maintain the club's position in Ghana's golf hierarchy. The club hosted the first Ghana Open, in 1940, and numerous other major events since.
Achimota was established (with a seven-hole track) by a group of Scots in 1934. It was probably the fourth or fifth course to open in Accra, but it was the first that grew to 18 holes and the only one that survives today. Its second nine opened in 1970, extending the course to 6,445 yards.
Gameli-Kwame told Modern Ghana that he aims to recruit new members to Achimota “by providing a social atmosphere where good conduct, discipline, and mutual respect for all are promoted.”
scotland Trump: A Progress Report?
The fear and loathing of Donald Trump continues in Scotland.
The Scottish distaste for all things Trump manifested itself this week in a news account from the Daily Express, which contends that “the world’s greatest golf course,” as Trump once called it, won't open as scheduled in the summer of 2012.
As evidence, the newspaper claimed that “there is little sign of the major construction work needed to complete the £1 billion project” and posted some photos that it says “cast doubt on whether it will be finished in time.”
Worse, the paper published some critical comments made by none other than David Milne, who lives on property that Trump has been trying to buy for years and has steadfastly refused to sell. Milne is hardly an objective observer and no expert in golf construction, but the Daily Express nevertheless asked for his opinion on the progress Trump has made.
“There is a fair amount of work going on,” Milne acknowledged, “but it doesn’t seem to be at the speed I would expect it to be, considering the so-called investment that has gone into it.”
He added: “They seem to be having major issues with the whole thing.”
This is idle speculation if I ever heard it, and really shoddy journalism.
Naturally, the allegations put Trump on the defensive, forcing him to insist that he's “on target” to complete the golf course on time. He admitted that he hasn't yet begun work on the course's clubhouse, the hotel, and the 1,450 houses he plans to build, but he said that his construction crew is “installing irrigation systems,” “ready to plant our turf,” and “very much on schedule to open by July 1 next year.”
If the course doesn't open in July, you can be sure of one thing: The Scottish newspapers will be first with the story.
The members of Wimbledon Park Golf Club have selected Thomson Perrett & Lobb to give their 5,483-yard, parkland-style golf course a minor makeover.
TPL plans to rebuild and relocate the bunkers on the 18-hole, par-66 track. The upgrades will be overseen by Tim Lobb, who operates out of TPL's office in suburban London.
“Our plans are to review the current bunkering across the whole course and implement a design plan that will enhance the playing experience for members and guests,” Lobb said in a press release.
The club, which has been in business since 1898, is in southwestern London, just a short hop from the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which hosts the annual Wimbledon tennis championship.
“TPL's work will undoubtedly give all golfers a greater strategic challenge when they play Wimbledon Park,” said the club's general manager, “but the improvements will also enhance the aesthetics of the course and make it much more appealing to the eye.”
The work is expected to start later this year.
canada Sutton Creek Seeks for a Buyer
A bankruptcy trustee is trying to sell Sutton Creek Golf Club in Essex, Ontario.
The club went into receivership in late 2010. Its 18-hole, 6,900-yard golf course was designed by Robert Heaslip and opened in 1991.
A story in the Windsor Star suggests that Debbie Aliberti, the club's owner and general manager, hopes to get $3.6 million for her 169-acre property.
“We’ve had some considerable interest already,” the bankruptcy trustee told the Star, “all from individuals or groups interested in operating it as a golf course.”
Sutton Creek has been in a financial pinch for years. In 2010, in an attempt to attract members, Aliberti cut its initiation fee from $15,000 to $2,000.
“Like most clubs in the area, we are struggling financially and will for the next couple of years,” Aliberti said late last year.
Robert Thompson, a Canadian golf critic, says that Heaslip has designed “straight-forward, affordable golf courses throughout Canada” but is “not particularly adept at marketing” his talents.
Essex is a 30-minute drive south of Windsor.
ghana Improvements Planned at Achimota
Ghana's premier golf course is looking to spiff up its clubhouse, modernize its irrigation system, and build a better practice area.
Those are among the plans outlined by Rene L. Gameli-Kwame, the recently appointed captain of Achimota Golf Club. Gameli-Kwame, who attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to secure grants from the R&A, the United States Golf Association, and the Tiger Woods Foundation to help pay for the improvements.
The upgrades are designed to maintain the club's position in Ghana's golf hierarchy. The club hosted the first Ghana Open, in 1940, and numerous other major events since.
Achimota was established (with a seven-hole track) by a group of Scots in 1934. It was probably the fourth or fifth course to open in Accra, but it was the first that grew to 18 holes and the only one that survives today. Its second nine opened in 1970, extending the course to 6,445 yards.
Gameli-Kwame told Modern Ghana that he aims to recruit new members to Achimota “by providing a social atmosphere where good conduct, discipline, and mutual respect for all are promoted.”
scotland Trump: A Progress Report?
The fear and loathing of Donald Trump continues in Scotland.
The Scottish distaste for all things Trump manifested itself this week in a news account from the Daily Express, which contends that “the world’s greatest golf course,” as Trump once called it, won't open as scheduled in the summer of 2012.
As evidence, the newspaper claimed that “there is little sign of the major construction work needed to complete the £1 billion project” and posted some photos that it says “cast doubt on whether it will be finished in time.”
Worse, the paper published some critical comments made by none other than David Milne, who lives on property that Trump has been trying to buy for years and has steadfastly refused to sell. Milne is hardly an objective observer and no expert in golf construction, but the Daily Express nevertheless asked for his opinion on the progress Trump has made.
“There is a fair amount of work going on,” Milne acknowledged, “but it doesn’t seem to be at the speed I would expect it to be, considering the so-called investment that has gone into it.”
He added: “They seem to be having major issues with the whole thing.”
This is idle speculation if I ever heard it, and really shoddy journalism.
Naturally, the allegations put Trump on the defensive, forcing him to insist that he's “on target” to complete the golf course on time. He admitted that he hasn't yet begun work on the course's clubhouse, the hotel, and the 1,450 houses he plans to build, but he said that his construction crew is “installing irrigation systems,” “ready to plant our turf,” and “very much on schedule to open by July 1 next year.”
If the course doesn't open in July, you can be sure of one thing: The Scottish newspapers will be first with the story.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Shameless Self-Promotion, February 2011
Did you know that Eduardo “El Gato” Romero and Randy Thompson have agreed to co-design a golf course in suburban Buenos Aires? Or that a Harvard-educated economist is itching to build a ski resort in China's Tian Shan Mountains? Or that Robert Trent Jones, Jr. is designing a golf course in South Korea for an affiliate of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church?
Those are just three of the golf projects we profile in this month's World Edition of the Golf Course Report. The new issue hit the streets about two weeks ago. If recent experience is a reliable guide, some of February's stories will soon be spread all over cyberspace -- minus my byline, of course, and sometimes with the bylines of people who had nothing whatsoever to do with the researching, reporting, and writing that occupy so many hours of my time.
Yes, I'm talking about you, Jonny Lyman, you weasel. What gives you the right to put your name on my work?
February's World Edition also has news about two high-profile golf projects that are being resurrected: Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Anguilla and Forest Hills Golf & Country Club in suburban Moscow.
We also have stories about the Italian group that aims to build a golf course in Romania, the Swedish golf star who's co-designed a “sustainable” course in Austria, and a new course in St. Petersburg. (That would be Russia, not Florida.)
We also report on several new courses in China, a pair in Vietnam, and others in Poland, Scotland, Argentina, and Egypt, plus notable renovations in Australia and India.
If you'd like a copy of this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.
And if you're out there, Jonny Lyman, I'd love for you to give me a call. We have a lot to talk about.
Those are just three of the golf projects we profile in this month's World Edition of the Golf Course Report. The new issue hit the streets about two weeks ago. If recent experience is a reliable guide, some of February's stories will soon be spread all over cyberspace -- minus my byline, of course, and sometimes with the bylines of people who had nothing whatsoever to do with the researching, reporting, and writing that occupy so many hours of my time.
Yes, I'm talking about you, Jonny Lyman, you weasel. What gives you the right to put your name on my work?
February's World Edition also has news about two high-profile golf projects that are being resurrected: Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Anguilla and Forest Hills Golf & Country Club in suburban Moscow.
We also have stories about the Italian group that aims to build a golf course in Romania, the Swedish golf star who's co-designed a “sustainable” course in Austria, and a new course in St. Petersburg. (That would be Russia, not Florida.)
We also report on several new courses in China, a pair in Vietnam, and others in Poland, Scotland, Argentina, and Egypt, plus notable renovations in Australia and India.
If you'd like a copy of this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.
And if you're out there, Jonny Lyman, I'd love for you to give me a call. We have a lot to talk about.
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