I last posted about new course openings way back in January, so it's high time I did it again. Here are three projects worthy of note:
Russia. Sorochany Ski & Golf Resort has been angling to become a true four-season destination for years, and it’ll take a giant step forward in 2011, when its nine-hole, Howard Swan-designed golf course is scheduled to open. The 775-acre resort, located about 35 miles north of the Moscow’s Ring Road, offers the longest ski trails of any resort in the capital area (there are three others) but not much in the way of accommodations. To alleviate that problem, Sorochany aims to build several hundred villas and vacation units, a 240-room hotel, a spa, and a recreation center. It may also add nine holes to the golf course, as the property's original master plan called for an 18-hole track. In a press release issued last year, Swan said that the golf facility will introduce golf “to more than just the richest” and nurture “the country’s potential as a golfing nation.”
Panama. Cielo Paraiso opened the first nine holes of its Michael J. Poellot-designed golf course in 2009, and it was supposed to open the second and final nine in early 2011. The 750-acre gated community is taking shape in Boquette, in the highlands of western Panama, which is said to be emerging as a retirement enclave. Colleen Lal, the president of Gladstone Corporation, began developing Cielo Paraiso –- Spanish for “paradise in the sky” –- with her husband, Raideep, a decade ago. Raideep recently died of a heart attack, but Colleen plans finish the 147-house community on her own. Poellot, who has two other courses in the works in Panama, said in a press statement, “I sincerely believe that we have created one of the most visually stunning courses in all of Central/South America.” A spokesman for Gladstone says the course is “challenging, yet fun for golfers of all abilities and handicaps.”
Cambodia. Cambodia’s fifth golf course, the centerpiece of Grand Phnom Penh International City, is hoping to open its full 18-hole course this year. The 650-acre “new town” is being co-developed by Ciputra, an Indonesian firm, and YLP Group, a Cambodian company. At build-out, the partners expect to erect more than 4,000 houses, a hotel, office space, shopping areas, an “international-standard” school, and a “world-class” hospital. The community’s course, a product of Nicklaus Design, opened its first nine in April 2010. It’s the second course in the city of Phnom Penh (the other is Royal Cambodia Phnom Penh Golf Club), although there’s another (Cambodia Golf & Country Club) in a nearby suburb. There are also two courses in Siem Reap, Cambodia’s major tourist destination. An undated note on Grand Phnom Penh's Facebook page says that the developers “are currently doing our best to finish the golf course this year.” The community's “fancy driving Range and VIP restaurant” are open, though.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The Week That Was: May 29, 2011
australia Gary Player, Job-Hunter
Attention, developers in Australia: The “Black Knight” is looking for work.
This week, Gary Player officially joined the more than 200 U.S. golf architects, plus an equal number from around the world, who wish they could design a golf course Down Under.
“I have always wanted to design a course in Australia,” Player said in a press release published by Australian Senior Golfer and other “news” outlets. “I have been visiting and playing in Australia for nearly 60 years and absolutely love it. The people are fantastic, the land is incredibly diverse and I can’t wait to find a great project.”
What makes Player's quest different is that he's hired a local representative to dig up some work for him, as Jack Nicklaus has done in India.
Player's rep is Mike Orloff, who operates Golf Industry Central, a website that posts news, lists jobs, and promotes his management and marketing services. Orloff has worked for American Golf Corporation and ClubCorp, and he provides “operational advice for new and existing golfing facilities in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia in the areas of staff recruitment, membership attainment, membership retention, retail management, new player development, event management, and revenue-generation strategies.”
With so many talents, I'm surprised that he has time to take on additional work.
All kidding aside, it's curious that Player hasn't yet designed any courses in Australia, even if it is the world's smallest continent. For the record, he hasn't designed any in South America, either.
vietnam The More the Merrier
In an effort to feed a demand for golf that may never materialize, government officials are thinking about increasing the number of golf courses that can be built in Vietnam.
According to a report from a Vietnamese news service, Vietnam currently has 24 operating golf properties and 25 others under construction. The government has capped the number at 85 or 90, depending on which source you believe, which means that the nation is more than halfway to a goal it isn't supposed to reach for another decade.
So, before the courses in the pipeline are even close to being absorbed, growth-minded interests are petitioning the government to super-size the nation's development plan. Here's a quick breakdown of the three alternative proposals that have been offered by the nation's ministry of planning and investment:
Plan One maintains the same number of courses that the government approved in 2009, except that it substitutes five new projects for five that have flat-lined.
Plan Two boosts the number of courses to 96, presumably with allowances for dead projects.
Plan Three adds roughly 30 courses to the number already approved, increasing the nation's inventory of golf properties to around 120 by 2020.
Needless to say, the ministry favors Plan Three.
Its argument: With 120 courses, Vietnam would be on par with nations that it competes against for tourism dollars, namely Thailand (256 courses), Malaysia (230), Indonesia (152), and the Philippines (100). What's more, the ministers say, officials in tourist-friendly provinces -- among them, Thanh Hoa, Thai Nguyen, Dak Lak, and Quang Ninh -- are being besieged by development groups eager to build golf courses.
What's important to remember, of course, is that Vietnam has only about 5,000 home-grown golfers. If developers wish to build high-priced golf courses in the nation's emerging tourist traps, I sure hope they also have a plan that's guaranteed to bring world travelers to them.
worth reading Feeling the Earth Move
John Fought, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based golf architect, has opinions about his contemporaries and wasn't reluctant to share them with Tony Dear, a British writer who posts at The Bellingham Golfer.
Fought likes Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw best, Dear wrote in a recent profile, and believes that Keith Foster is highly underrated and John Harbottle deserves more recognition. He also likes a lot of what Tom Doak and David McLay Kidd are doing, but says the contours of their greens are sometimes a little over the top.
Fought has designed some well-regarded courses, among them Sand Hollow Golf Club in Hurricane, Utah (the state's top-rated course), Washington National Golf Club in suburban Seattle, Washington, and Big Sky Golf & Country Club in Pemberton, British Columbia.
He contends that the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s -- a time when course designers spent too much money and moved too much earth -- will be remembered, in Dear's words, as “the worst period in the history of golf course architecture.”
It was unbelievable how much dirt designers felt compelled to move, Fought told Dear. They'd basically design the holes back in their office, then come out to the site, where they would move however much earth it took to build their holes.
In fact, Fought believes, some of the biggest names in the business are still moving too much dirt.
There are still some huge land-movers out there -- Rees Jones, Tom Fazio and Jack Nicklaus, to name three. I looked at the site for the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain courses in Marana, Arizona. I thought it had just the right amount of movement and undulation to make a fun and interesting course. But when Jack came in, he said the place was basically too flat to make a good course and said he'd have to move a lot of earth. The hotel management wanted Jack to use my plans, but you can't tell Jack what to do.
Fought is also disappointed by the design changes that have been made at Augusta National Golf Club in recent years -- modifications that he says have “sterilized” the storied course.
Augusta National is very important, and I love everything about the Masters. But I just wish the course was a bit more authentic, a bit more [Alister] MacKenzie. People don't realize how much Robert Trent Jones is in there. And now there's a lot of Tom Fazio, too. . . .
I understand why the club lengthened the course. They had to. But it would look so cool if a few of the edges were allowed to grow a little rougher.
Attention, developers in Australia: The “Black Knight” is looking for work.
This week, Gary Player officially joined the more than 200 U.S. golf architects, plus an equal number from around the world, who wish they could design a golf course Down Under.
“I have always wanted to design a course in Australia,” Player said in a press release published by Australian Senior Golfer and other “news” outlets. “I have been visiting and playing in Australia for nearly 60 years and absolutely love it. The people are fantastic, the land is incredibly diverse and I can’t wait to find a great project.”
What makes Player's quest different is that he's hired a local representative to dig up some work for him, as Jack Nicklaus has done in India.
Player's rep is Mike Orloff, who operates Golf Industry Central, a website that posts news, lists jobs, and promotes his management and marketing services. Orloff has worked for American Golf Corporation and ClubCorp, and he provides “operational advice for new and existing golfing facilities in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia in the areas of staff recruitment, membership attainment, membership retention, retail management, new player development, event management, and revenue-generation strategies.”
With so many talents, I'm surprised that he has time to take on additional work.
All kidding aside, it's curious that Player hasn't yet designed any courses in Australia, even if it is the world's smallest continent. For the record, he hasn't designed any in South America, either.
vietnam The More the Merrier
In an effort to feed a demand for golf that may never materialize, government officials are thinking about increasing the number of golf courses that can be built in Vietnam.
According to a report from a Vietnamese news service, Vietnam currently has 24 operating golf properties and 25 others under construction. The government has capped the number at 85 or 90, depending on which source you believe, which means that the nation is more than halfway to a goal it isn't supposed to reach for another decade.
So, before the courses in the pipeline are even close to being absorbed, growth-minded interests are petitioning the government to super-size the nation's development plan. Here's a quick breakdown of the three alternative proposals that have been offered by the nation's ministry of planning and investment:
Plan One maintains the same number of courses that the government approved in 2009, except that it substitutes five new projects for five that have flat-lined.
Plan Two boosts the number of courses to 96, presumably with allowances for dead projects.
Plan Three adds roughly 30 courses to the number already approved, increasing the nation's inventory of golf properties to around 120 by 2020.
Needless to say, the ministry favors Plan Three.
Its argument: With 120 courses, Vietnam would be on par with nations that it competes against for tourism dollars, namely Thailand (256 courses), Malaysia (230), Indonesia (152), and the Philippines (100). What's more, the ministers say, officials in tourist-friendly provinces -- among them, Thanh Hoa, Thai Nguyen, Dak Lak, and Quang Ninh -- are being besieged by development groups eager to build golf courses.
What's important to remember, of course, is that Vietnam has only about 5,000 home-grown golfers. If developers wish to build high-priced golf courses in the nation's emerging tourist traps, I sure hope they also have a plan that's guaranteed to bring world travelers to them.
worth reading Feeling the Earth Move
John Fought, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based golf architect, has opinions about his contemporaries and wasn't reluctant to share them with Tony Dear, a British writer who posts at The Bellingham Golfer.
Fought likes Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw best, Dear wrote in a recent profile, and believes that Keith Foster is highly underrated and John Harbottle deserves more recognition. He also likes a lot of what Tom Doak and David McLay Kidd are doing, but says the contours of their greens are sometimes a little over the top.
Fought has designed some well-regarded courses, among them Sand Hollow Golf Club in Hurricane, Utah (the state's top-rated course), Washington National Golf Club in suburban Seattle, Washington, and Big Sky Golf & Country Club in Pemberton, British Columbia.
He contends that the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s -- a time when course designers spent too much money and moved too much earth -- will be remembered, in Dear's words, as “the worst period in the history of golf course architecture.”
It was unbelievable how much dirt designers felt compelled to move, Fought told Dear. They'd basically design the holes back in their office, then come out to the site, where they would move however much earth it took to build their holes.
In fact, Fought believes, some of the biggest names in the business are still moving too much dirt.
There are still some huge land-movers out there -- Rees Jones, Tom Fazio and Jack Nicklaus, to name three. I looked at the site for the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain courses in Marana, Arizona. I thought it had just the right amount of movement and undulation to make a fun and interesting course. But when Jack came in, he said the place was basically too flat to make a good course and said he'd have to move a lot of earth. The hotel management wanted Jack to use my plans, but you can't tell Jack what to do.
Fought is also disappointed by the design changes that have been made at Augusta National Golf Club in recent years -- modifications that he says have “sterilized” the storied course.
Augusta National is very important, and I love everything about the Masters. But I just wish the course was a bit more authentic, a bit more [Alister] MacKenzie. People don't realize how much Robert Trent Jones is in there. And now there's a lot of Tom Fazio, too. . . .
I understand why the club lengthened the course. They had to. But it would look so cool if a few of the edges were allowed to grow a little rougher.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
talking points KPMG Feels Golf's Pain
The researchers at KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice have published their latest misery index, this one focusing on the financial performance of golf properties in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa during 2010. The bottom line: While dark clouds still hover over much of the golf business in those areas, the forecast calls for brighter days ahead.
To be sure, about 45 percent of the 350 course owners and operators who responded to KPMG’s survey, conducted in early 2011, reported a decline in revenues and the number of rounds played at their facilities. No surprise there. But this isn’t particularly bad news, since it presumably indicates that the remaining facilities were either flat or up during the year.
And yes, though golf facilities in some places remain stuck in financial mud -– in particular, those in Great Britain, Ireland, and the nations of Eastern Europe -– those in Central Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa posted encouraging results.
As for the respondents’ predictions about the future, they mostly reflect past performance. For example, more than half of the respondents in Great Britain, Ireland, and South Africa, where times were especially tough in 2010, don’t expect a recovery to kick in until 2013 or later. (Yikes!) Overall, however, only 10 percent of the respondents believe 2011 will be worse than 2010, and 58 percent believe this year will be at least a little better than last year.
All in all, the impression we take from KPMG’s latest survey is that 2010 was at worst a wash and that 2011 could end up being golf’s bounce-back year. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
To read the survey, go to GolfBenchmark.com.
To be sure, about 45 percent of the 350 course owners and operators who responded to KPMG’s survey, conducted in early 2011, reported a decline in revenues and the number of rounds played at their facilities. No surprise there. But this isn’t particularly bad news, since it presumably indicates that the remaining facilities were either flat or up during the year.
And yes, though golf facilities in some places remain stuck in financial mud -– in particular, those in Great Britain, Ireland, and the nations of Eastern Europe -– those in Central Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa posted encouraging results.
As for the respondents’ predictions about the future, they mostly reflect past performance. For example, more than half of the respondents in Great Britain, Ireland, and South Africa, where times were especially tough in 2010, don’t expect a recovery to kick in until 2013 or later. (Yikes!) Overall, however, only 10 percent of the respondents believe 2011 will be worse than 2010, and 58 percent believe this year will be at least a little better than last year.
All in all, the impression we take from KPMG’s latest survey is that 2010 was at worst a wash and that 2011 could end up being golf’s bounce-back year. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
To read the survey, go to GolfBenchmark.com.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
mexico Diamante: Living the Dream
The glow is on Diamante Cabo San Lucas, because Golf magazine said the resort community’s links-inspired, Davis Love III-designed Dunes layout was “the best course to open outside the U.S. in 2010.”
The award got me to thinking about Diamante’s Oasis course, a bigger-budget track that’s part of the 1,500-acre community’s master plan. Greg Carrafiello, who oversees the resort’s development, says that Phil Mickelson “is anticipated to be” the designer of the course, which will be “more lush, with more water” than its predecessor. Carrafiello reports that Diamante’s developer, Legacy Properties LLC, hopes to break ground on the track in 2012.
Don't bet your house on it. But the optimist in me is wondering if this could be a signal that Diamante is turning a corner.
The resort, like so many others, has been struggling in recent years. As best I can determine, it’s still trying to sell out the first phase of its housing (about 200 lots and villas), and most of its construction plans have been delayed.
On top of that, the image of Legacy’s president, Ken Jowdy, has been stained by a lawsuit filed in 2009 by some former National Hockey League players who invested in Diamante. In the lawsuit, the players accused Jowdy of blowing their money (said to be $25 million) because he “failed to execute even the most fundamental elements of a business or development plan” and spent foolishly on things like “gratuitous extravagant private air travel,” “luxury home rentals,” and “unlimited food and beverage expenses.”
Jowdy, who’s counter-sued, says that the allegations were fabricated by a former partner in an attempt to get control of Diamante and his other real estate holdings. Those holdings, incidentally, include Boot Ranch Golf Club in Fredericksburg, Texas (Jowdy co-owns it with Hal Sutton) and almost 10,000 acres of land (including four miles of oceanfront) in El Rosario, a town that’s about 800 miles up the Pacific coast from Cabo San Lucas.
Diamante, which is patrolled by what it calls “FBI-trained security guards,” eventually plans to build more houses, a village center, a clubhouse for the Dunes course, a beach club, an equestrian center, a “world-class” spa, and other attractions.
Nowhere does it say when. I hope it's sooner rather than later.
If you're wondering, Mickelson has so far written his “signature” on just one course, at Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale. The architectural heavy lifting was done by Gary Stephenson, a designer based in Celina, Texas.
The award got me to thinking about Diamante’s Oasis course, a bigger-budget track that’s part of the 1,500-acre community’s master plan. Greg Carrafiello, who oversees the resort’s development, says that Phil Mickelson “is anticipated to be” the designer of the course, which will be “more lush, with more water” than its predecessor. Carrafiello reports that Diamante’s developer, Legacy Properties LLC, hopes to break ground on the track in 2012.
Don't bet your house on it. But the optimist in me is wondering if this could be a signal that Diamante is turning a corner.
The resort, like so many others, has been struggling in recent years. As best I can determine, it’s still trying to sell out the first phase of its housing (about 200 lots and villas), and most of its construction plans have been delayed.
On top of that, the image of Legacy’s president, Ken Jowdy, has been stained by a lawsuit filed in 2009 by some former National Hockey League players who invested in Diamante. In the lawsuit, the players accused Jowdy of blowing their money (said to be $25 million) because he “failed to execute even the most fundamental elements of a business or development plan” and spent foolishly on things like “gratuitous extravagant private air travel,” “luxury home rentals,” and “unlimited food and beverage expenses.”
Jowdy, who’s counter-sued, says that the allegations were fabricated by a former partner in an attempt to get control of Diamante and his other real estate holdings. Those holdings, incidentally, include Boot Ranch Golf Club in Fredericksburg, Texas (Jowdy co-owns it with Hal Sutton) and almost 10,000 acres of land (including four miles of oceanfront) in El Rosario, a town that’s about 800 miles up the Pacific coast from Cabo San Lucas.
Diamante, which is patrolled by what it calls “FBI-trained security guards,” eventually plans to build more houses, a village center, a clubhouse for the Dunes course, a beach club, an equestrian center, a “world-class” spa, and other attractions.
Nowhere does it say when. I hope it's sooner rather than later.
If you're wondering, Mickelson has so far written his “signature” on just one course, at Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale. The architectural heavy lifting was done by Gary Stephenson, a designer based in Celina, Texas.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
The Week That Was: May 22, 2011
ryder cup A French Toast
In a decision that I believe will ultimately be very good for golf, France has been awarded the 2018 Ryder Cup.
“In modern golf, this is just like second to none,” said Thomas Levet, a French touring pro, upon hearing the news. “It's crazy, the craziest moment in French golf -- like getting the Olympics.”
I’m not one of those people who love Paris in the springtime, but I was thrilled to hear that the matches would be played in France. As I noted in a recent blog, France’s Ryder Cup bid offers the world of golf something potentially great, something with broad, long-lasting value: a promise to build 100 driving ranges and “short” courses (six- and nine-hole tracks) in cities across the nation, in an effort to broaden golf’s appeal beyond its traditional white, male, middle-class base.
So I’m joining Colin Montgomerie in raising a toast to the decision.
“We must look forward into a new era,” Montgomerie told a British newspaper before the decision was made. “There are two mega-cities in Europe, London and Paris, and the Ryder Cup has got to this stage, this size now, that we can have economic success through it. With London not being involved, Paris is next, so it’s right it should go to France.”
The matches will be played just a short drive from the capital, at Le Golf National’s “stadium”-style Albatross course. The track is considered to be one of Europe’s finest championship venues -- it’s hosted 18 of the last 20 French Open championships -- and it’s well-liked by touring pros. What’s more, the club’s owner, the Federation Francaise de Golf, has set aside more than $8.5 million to make the property an ideal Ryder Cup host.
According to a report from ESPN, Spain probably finished second in the competition. Germany, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the also-rans.
ryder cup The Next French Revolution?
What I like most and best about France’s winning bid is that it doesn’t merely pay lip-service to the idea of “growing the game.”
France currently has about 410,000 registered golfers. By building 100 practice centers and “short” courses, and by tapping into the Ryder Cup’s promotional value, the nation believes it can increase the number to 700,000 by 2020.
In other words, the 2018 Ryder Cup has the potential to create generations of new golfers in a nation capable of changing hearts and minds. If that happens, it would truly be a transformative event.
But I’m thinking bigger. Could France’s commitment to player development spread to other nations? Could it change the world of golf?
Call me naive, but I think opinion-makers all over the planet are going to take a close look at France’s development plan. In fact, it’s already happening.
Here’s part of a column written last week by Lorne Rubenstein, a long-time contributor to the sports pages of Toronto’s Globe and Mail:
The real news -- or at least the most surprising -- was the promise that the French delegation made to build 100 six- and nine-hole courses in France by the time of the Ryder Cup. The vow to bring golf to the masses, particularly new golfers and kids, is part of any European country’s bid for the Ryder Cup these days. It has to be.
“They will be close to the cities and less time-consuming,” Pascal Grizot, the chairman of the French bid, said. “I think they will be the real legacy of 2018.” . . .
Canada could use 100 six- and nine-hole courses to bring more kids into the game, and it’s a much bigger country than France. It could probably use more than that number of developmental courses.
Would Canadian golfers get behind such a program?
I was in New York City last week, and I walked and walked and walked. Great cities invite walking. One afternoon I stopped beside a field in Harlem. Kids in uniforms were having a great time. They were playing soccer, which, admittedly, requires less space than a golf course, even one of six or nine holes. But I thought, this is the future: Kids playing soccer.
But I also I wondered why we don’t have small playing fields for golf in Canada.
Three holes, six holes, nine holes. The amount doesn’t matter. Golf Canada and the Canadian PGA have their impressive National Golf in Schools program, but we need another type of program. Call it Golf in Fields.
Meanwhile, I hope the French Golf Federation follows through on its promise to build 100 small courses. It’s quite a promise. It’s quite a task. If it happens, it will be quite an achievement.
ryder cup And What About the Losing Bidders?
If the European PGA Tour’s award had gone to Portugal, Spain, or Germany, the competition in 2018 would have been held on to-be-built courses designed specifically to host a Ryder Cup. If the Netherlands had won, the matches would have been played on a soon-to-be completed course that would certainly be suitable for the event.
Now that those bids have been dismissed, however, what becomes of the construction plans?
Only one course will definitely open: the Colin Montgomerie “signature” track at the Dutch, in suburban Amsterdam. The course, which was co-designed by Ross McMurray of European Golf Design, has reportedly been seeded and will make its debut later this year.
Still to be determined is the fate of the Dutch’s planned second course, a Sam Torrance “signature” layout that will likewise be co-designed by McMurray. Without the boost in membership sales that a Ryder Cup can bring, the addition may not immediately pencil out.
The course most at risk, at least in the near term, is the Tom Fazio-designed (and McMurray co-designed) layout at Herdade da Comporta, a huge resort community that’s to take shape along the Alentejo coast, about an hour’s drive south of Lisbon. Despite Fazio’s high profile -- he’s by far the best-known architect in the Ryder Cup mix -- Espirito Santo Group has so far committed to build just one course at Herdade da Comporta, a David McLay Kidd-designed layout that’s expected to open in 2013.
The prospects in Spain and Germany aren’t much more encouraging. Most likely, those nations don’t feel as much urgency as they did earlier this year.
The Royal Spanish Golf Federation and some private-sector partners, for example, planned to build a Robin Hiseman-designed “stadium” course at Tres Cantos in suburban Madrid. Without a world-class event in hand, however, Spain may no longer believe it’s necessary to build a track with viewing areas for thousands of spectators.
The federation had also planned to build a second 18-hole course at Tres Cantos, one suited to amateurs. But considering the state of Spain’s economy, it may not be viable, either.
Of all the also-rans, Germany’s proposed venue in suburban Munich could have the most life. For starters, the Audi course, as it’s known, has some big money behind it, in the form of Audi, the car manufacturer, and Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds, a big investment firm. On top of that, Germany’s economy is improving, and its golf market is under-served.
But are those advantages enough to give the Audi a green light?
In a decision that I believe will ultimately be very good for golf, France has been awarded the 2018 Ryder Cup.
“In modern golf, this is just like second to none,” said Thomas Levet, a French touring pro, upon hearing the news. “It's crazy, the craziest moment in French golf -- like getting the Olympics.”
I’m not one of those people who love Paris in the springtime, but I was thrilled to hear that the matches would be played in France. As I noted in a recent blog, France’s Ryder Cup bid offers the world of golf something potentially great, something with broad, long-lasting value: a promise to build 100 driving ranges and “short” courses (six- and nine-hole tracks) in cities across the nation, in an effort to broaden golf’s appeal beyond its traditional white, male, middle-class base.
So I’m joining Colin Montgomerie in raising a toast to the decision.
“We must look forward into a new era,” Montgomerie told a British newspaper before the decision was made. “There are two mega-cities in Europe, London and Paris, and the Ryder Cup has got to this stage, this size now, that we can have economic success through it. With London not being involved, Paris is next, so it’s right it should go to France.”
The matches will be played just a short drive from the capital, at Le Golf National’s “stadium”-style Albatross course. The track is considered to be one of Europe’s finest championship venues -- it’s hosted 18 of the last 20 French Open championships -- and it’s well-liked by touring pros. What’s more, the club’s owner, the Federation Francaise de Golf, has set aside more than $8.5 million to make the property an ideal Ryder Cup host.
According to a report from ESPN, Spain probably finished second in the competition. Germany, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the also-rans.
ryder cup The Next French Revolution?
What I like most and best about France’s winning bid is that it doesn’t merely pay lip-service to the idea of “growing the game.”
France currently has about 410,000 registered golfers. By building 100 practice centers and “short” courses, and by tapping into the Ryder Cup’s promotional value, the nation believes it can increase the number to 700,000 by 2020.
In other words, the 2018 Ryder Cup has the potential to create generations of new golfers in a nation capable of changing hearts and minds. If that happens, it would truly be a transformative event.
But I’m thinking bigger. Could France’s commitment to player development spread to other nations? Could it change the world of golf?
Call me naive, but I think opinion-makers all over the planet are going to take a close look at France’s development plan. In fact, it’s already happening.
Here’s part of a column written last week by Lorne Rubenstein, a long-time contributor to the sports pages of Toronto’s Globe and Mail:
The real news -- or at least the most surprising -- was the promise that the French delegation made to build 100 six- and nine-hole courses in France by the time of the Ryder Cup. The vow to bring golf to the masses, particularly new golfers and kids, is part of any European country’s bid for the Ryder Cup these days. It has to be.
“They will be close to the cities and less time-consuming,” Pascal Grizot, the chairman of the French bid, said. “I think they will be the real legacy of 2018.” . . .
Canada could use 100 six- and nine-hole courses to bring more kids into the game, and it’s a much bigger country than France. It could probably use more than that number of developmental courses.
Would Canadian golfers get behind such a program?
I was in New York City last week, and I walked and walked and walked. Great cities invite walking. One afternoon I stopped beside a field in Harlem. Kids in uniforms were having a great time. They were playing soccer, which, admittedly, requires less space than a golf course, even one of six or nine holes. But I thought, this is the future: Kids playing soccer.
But I also I wondered why we don’t have small playing fields for golf in Canada.
Three holes, six holes, nine holes. The amount doesn’t matter. Golf Canada and the Canadian PGA have their impressive National Golf in Schools program, but we need another type of program. Call it Golf in Fields.
Meanwhile, I hope the French Golf Federation follows through on its promise to build 100 small courses. It’s quite a promise. It’s quite a task. If it happens, it will be quite an achievement.
ryder cup And What About the Losing Bidders?
If the European PGA Tour’s award had gone to Portugal, Spain, or Germany, the competition in 2018 would have been held on to-be-built courses designed specifically to host a Ryder Cup. If the Netherlands had won, the matches would have been played on a soon-to-be completed course that would certainly be suitable for the event.
Now that those bids have been dismissed, however, what becomes of the construction plans?
Only one course will definitely open: the Colin Montgomerie “signature” track at the Dutch, in suburban Amsterdam. The course, which was co-designed by Ross McMurray of European Golf Design, has reportedly been seeded and will make its debut later this year.
Still to be determined is the fate of the Dutch’s planned second course, a Sam Torrance “signature” layout that will likewise be co-designed by McMurray. Without the boost in membership sales that a Ryder Cup can bring, the addition may not immediately pencil out.
The course most at risk, at least in the near term, is the Tom Fazio-designed (and McMurray co-designed) layout at Herdade da Comporta, a huge resort community that’s to take shape along the Alentejo coast, about an hour’s drive south of Lisbon. Despite Fazio’s high profile -- he’s by far the best-known architect in the Ryder Cup mix -- Espirito Santo Group has so far committed to build just one course at Herdade da Comporta, a David McLay Kidd-designed layout that’s expected to open in 2013.
The prospects in Spain and Germany aren’t much more encouraging. Most likely, those nations don’t feel as much urgency as they did earlier this year.
The Royal Spanish Golf Federation and some private-sector partners, for example, planned to build a Robin Hiseman-designed “stadium” course at Tres Cantos in suburban Madrid. Without a world-class event in hand, however, Spain may no longer believe it’s necessary to build a track with viewing areas for thousands of spectators.
The federation had also planned to build a second 18-hole course at Tres Cantos, one suited to amateurs. But considering the state of Spain’s economy, it may not be viable, either.
Of all the also-rans, Germany’s proposed venue in suburban Munich could have the most life. For starters, the Audi course, as it’s known, has some big money behind it, in the form of Audi, the car manufacturer, and Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds, a big investment firm. On top of that, Germany’s economy is improving, and its golf market is under-served.
But are those advantages enough to give the Audi a green light?
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