In June’s Pellucid Perspective, Jim Koppenhaver weighs in on the economic health of the U.S. golf business. His conclusion: While the industry’s condition continues to deteriorate, it still has enough vim and vigor to avoid kicking the bucket anytime soon. “Lacking any change or catalyst to better align our sport to the changing consumer preferences as it relates to recreational time, difficulty, and expense,” Koppenhaver concludes, “golf will drift down to some natural support level and stabilize.” The key issue, of course, is where exactly that “natural support level” is, and Koppenhaver admits that he doesn’t know. It should be noted, however, that he believes the business will “drift down” to it, not rise up to it.
Discovery Land Company has set out to build what will likely be its eighth Tom Fazio-designed golf course, this one in Nevada. The 18-hole private track will be the centerpiece of a 555-acre community in Summerlin, a 22,500-acre spread outside Las Vegas. Howard Hughes Company, Summerlin’s developer, believes the to-be-named subdivision will provide “an unparalleled luxury living experience” and attract “discerning home buyers from all over the country.” Summerlin is already home to nine golf properties -- among them TPC Las Vegas, TPC Summerlin, and Bear’s Best Las Vegas -- but it appears that none of them feature the luxurious housing that DLC’s community will offer. “Nothing like this yet exists in Las Vegas,” DLC’s Michael Meldman said in a press release, “so we are particularly pleased to partner with the Howard Hughes Corporation in bringing this unparalleled resort-style living opportunity to the area.” DLC has built or purchased Fazio-designed courses in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Texas, Montana, Idaho, and North Carolina, and it hopes to build another one in New York.
Elected officials in suburban Liverpool, England are on the verge of revealing the identity of the “internationally renowned” developer they’ve chosen to build “an American-style golf course” in the shadow of Royal Liverpool Golf Club. The to-be-named group has agreed to create “an internationally acclaimed golf resort” that can stand shoulder to shoulder with venues such as the K Club in Ireland, Celtic Manor in Wales, and Gleneagles in Scotland. It'll take shape on 285 acres in Hoylake, and it’ll feature a “signature” golf course, a luxury hotel, meeting space, a spa, and some houses. A spokesperson for Wirral Council, which accepted proposals from the private sector last year, told the Wirral Globe that the contest’s winner must remain under wraps because “some details are still being worked.” The council expects to do the unveiling in late August or early September.
Some information in the preceding post first appeared in the November 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Integrity Golf Company has set its sights on buying a golf property it recently began operating in Greensboro, North Carolina. “We’re buyers of golf courses,” noted Gene Garrote, the company’s CEO, in a conversation with the Triad Business Journal. Specifically, Integrity is laying a foundation for the eventual purchase of Forest Oaks Country Club, once the home of the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. The club used to be private, but Integrity has opened it to public play in an effort to identify prospective future members. “The signups for membership have been very positive,” Garrote said. “We feel very positive about the future of the club.” Forest Oaks is currently owned by Tadashi Hattori’s Nisshin Corporation. Nisshin also owns Hunters Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, a property likewise managed by Integrity.
KemperSports has been hired to operate its first private club in New Jersey, Apple Ridge Country Club in Mahwah. The club, which opened in 1966, features an 18-hole golf course that was designed by Hal C. Purdy -- “one of the elite golf course architects of his time,” according to the press release that announced the contract. KemperSports has set out to increase the club’s membership by delivering “the best possible member experience.”
John Ashworth, the golf apparel manufacturer, has finally won the right to revitalize a decrepit, financially stressed golf course in Oceanside, California. Ashworth has agreed to invest at least $3.6 million into Center City Golf Course, an 18-hole, executive-length track known locally as Goat Hill. He’s enlisted Tom Doak to oversee the course’s makeover and add a six-hole layout for children. Ashworth’s Goat Hill Partners LLC, which has been negotiating with the city for two years, will begin operating the course next week. “It’s been a long time coming,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune, “and now the work starts.” The contract gives Ashworth just a two-year lease, but it includes options for 50 years worth of extensions.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Desolation Row, june 27, 2014
A 93-year-old golf course in Springfield, Ohio has reached the end of the line. In an attempt to balance its budget, the National Trail Parks & Recreation District has closed the 18-hole Snyder Park Golf Course. The move is expected to save the district roughly $357,000 this year. Now the district has to determine what to do with its 36-hole golf complex at Reid Memorial Park, which is also bleeding red ink.
Crooked Creek Golf Club, the 20-year-old centerpiece of a subdivision in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, is most likely in its final season as a going concern. Tony Withers, one of the course’s owners, told the Raleigh News & Observer that the 18-hole venue has become a financial drain and that a sale to a residential developer would enable the ownership to walk away with a small profit. “The game is not growing,” he said. “Juniors just don’t play, the old guys are aging out.” The land isn’t yet under contract, but the newspaper says that “plenty of land-hungry home builders [are] eager to pay top dollar to convert the course into residential lots.”
Developers in Bowmansville, New York aim to turn Harris Hill Golf Course into an apartment complex. “It should be a really nice development for that area,” Nicholas Cutaia told the Buffalo News. “It’ll really help improve the hamlet of Bowmansville.” Cutaia and his father have agreed to pay $1.95 million for the nine-hole, 26-acre course. They’re buying it from an LLC controlled by the wife of the late Ronald Surowick. The Cutaias plan to operate Harris Hill for the rest of the season, as they’ve determined that it’s “quite profitable.”
In Mansfield, Massachusetts, a developer has submitted plans to build 22 houses on property currently occupied by the nine-hole Willowdale Golf Course. Willowdale’s owner, Eleuterio Simonelli, declined to comment on the developer’s proposal, a sure sign that the course’s days are numbered.
The city of Elwood, Indiana wants to prevent Cattails Golf Club from reverting to farm land, but it won’t be easy. Since the course’s owners have already sold nine of the course’s 18 holes, the city needs to reach purchase agreements with two parties. But before it can begin negotiations, the city must annex the site, a process that requires an approval from more than half of the 50 property owners in the area. Needless to say, the effort to preserve Cattails will be a major undertaking for a small town, but Elwood’s mayor believes it’ll be worth the trouble. “A course is something potential businesses and homeowners look for,” he told the Anderson Herald Bulletin. “It's a part of the quality of life.”
Next week, an 89-year-old golf course in North Little Rock, Arkansas will host its final rounds. Emerald Park Golf Course, which is located adjacent to a Veterans Administration hospital, is slated to become housing for retired military veterans.
The clock appears to be ticking for an 18-hole, municipal golf facility in South Jordan, Utah. After receiving a discouraging report on the financial future of Mulligan’s Golf & Games, the city will likely sell the well-located, 67-acre property to a developer. The city claims that Mulligan’s has lost an average of $220,000 in each of the past five years, an amount that some local residents dispute.
Plum Tree National Golf Club, in Harvard, Illinois, failed to open this season and has presumably bitten the dust. The property featured a Joe Lee-designed course that opened in 1968. “The greens were not that easy. They had a lot of slope to them, in some cases too much slope,” a local golfer told the Rockford Register Star. “There were not very many simple, straight-forward holes.” Several newspapers have reported on the closing, but none seems to know the venue’s ultimate fate.
A family-owned, nine-hole golf course in Circle Pines, Minnesota will make way for 70 duplexes. Melanie Lundgren and her husband, Tom, have agreed to sell KateHaven Golf Course, a struggling executive-length track that’s been owned by Melanie’s family since it opened in 1981. “It wasn’t a difficult call, and I’m excited about this transition,” Melanie told the Anoka County Union Herald. “It’s been a tough road keeping it open the last 10 years.” Melanie and her husband will continue to operate their Shadow Ridge Driving Range in nearby Lino Lakes. “Unlike the golf course,” writes the Herald Record, “business has been great at the driving range.”
November 30, 2014: That’s when the doors close for good at Montgomery Village Golf Club, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Ed Ault-designed course has been on the endangered list for years, and its fate was sealed in early 2013, when it was sold to a local residential developer. Since then, its financial condition has further deteriorated. The Montgomery Gazette reports that the 147-acre layout, which opened in 1968, will be replaced by 600 houses.
The last good-byes have been said at a nine-hole track in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Marada Golf Course, which opened in 1972, occupies part of a 200-acre parcel that was purchased by the Maronda Foundation in 2008. The foundation hasn’t announced its plans for the property, but it’s an affiliate of Maronda Homes, Inc.
Crooked Creek Golf Club, the 20-year-old centerpiece of a subdivision in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, is most likely in its final season as a going concern. Tony Withers, one of the course’s owners, told the Raleigh News & Observer that the 18-hole venue has become a financial drain and that a sale to a residential developer would enable the ownership to walk away with a small profit. “The game is not growing,” he said. “Juniors just don’t play, the old guys are aging out.” The land isn’t yet under contract, but the newspaper says that “plenty of land-hungry home builders [are] eager to pay top dollar to convert the course into residential lots.”
Developers in Bowmansville, New York aim to turn Harris Hill Golf Course into an apartment complex. “It should be a really nice development for that area,” Nicholas Cutaia told the Buffalo News. “It’ll really help improve the hamlet of Bowmansville.” Cutaia and his father have agreed to pay $1.95 million for the nine-hole, 26-acre course. They’re buying it from an LLC controlled by the wife of the late Ronald Surowick. The Cutaias plan to operate Harris Hill for the rest of the season, as they’ve determined that it’s “quite profitable.”
In Mansfield, Massachusetts, a developer has submitted plans to build 22 houses on property currently occupied by the nine-hole Willowdale Golf Course. Willowdale’s owner, Eleuterio Simonelli, declined to comment on the developer’s proposal, a sure sign that the course’s days are numbered.
The city of Elwood, Indiana wants to prevent Cattails Golf Club from reverting to farm land, but it won’t be easy. Since the course’s owners have already sold nine of the course’s 18 holes, the city needs to reach purchase agreements with two parties. But before it can begin negotiations, the city must annex the site, a process that requires an approval from more than half of the 50 property owners in the area. Needless to say, the effort to preserve Cattails will be a major undertaking for a small town, but Elwood’s mayor believes it’ll be worth the trouble. “A course is something potential businesses and homeowners look for,” he told the Anderson Herald Bulletin. “It's a part of the quality of life.”
Next week, an 89-year-old golf course in North Little Rock, Arkansas will host its final rounds. Emerald Park Golf Course, which is located adjacent to a Veterans Administration hospital, is slated to become housing for retired military veterans.
The clock appears to be ticking for an 18-hole, municipal golf facility in South Jordan, Utah. After receiving a discouraging report on the financial future of Mulligan’s Golf & Games, the city will likely sell the well-located, 67-acre property to a developer. The city claims that Mulligan’s has lost an average of $220,000 in each of the past five years, an amount that some local residents dispute.
Plum Tree National Golf Club, in Harvard, Illinois, failed to open this season and has presumably bitten the dust. The property featured a Joe Lee-designed course that opened in 1968. “The greens were not that easy. They had a lot of slope to them, in some cases too much slope,” a local golfer told the Rockford Register Star. “There were not very many simple, straight-forward holes.” Several newspapers have reported on the closing, but none seems to know the venue’s ultimate fate.
A family-owned, nine-hole golf course in Circle Pines, Minnesota will make way for 70 duplexes. Melanie Lundgren and her husband, Tom, have agreed to sell KateHaven Golf Course, a struggling executive-length track that’s been owned by Melanie’s family since it opened in 1981. “It wasn’t a difficult call, and I’m excited about this transition,” Melanie told the Anoka County Union Herald. “It’s been a tough road keeping it open the last 10 years.” Melanie and her husband will continue to operate their Shadow Ridge Driving Range in nearby Lino Lakes. “Unlike the golf course,” writes the Herald Record, “business has been great at the driving range.”
November 30, 2014: That’s when the doors close for good at Montgomery Village Golf Club, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Ed Ault-designed course has been on the endangered list for years, and its fate was sealed in early 2013, when it was sold to a local residential developer. Since then, its financial condition has further deteriorated. The Montgomery Gazette reports that the 147-acre layout, which opened in 1968, will be replaced by 600 houses.
The last good-byes have been said at a nine-hole track in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Marada Golf Course, which opened in 1972, occupies part of a 200-acre parcel that was purchased by the Maronda Foundation in 2008. The foundation hasn’t announced its plans for the property, but it’s an affiliate of Maronda Homes, Inc.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
The Week That Was, june 22, 2014
The owners and operators of the nation’s golf properties are feeling optimistic and confident about their financial prospects for 2014, according to data collected by the National Golf & Resort Properties Group. “The golf industry believes that the worst appears to be over,” the group writes in the 2014 Golf Investor Sentiment Survey, adding that, barring any significant unforeseeable events, “the golf market will continue to improve gradually.” By an overwhelming margin (81 percent), respondents to the survey believe that “the golf industry will improve or remain the same this year,” while 90 percent believe that “golf course values will either increase or stay the same.” Overall, the survey gives the golf industry a score of 63.2, which means that “the majority of the investment community has a positive outlook for their golf assets and the entire industry over the next 12 months.” NGRP says that its survey, an attempt to track investor confidence and predict where the golf business is heading, will be an annual event.
Pity the poor 2014 U.S. Open. Without Tiger Woods, professional golf’s only true mega-star, tickets to the grounds at Pinehurst No. 2 could be purchased on the secondary market for only $106, on average, an amount that the Triangle Business Journal reports is “a whopping 61 percent less than last year,” when Woods was in the field at Merion. What’s worse, Martin Kaymer drained the event of its drama, and as a result Sunday’s television rating fell to a mere 3.3, close to half of the 2013 number. “Once again, the U.S. Open showed how much the game misses Woods,” Ed Sherman wrote in a post-mortem on the event. The PGA Tour always argues that it no longer needs Woods as much as it used to, but none of its so-called stars can move the needle like he does.
One and done: That’s Donald Trump’s golf-development strategy for the Middle East. Trump has s decided that the Gil Hanse-designed golf course he’s building in Dubai -- “a truly great course,” he thinks -- will be his only golf venue in the region. “I only do something if I can top it,” he told Arabian Business, “and I’m not going to be able to top this golf course in the Middle East.” That being said, Trump still has a hankering to build a hotel in the area, preferably in Dubai.
The largest and most famous resort in northern Greece is building a second golf course and firming up plans for a third. Porto Carras Grand Resort, which occupies more than 4,400 acres on the western coast of Sithonia, has been offering nine-hole rounds of golf since the mid 1970s. Now it’s growing because its current owner, a big construction company called Technical Olympic Group, wants to create “one of the top destinations for golf in Europe.” In the early 2000s, Technical Olympic extended the resort’s original track to 18 holes (it’s now called the Olive Grove course), and today a second 18-hole track, the Vineyard, is under construction. Next, the company plans to build a third 18 that will be designed by “a famous professional golfer,” so Porto Carras can have “the appropriate prestige” to attract high-profile professional events.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Russia has 4,500 golfers who support roughly 30 golf courses, according to the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper notes that metropolitan Moscow, home to two-thirds of the nation’s golf population (an estimated 3,000 golfers), has nine 18-hole tracks and at least three nine-hole layouts, all but two of them private.
In a move that may signal the end of his presidential ambitions, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife have joined Wilmington Country Club. In 2011, Golf Digest ranked Biden as the #29 golfer among the capital’s elected officials and revolving-door crowd, behind John Sununu (#23) but ahead of John Boehner (#43).
Pity the poor 2014 U.S. Open. Without Tiger Woods, professional golf’s only true mega-star, tickets to the grounds at Pinehurst No. 2 could be purchased on the secondary market for only $106, on average, an amount that the Triangle Business Journal reports is “a whopping 61 percent less than last year,” when Woods was in the field at Merion. What’s worse, Martin Kaymer drained the event of its drama, and as a result Sunday’s television rating fell to a mere 3.3, close to half of the 2013 number. “Once again, the U.S. Open showed how much the game misses Woods,” Ed Sherman wrote in a post-mortem on the event. The PGA Tour always argues that it no longer needs Woods as much as it used to, but none of its so-called stars can move the needle like he does.
One and done: That’s Donald Trump’s golf-development strategy for the Middle East. Trump has s decided that the Gil Hanse-designed golf course he’s building in Dubai -- “a truly great course,” he thinks -- will be his only golf venue in the region. “I only do something if I can top it,” he told Arabian Business, “and I’m not going to be able to top this golf course in the Middle East.” That being said, Trump still has a hankering to build a hotel in the area, preferably in Dubai.
The largest and most famous resort in northern Greece is building a second golf course and firming up plans for a third. Porto Carras Grand Resort, which occupies more than 4,400 acres on the western coast of Sithonia, has been offering nine-hole rounds of golf since the mid 1970s. Now it’s growing because its current owner, a big construction company called Technical Olympic Group, wants to create “one of the top destinations for golf in Europe.” In the early 2000s, Technical Olympic extended the resort’s original track to 18 holes (it’s now called the Olive Grove course), and today a second 18-hole track, the Vineyard, is under construction. Next, the company plans to build a third 18 that will be designed by “a famous professional golfer,” so Porto Carras can have “the appropriate prestige” to attract high-profile professional events.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Russia has 4,500 golfers who support roughly 30 golf courses, according to the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper notes that metropolitan Moscow, home to two-thirds of the nation’s golf population (an estimated 3,000 golfers), has nine 18-hole tracks and at least three nine-hole layouts, all but two of them private.
In a move that may signal the end of his presidential ambitions, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife have joined Wilmington Country Club. In 2011, Golf Digest ranked Biden as the #29 golfer among the capital’s elected officials and revolving-door crowd, behind John Sununu (#23) but ahead of John Boehner (#43).
Friday, June 20, 2014
Transactions, june 20, 2014
For the third time in the past year, Chinese investors have purchased a golf property on the Grand Strand. Shi Lin Zou and Chun Lan Li, a married couple from Nanjing, reportedly paid $1.5 million for Black Bear Golf Club, a 24-year-old venue outside Myrtle Beach. The club features an 18-hole, Tom Jackson-designed golf course. “We love the trees and vegetation and surroundings -- the blue sky and sunshine, the clear water,” Li told the Myrtle Beach Sun News through an interpreter. “It’s hard to see that in China.” Neither of the new owners plays golf, although they both plan to learn. They bought the 186-acre property from a local investment group led by Robbie Byers and Ed Jerdon of Classic Golf Group. In recent months, Chinese buyers have also acquired Crown Park Golf Club in Longs, South Carolina and Sea Trail Golf Resort in Sunset Beach, North Carolina.
Just weeks after an expected sale failed to materialize, a financially distressed private club in Monroe, Michigan has found new owners. Monroe Golf & Country Club, which features an 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed golf course, has been sold to an LLC led by Gary Campbell and Robert “R. J.” Regan. “We are really excited about the future here,” Campbell told the Monroe News. “We’re excited about the possibilities.” Campbell also owns Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing, Michigan. He hasn’t revealed what he paid for the club in Monroe, but the News has suggested that the 175-acre property was worth between $1 million and $1.5 million. In March, Monroe’s stockholders had agreed to sell the club to Allen DuPuy’s Commonwealth Golf Group, whose holdings include a Ross-designed course at LuLu Country Club in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A struggling golf property in Fairborn, Ohio has assumed a new identity. Earlier this year, Zachary Fink acquired Greene Country Club, which he now calls Gem City Golf Club. The club, established in 1958, features a Bill Diddel-designed golf course. “I felt like I got the club at a good price, and it has great potential to stay a private club and be a viable business,” Fink told the Dayton Business Journal. Fink, who’s set out to rebuild the club’s membership, also owns a miniature golf course in nearby Centerville and an 18-hole, par-3 track at Rollandia Golf Center in Dayton.
Blum Investment Group Golf LLC, an entity based in Arizona, has agreed to buy a semiprivate golf course in Shallotte, North Carolina. Blum hasn’t disclosed what it’ll pay for Brierwood Country Club, but the 160-acre property had been listed for $1.25 million. The transaction is expected to close next month. So far, Blum has been unwilling to discuss its plans for Brierwood, but a real estate agent involved in the sale told the Greater Wilmington Business Journal that the property would be maintained as a golf course. Brierwood, which the Journal describes as “one of Brunswick County’s oldest golf courses,” opened in the late 1960s.
A bank in Minnesota has sold a nine-hole, executive-length track in Dayton, reportedly for $2.6 million. French Lake Open Golf Course, which opened in 1985, was purchased by an entity called French Lake GC Partnership LLC, whose intentions are unknown. “It’s unclear what the new owner plans to do with the property,” writes the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The course had been owned by Mark and Debbie Regan, who presumably lost it to Premier Bank in Maplewood.
A golf pro from Alaska has acquired Prairie Falls Golf Course, an 18-hole track in Post Falls, Idaho. “I came down here in November, took a look at the golf course, and just kind of fell in love with it,” Billy Bomar told KXLY-TV. Prairie Falls features a Mark Rathert-designed layout that opened in 1998.
The city of Edinburg, Texas has paid $4.25 million for Ebony Hills Golf Course, a nine-hole track that dates from the late 1920s. The course occupies 60 acres owned by the city, which views the purchase as an opportunity to preserve open space. According to the Brownsville Herald, the course’s shareholders had been trying to sell their assets to the city for at least 16 years.
Fulfilling a dream he’s had since he was 13 years old, Paul Pawlowski has purchased Cedars Golf Course in Cutchogue, New York. “We plan to make some improvements, but we want to keep Cedars the gem that it is and as everyone knows it, affordable and unassuming,” he told the Riverhead News-Review. Pawlowski bought the nine-hole, 50-year-old track with Tim McManus. The seller was a group led by John Dennison.
An 18-hole golf course in greater Rochester, New York will celebrate its 50th anniversary by transitioning to farmland. In March, Lynn-Ette & Sons Farm paid an undisclosed price for Harbour Pointe Country Club, which opened in 1964 as Oak Orchard Country Club. “There has been a drop off in golf play,” said Joe Cardone, one of the sellers. “It’s also an indication of the economic times in Orleans County.” The Cardone family had owned the property, in the Town of Carlton, since 1981.
Just weeks after an expected sale failed to materialize, a financially distressed private club in Monroe, Michigan has found new owners. Monroe Golf & Country Club, which features an 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed golf course, has been sold to an LLC led by Gary Campbell and Robert “R. J.” Regan. “We are really excited about the future here,” Campbell told the Monroe News. “We’re excited about the possibilities.” Campbell also owns Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing, Michigan. He hasn’t revealed what he paid for the club in Monroe, but the News has suggested that the 175-acre property was worth between $1 million and $1.5 million. In March, Monroe’s stockholders had agreed to sell the club to Allen DuPuy’s Commonwealth Golf Group, whose holdings include a Ross-designed course at LuLu Country Club in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A struggling golf property in Fairborn, Ohio has assumed a new identity. Earlier this year, Zachary Fink acquired Greene Country Club, which he now calls Gem City Golf Club. The club, established in 1958, features a Bill Diddel-designed golf course. “I felt like I got the club at a good price, and it has great potential to stay a private club and be a viable business,” Fink told the Dayton Business Journal. Fink, who’s set out to rebuild the club’s membership, also owns a miniature golf course in nearby Centerville and an 18-hole, par-3 track at Rollandia Golf Center in Dayton.
Blum Investment Group Golf LLC, an entity based in Arizona, has agreed to buy a semiprivate golf course in Shallotte, North Carolina. Blum hasn’t disclosed what it’ll pay for Brierwood Country Club, but the 160-acre property had been listed for $1.25 million. The transaction is expected to close next month. So far, Blum has been unwilling to discuss its plans for Brierwood, but a real estate agent involved in the sale told the Greater Wilmington Business Journal that the property would be maintained as a golf course. Brierwood, which the Journal describes as “one of Brunswick County’s oldest golf courses,” opened in the late 1960s.
A bank in Minnesota has sold a nine-hole, executive-length track in Dayton, reportedly for $2.6 million. French Lake Open Golf Course, which opened in 1985, was purchased by an entity called French Lake GC Partnership LLC, whose intentions are unknown. “It’s unclear what the new owner plans to do with the property,” writes the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The course had been owned by Mark and Debbie Regan, who presumably lost it to Premier Bank in Maplewood.
A golf pro from Alaska has acquired Prairie Falls Golf Course, an 18-hole track in Post Falls, Idaho. “I came down here in November, took a look at the golf course, and just kind of fell in love with it,” Billy Bomar told KXLY-TV. Prairie Falls features a Mark Rathert-designed layout that opened in 1998.
The city of Edinburg, Texas has paid $4.25 million for Ebony Hills Golf Course, a nine-hole track that dates from the late 1920s. The course occupies 60 acres owned by the city, which views the purchase as an opportunity to preserve open space. According to the Brownsville Herald, the course’s shareholders had been trying to sell their assets to the city for at least 16 years.
Fulfilling a dream he’s had since he was 13 years old, Paul Pawlowski has purchased Cedars Golf Course in Cutchogue, New York. “We plan to make some improvements, but we want to keep Cedars the gem that it is and as everyone knows it, affordable and unassuming,” he told the Riverhead News-Review. Pawlowski bought the nine-hole, 50-year-old track with Tim McManus. The seller was a group led by John Dennison.
An 18-hole golf course in greater Rochester, New York will celebrate its 50th anniversary by transitioning to farmland. In March, Lynn-Ette & Sons Farm paid an undisclosed price for Harbour Pointe Country Club, which opened in 1964 as Oak Orchard Country Club. “There has been a drop off in golf play,” said Joe Cardone, one of the sellers. “It’s also an indication of the economic times in Orleans County.” The Cardone family had owned the property, in the Town of Carlton, since 1981.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
The Week That Was, june 15, 2014
The world of golf is showing big love for Phil Mickelson, as new evidence indicates that the popular PGA Tour star didn’t purchase any options in Clorox stock in the days leading up to Carl Ichan’s corporate raid on the company in 2011. A commentator for Golf Digest gleefully called a New York Times update on the government’s investigation “a virtual apology,” and reporters from ESPN and NBC allowed Mickelson to comment on the matter without asking any challenging follow-up questions.
But Mickelson isn’t out of the woods yet, and he knows it. The FBI and the SEC continue to investigate investments that he and Billy Walters made in Dean Foods in 2012, the timing of which provided Walters with a $15 million gain and Mickelson with nearly $1 million. And although charges are unlikely, neither Mickelson nor the sport of golf -- the most “honest” sport, it’s often said -- needs this kind of publicity.
Mickelson continues to profess his innocence, but to cover his bases he’s hired one of the nation’s most prominent high-stakes litigators, Gregory Craig of Skadden Arps, as one of his legal representatives. Craig has previously defended John Hinckley, Jr., Victor Posner, Richard Helms, and Goldman Sachs, among others, and he has close relationships with cabinet-level officials throughout the Obama administration, including the president himself.
Insider-trading cases being what they are, dark clouds could hover of Mickelson for months. By putting Craig on his payroll, Lefty is offering proof of how desperately he wants the government’s investigation to go away.
Footgolf, a sport that hardly anyone had heard of just a year ago, is taking off like wildfire. Last fall, according to the Washington Post, the American Footgolf League had just 35 courses. Today it has 144 courses in 31 states, and more are being added every week. Billy Casper Golf has begun to offer the game at some of the golf facilities it manages, and Ted Bishop, the president of the PGA of America, told the Post that the golf complex he owns in Indiana now attracts more footgolfers than traditional golfers. The bandwagon is about to pull out of the station. Are you aboard yet?
One of the two Jack Nicklaus “signature” courses in Ireland has new owners. Mount Juliet Resort, in County Kilkenny, has been sold to a group led by Emmet O’Neill and Brehon Capital Partners. Killeen Group Holdings reportedly accepted €15 million ($20.3 million) for Mount Juliet, a 1,500-acre property that includes an 86-room hotel, other overnight accommodations, and an equestrian center. The resort’s golf course, ranked #13 in the nation by Golf Digest, hosted the Irish Open three times in the mid 1990s. The Irish Times reports that “there was strong interest in the property” from both domestic and international investors. One of the final bidders was John Malone, a U.S. billionaire who owns a pair of hotels in Dublin and Humewood Castle in County Wicklow. Golf Digest ranks Nicklaus’ only other course in Ireland, Killeen Castle Golf Club in County Meath, at #16 nationally.
Before he agreed to operate New York City’s Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course, Donald Trump swung a hard-to-beat deal for himself. According to the New York Daily News, the forthcoming premium-priced layout in Ferry Point Park will pay a smaller cut of its greens fees than the city’s other courses, not to mention a smaller cut of the revenues it collects from its food and beverage operations, catering, merchandise sales, and the like. What’s more, Trump persuaded the city to pay for the course’s irrigation, an expense that will surely be considerable. The Daily News could barely contain its outrage, but why would anyone begrudge Trump for driving a hard bargain? The city really isn’t going to suffer from the concessions it made to Trump. It’s going to suffer when it comes time to negotiate with its other operators.
What They’re Saying About the PGA Tour: “The Tour is politically spineless,” Michael Bamberger of Sports Illustrated recently wrote. “It is without a soul. It bows to money above all and takes a stand on nothing. How about the gutless way for years the Tour allowed the Masters to be considered, in essence, a Tour event when in fact Augusta National did not meet the Tour’s own requirements regarding membership policies for clubs that host events? The Tour’s drug policy is rooted in cynicism, in perception, not a real desire to see the sport be clean. The Tour addresses race issues, to use an old phrase, with benign neglect. What has that ever accomplished?”
From the Department of Easy Money: Colin Montgomerie, the Scottish golf star, has agreed to become a “touring ambassador” for a pair of old-line golf clubs in New Jersey. For his fee, Monty will say nice things about the Forsgate and Shackamaxon country clubs and mingle with their members every now and then. Both properties are owned by affiliates of RDC Golf Group.
Despite countless hours of near wall-to-wall coverage by ESPN, NBC, the Golf Channel, and all manner of digital media, did even once anyone mention that not a single African-American golfer participated in this year’s U.S. Open? Not to my knowledge. Instead, it took a reporter from the Columbus Dispatch to point out that every one of the players who challenged for this year’s national golf championship was white. “It seems strange that there are no black players in the U.S. Open,” wrote Rob Oller. “We’re talking about 156 golfers, including dozens from foreign countries. Simple odds would suggest a black golfer would make the trip.” Golf’s leadership always insists that the sport is color-blind, a claim that’s easier to believe when Tiger Woods is in the field.
But Mickelson isn’t out of the woods yet, and he knows it. The FBI and the SEC continue to investigate investments that he and Billy Walters made in Dean Foods in 2012, the timing of which provided Walters with a $15 million gain and Mickelson with nearly $1 million. And although charges are unlikely, neither Mickelson nor the sport of golf -- the most “honest” sport, it’s often said -- needs this kind of publicity.
Mickelson continues to profess his innocence, but to cover his bases he’s hired one of the nation’s most prominent high-stakes litigators, Gregory Craig of Skadden Arps, as one of his legal representatives. Craig has previously defended John Hinckley, Jr., Victor Posner, Richard Helms, and Goldman Sachs, among others, and he has close relationships with cabinet-level officials throughout the Obama administration, including the president himself.
Insider-trading cases being what they are, dark clouds could hover of Mickelson for months. By putting Craig on his payroll, Lefty is offering proof of how desperately he wants the government’s investigation to go away.
Footgolf, a sport that hardly anyone had heard of just a year ago, is taking off like wildfire. Last fall, according to the Washington Post, the American Footgolf League had just 35 courses. Today it has 144 courses in 31 states, and more are being added every week. Billy Casper Golf has begun to offer the game at some of the golf facilities it manages, and Ted Bishop, the president of the PGA of America, told the Post that the golf complex he owns in Indiana now attracts more footgolfers than traditional golfers. The bandwagon is about to pull out of the station. Are you aboard yet?
One of the two Jack Nicklaus “signature” courses in Ireland has new owners. Mount Juliet Resort, in County Kilkenny, has been sold to a group led by Emmet O’Neill and Brehon Capital Partners. Killeen Group Holdings reportedly accepted €15 million ($20.3 million) for Mount Juliet, a 1,500-acre property that includes an 86-room hotel, other overnight accommodations, and an equestrian center. The resort’s golf course, ranked #13 in the nation by Golf Digest, hosted the Irish Open three times in the mid 1990s. The Irish Times reports that “there was strong interest in the property” from both domestic and international investors. One of the final bidders was John Malone, a U.S. billionaire who owns a pair of hotels in Dublin and Humewood Castle in County Wicklow. Golf Digest ranks Nicklaus’ only other course in Ireland, Killeen Castle Golf Club in County Meath, at #16 nationally.
Before he agreed to operate New York City’s Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course, Donald Trump swung a hard-to-beat deal for himself. According to the New York Daily News, the forthcoming premium-priced layout in Ferry Point Park will pay a smaller cut of its greens fees than the city’s other courses, not to mention a smaller cut of the revenues it collects from its food and beverage operations, catering, merchandise sales, and the like. What’s more, Trump persuaded the city to pay for the course’s irrigation, an expense that will surely be considerable. The Daily News could barely contain its outrage, but why would anyone begrudge Trump for driving a hard bargain? The city really isn’t going to suffer from the concessions it made to Trump. It’s going to suffer when it comes time to negotiate with its other operators.
What They’re Saying About the PGA Tour: “The Tour is politically spineless,” Michael Bamberger of Sports Illustrated recently wrote. “It is without a soul. It bows to money above all and takes a stand on nothing. How about the gutless way for years the Tour allowed the Masters to be considered, in essence, a Tour event when in fact Augusta National did not meet the Tour’s own requirements regarding membership policies for clubs that host events? The Tour’s drug policy is rooted in cynicism, in perception, not a real desire to see the sport be clean. The Tour addresses race issues, to use an old phrase, with benign neglect. What has that ever accomplished?”
From the Department of Easy Money: Colin Montgomerie, the Scottish golf star, has agreed to become a “touring ambassador” for a pair of old-line golf clubs in New Jersey. For his fee, Monty will say nice things about the Forsgate and Shackamaxon country clubs and mingle with their members every now and then. Both properties are owned by affiliates of RDC Golf Group.
Despite countless hours of near wall-to-wall coverage by ESPN, NBC, the Golf Channel, and all manner of digital media, did even once anyone mention that not a single African-American golfer participated in this year’s U.S. Open? Not to my knowledge. Instead, it took a reporter from the Columbus Dispatch to point out that every one of the players who challenged for this year’s national golf championship was white. “It seems strange that there are no black players in the U.S. Open,” wrote Rob Oller. “We’re talking about 156 golfers, including dozens from foreign countries. Simple odds would suggest a black golfer would make the trip.” Golf’s leadership always insists that the sport is color-blind, a claim that’s easier to believe when Tiger Woods is in the field.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
