Will golfers in the Land O'Lakes region of southern Ontario soon be singing “Hooray for Hollywood”? Can a golf community and a former munitions depot in northern England co-exist peacefully? And what do India's largest convention center and a company in North Carolina have in common?
Those are among the questions we answer in this month's World Edition of the Golf Course Report, still the first and only publication dedicated exclusively to reporting on golf development and construction all over the planet.
April's issue is really jam-packed with stories. We report on the upcoming relocation of Horton Park Golf Club in Queensland, Australia, the remaking of Schloss Moyland Golf Resort in Germany, and the Spanish developer that aims to build a pair of golf communities in Andalusia. We unveil new courses in Holland, in suburban Vancouver, in Sri Lanka, and in suburban Manila, and we've got the scoop on Rees Jones' second golf project in China.
Speaking of China, we've also got an update on Tom Doak's twin projects on Hainan Island, along with news of a 36-hole complex recently announced by China Golf Group.
And we profile two new golf courses in Romania: one that will be part of a four-season resort community planned to grow around a historic castle, the other being developed by the owner of the nation's largest chain of do-it-yourself stores.
There's more, but I'm sure you get the idea: We cover it all.
If you'd like to see this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
russia Forrest Service
Earlier this year Steve Forrest was in Morocco, checking on the progress of the 18-hole golf course he’s designed for the Chrifia resort community in Marrakesh. He's also planning a trip to Russia, as he has an 18-hole course in St. Petersburg that could break ground this spring.
Forrest isn't willing to discuss new the course, but he did mention that this summer he expects to resume construction on Forest Hills Golf & Country Club in suburban Moscow. Work on the club’s 7,300-yard course began several years ago (12 holes were completed) but was suspended when its developer, Oleg Kustikov of Protcion Company, got into a financial pinch.
Forrest, a principal of Toledo, Ohio-based Arthur Hills & Associates, reports that “a new investor with money” has given the project life. We don’t know exactly what the new investor has in mind, but Kustikov, who owned 550 acres, had planned to build vacation houses and a five-star hotel adjacent to the course.
Forrest hopes to open his 7,000-yard course at Chrifia in the spring of 2012, but he doesn’t foresee picking up any additional business in Morocco anytime soon.
“We’re putting our eggs in China and Russia,” he says.
Forrest isn't willing to discuss new the course, but he did mention that this summer he expects to resume construction on Forest Hills Golf & Country Club in suburban Moscow. Work on the club’s 7,300-yard course began several years ago (12 holes were completed) but was suspended when its developer, Oleg Kustikov of Protcion Company, got into a financial pinch.
Forrest, a principal of Toledo, Ohio-based Arthur Hills & Associates, reports that “a new investor with money” has given the project life. We don’t know exactly what the new investor has in mind, but Kustikov, who owned 550 acres, had planned to build vacation houses and a five-star hotel adjacent to the course.
Forrest hopes to open his 7,000-yard course at Chrifia in the spring of 2012, but he doesn’t foresee picking up any additional business in Morocco anytime soon.
“We’re putting our eggs in China and Russia,” he says.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Week That Was: April 17, 2011
ireland The Luck of the Irish
When he isn't trying to expose Barack Obama as a fraud, Donald Trump continues to search the planet for undervalued golf properties. And he may have found one he likes on the eastern coast of Ireland, about a 40-minute drive south of Dublin.
The speculation is that Trump has his eye on the European Club, one of the premier golf properties in the U.K. According to a report in the Irish Examiner, Trump's son, Donnie, recently met with representatives of a government-created group that aims to dump distressed assets for the nation's banks. The newspaper suggests that the parties discussed the European Club.
If that's true, Trump has a good eye. The European Club is owned by Pat Ruddy, a golf writer and editor who, in the early 1990s, put his money where his mouth is and designed what is, by all accounts, a true world-class, 7,323-yard layout. (The track actually has 20 holes available for play, 10 out and 10 in.) Darius Oliver of Planet Golf calls the course “one of the best modern links anywhere in Europe,” and another critic says it “feels like it has been there forever.” Executive Golf says the course record, a 67, was set by Tiger Woods in 2002.
Then again, maybe all this talk about a potential sale of Ruddy's club is much ado about nothing. Another Irish paper, the Journal, points out that the European Club isn't in financial trouble and hasn't been listed for sale, at least not officially.
It's also important to note that while Trump the Younger has reportedly visited the European Club, he's also sized up several other potential acquisition targets in Ireland.
puerto rico Not Your Father's Golf Course
A tired old relic of the 1960s is getting a make-over, and I'm not talking about Grace Slick.
I'm talking about the East course at Puerto Rico's Dorado Beach Club & Resort. The Robert Trent Jones-designed track opened in 1958 and, by the height of the Age of Aquarius, helped turn Dorado Beach into a bona fide celebrity hang-out. During those aromatic, smoke-filled days, the East course hosted its share of professional tournaments -- including the Senior PGA Tour Championship multiple times -- but it hasn't landed an event worth writing home about since the turn of the century.
Alas, the Beautiful People have found new vacation destinations, and they've taken their golf clubs with them. So, to prevent the resort from completely fading from memory, its owners have hired Robert Trent Jones, Jr. to revitalize his father's course. The goal is to once again attract those coveted world-class tournaments, not to mention some new tourist business.
The renovation began last fall. According to a press release that announced the project, Junior plans to recapture “the original design philosophy while uncovering a more flexible and fun course for all players.”
Translated, that means the track is being lengthened, via the addition and/or relocation of rear tees. It also means its greens are being restored to their original sizes and shapes, its bunkers are being rebuilt and relocated, its fairways are being widened, and drainage issues are being addressed.
“It's a treat for me at this point in my career to have the opportunity to refresh some of my father's most notable work,” Jones said in a prepared statement.
talking points Hope for No-Name Architects
It's tough for young and undiscovered architects to make a name for themselves, particularly in international golf circles. So if you're an architect who's flying under the radar, take some advice from Jason Straka: Book a flight to Russia.
When you get into Russia, they're just starting their golf culture, so they don't know the big [designer] names, says Straka, an associate in Hurdzan Fry Environmental Golf Design. They don't know a [Mike] Hurdzan from a [Pete] Dye from a [Jack] Nicklaus. You could be the worst designer in the world, and they wouldn't know any better.
When he isn't trying to expose Barack Obama as a fraud, Donald Trump continues to search the planet for undervalued golf properties. And he may have found one he likes on the eastern coast of Ireland, about a 40-minute drive south of Dublin.
The speculation is that Trump has his eye on the European Club, one of the premier golf properties in the U.K. According to a report in the Irish Examiner, Trump's son, Donnie, recently met with representatives of a government-created group that aims to dump distressed assets for the nation's banks. The newspaper suggests that the parties discussed the European Club.
If that's true, Trump has a good eye. The European Club is owned by Pat Ruddy, a golf writer and editor who, in the early 1990s, put his money where his mouth is and designed what is, by all accounts, a true world-class, 7,323-yard layout. (The track actually has 20 holes available for play, 10 out and 10 in.) Darius Oliver of Planet Golf calls the course “one of the best modern links anywhere in Europe,” and another critic says it “feels like it has been there forever.” Executive Golf says the course record, a 67, was set by Tiger Woods in 2002.
Then again, maybe all this talk about a potential sale of Ruddy's club is much ado about nothing. Another Irish paper, the Journal, points out that the European Club isn't in financial trouble and hasn't been listed for sale, at least not officially.
It's also important to note that while Trump the Younger has reportedly visited the European Club, he's also sized up several other potential acquisition targets in Ireland.
puerto rico Not Your Father's Golf Course
A tired old relic of the 1960s is getting a make-over, and I'm not talking about Grace Slick.
I'm talking about the East course at Puerto Rico's Dorado Beach Club & Resort. The Robert Trent Jones-designed track opened in 1958 and, by the height of the Age of Aquarius, helped turn Dorado Beach into a bona fide celebrity hang-out. During those aromatic, smoke-filled days, the East course hosted its share of professional tournaments -- including the Senior PGA Tour Championship multiple times -- but it hasn't landed an event worth writing home about since the turn of the century.
Alas, the Beautiful People have found new vacation destinations, and they've taken their golf clubs with them. So, to prevent the resort from completely fading from memory, its owners have hired Robert Trent Jones, Jr. to revitalize his father's course. The goal is to once again attract those coveted world-class tournaments, not to mention some new tourist business.
The renovation began last fall. According to a press release that announced the project, Junior plans to recapture “the original design philosophy while uncovering a more flexible and fun course for all players.”
Translated, that means the track is being lengthened, via the addition and/or relocation of rear tees. It also means its greens are being restored to their original sizes and shapes, its bunkers are being rebuilt and relocated, its fairways are being widened, and drainage issues are being addressed.
“It's a treat for me at this point in my career to have the opportunity to refresh some of my father's most notable work,” Jones said in a prepared statement.
talking points Hope for No-Name Architects
It's tough for young and undiscovered architects to make a name for themselves, particularly in international golf circles. So if you're an architect who's flying under the radar, take some advice from Jason Straka: Book a flight to Russia.
When you get into Russia, they're just starting their golf culture, so they don't know the big [designer] names, says Straka, an associate in Hurdzan Fry Environmental Golf Design. They don't know a [Mike] Hurdzan from a [Pete] Dye from a [Jack] Nicklaus. You could be the worst designer in the world, and they wouldn't know any better.
Friday, April 15, 2011
zambia TPL, On the Hunt
To service its growing portfolio in Africa -– two golf courses in Egypt and another in Zambia –- Thomson Perrett & Lobb has opened a design office in Cape Town, South Africa.
The office will be manned by Andrew Goosen, a native South African who’s worked with Tim Lobb in the firm’s U.K. office for the past four years.
Goosen’s first order of business will be to oversee the construction of the Egyptian courses, El Ein El Sukhna Beach Resort and New Giza Golf Club. The former is expected to open in 2012, the latter in 2013.
Also on his plate is a just-commissioned course in Zambia that will serve as a drawing card for a 125,000-acre hunting lodge.
“There has been noticeable growth and significant investment in the golf and tourism industry in Africa,” Goosen said in a press statement, “and the prospects for the sport are very strong."
TPL is headquartered in in Melbourne, Australia and also has an office in Beijing, China.
The office will be manned by Andrew Goosen, a native South African who’s worked with Tim Lobb in the firm’s U.K. office for the past four years.
Goosen’s first order of business will be to oversee the construction of the Egyptian courses, El Ein El Sukhna Beach Resort and New Giza Golf Club. The former is expected to open in 2012, the latter in 2013.
Also on his plate is a just-commissioned course in Zambia that will serve as a drawing card for a 125,000-acre hunting lodge.
“There has been noticeable growth and significant investment in the golf and tourism industry in Africa,” Goosen said in a press statement, “and the prospects for the sport are very strong."
TPL is headquartered in in Melbourne, Australia and also has an office in Beijing, China.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
News & Notes from the USA #3
. . . Reynolds Plantation has as nice a collection of golf courses as you'll find anywhere, and now we're learning what they're truly worth: $43.1 million or less, depending on how the final price is calculated. Later this month, the 3,500 property owners at Reynolds Plantation will likely agree to buy the community's six golf courses -- including tracks designed by Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus, and Rees Jones -- thereby bailing out their financially troubled developer, an entity controlled by Mercer Reynolds. Unfortunately, the courses aren't worth the price listed on the offer sheet. They were built as loss leaders, and they remain so to this day. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution so delicately notes, they “are not run to turn a profit but to sell lots and lifestyle in the community.” For that reason, Reynolds has agreed to provide the property owners with some financial relief, in the form of $21.5 million that will be paid in installments through 2017 to cover the courses' losses. In other words, the sales price is a little bit of a mirage, like so much else at the tony resort community on Georgia's Lake Oconee.
. . . Golf development may still be down and out, but it appears that things are looking up for golf's “big-box” retailers. The South Florida Business Journal reports that the Golfsmith chain has posted its best sales quarter in five years, thanks in part to pent-up demand. “Golfers are starting to spend money again,” said Golfsmith's marketing director. Edwin Watts didn't share any sales figures, but it opened 21 stores in 2010 and plans to open four more this month. “The strength of our business tells me we are climbing out of this recession,” said the company's CEO. Of course, the Big Boys are building their market share by squeezing the nation's mom-and-pop stores out of existence, but that didn't stop the Business Journal from declaring that the golf industry “is getting back on course.”
. . . Update from the Mecca of Minimalism: The 12-hole, par-3 track coming out of the sand at the Bandon Dunes resort in Oregon has grown a bit. “We've found a 13th hole,” Ben Crenshaw said in a story issued by Cybergolf. The odd number doesn't phase Mike Keiser, the resort's developer, who's defied convention numerous times in the past and will most certainly continue to do so. The course, likely to be called Bandon Preserve, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2012. Bill Coore, Crenshaw's design partner, calls it “real golf on a smaller scale.”
. . . When did golf, a game originally played along the ground, evolve into a game played mostly in the air? And can military metaphors help explain the evolution? Just ask Robert
Trent Jones, Jr., who was inspired to draw this comparison during a conversation with a reporter from the Buffalo News: The ground game was the original game. I like to say it's the difference between World War I and World War II. World War I was in the trenches and on the ground. World War II was the Luftwaffe and the American and British air forces bombing. The aerial game is post-World War II. That was kind of what my father popularized.
. . . Golf development may still be down and out, but it appears that things are looking up for golf's “big-box” retailers. The South Florida Business Journal reports that the Golfsmith chain has posted its best sales quarter in five years, thanks in part to pent-up demand. “Golfers are starting to spend money again,” said Golfsmith's marketing director. Edwin Watts didn't share any sales figures, but it opened 21 stores in 2010 and plans to open four more this month. “The strength of our business tells me we are climbing out of this recession,” said the company's CEO. Of course, the Big Boys are building their market share by squeezing the nation's mom-and-pop stores out of existence, but that didn't stop the Business Journal from declaring that the golf industry “is getting back on course.”
. . . Update from the Mecca of Minimalism: The 12-hole, par-3 track coming out of the sand at the Bandon Dunes resort in Oregon has grown a bit. “We've found a 13th hole,” Ben Crenshaw said in a story issued by Cybergolf. The odd number doesn't phase Mike Keiser, the resort's developer, who's defied convention numerous times in the past and will most certainly continue to do so. The course, likely to be called Bandon Preserve, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2012. Bill Coore, Crenshaw's design partner, calls it “real golf on a smaller scale.”
. . . When did golf, a game originally played along the ground, evolve into a game played mostly in the air? And can military metaphors help explain the evolution? Just ask Robert
Trent Jones, Jr., who was inspired to draw this comparison during a conversation with a reporter from the Buffalo News: The ground game was the original game. I like to say it's the difference between World War I and World War II. World War I was in the trenches and on the ground. World War II was the Luftwaffe and the American and British air forces bombing. The aerial game is post-World War II. That was kind of what my father popularized.
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