The Pipeline, december 19, 2014

     Australia. The Tasmanian island that’s seemingly made to order for world-class golf has attracted another developer. His name is David Bowling, and he’s a real estate agent whose ancestors were among the original settlers of King Island, more than 100 years ago. Like virtually all of the golf architects and builders who’ve made their way to the small, remote outcropping off Australia’s southeastern coast, Bowling believes it’s only a matter of time before King Island’s sandy, wind-swept terrain gives rise to a collection of destination-worthy links, in large part because quality sites are still relatively cheap. Today, the island has just one course, a nine-hole track in the town of Currie. Next year, however, a pair of layouts hoping to crack the world’s top 100 are expected to open: the Mike DeVries/Darius Oliver co-design at Cape Wickham Golf Course, on the northern coast, and Ocean Dunes Golf Course, on the western coast. Bowling hasn’t been particularly forthcoming about his plans, but he told an Australian news service that his course would take shape on a coastal site where his ancestors once grazed cattle.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the October 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     United States. It appears that Greg Norman’s completed but never opened golf course in California, the one done in by the Great Recession, will get a new lease on life. The 18-hole track is the centerpiece of McAllister Ranch, a 2,070-acre community in Bakersfield that went belly up in 2008, when Lehman Brothers, the parent company of its lender, imploded. “The idea was a good one,” a real estate appraiser told a local television station. “It was just formulated at the wrong period of time, in the middle of a housing bubble.” SunCal, which has agreed to buy the property, plans to develop just 600 acres, with more affordable houses. And it reportedly intends to revive the golf course, which is said to be “nothing but weeds.”

     United States. Speaking of golf courses that have been comatose since 2008, a partially completed 18-hole track outside Wilmington, North Carolina is once again under construction and scheduled to open in the fall of next year. The course, co-designed by Rick Robbins and Brian Lussier, is the featured attraction Compass Pointe, a community that was initiated in 2005. According to Golf Course Architecture, Compass Pointe has been resurrected as a result of “a recent boom in lot sales and new home construction.” Thank goodness for small favors.

     India. What’s a capital city without a golf course? That’s one of the questions being asked in Vijayawada, the future capital city of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the state’s cleanest city, one of the nation’s most livable cities, and, according to McKinsey & Company, a “global city of the future.” It’s also Andhra Pradesh’s second-largest city (metropolitan population: 1.5 million), and, because it’s been pegged to officially become the capital sometime within the next 10 years, it’s already begun to attract white-collar professionals with a taste for the luxe life. But Vijayawada has no golf courses, and some prominent local businessmen fear that this unfortunate recreational void will hinder its potential. “With the city expected to attract foreigners and tourists in the days to come, the need to have a golf club is must,” an official of the Krishna District Olympic Association told the Hindu, and the vice president of the Andhra Cricket Association is hoping to identify a site where “a full-fledged 18-hole course with all facilities” might be established. One problem: The price of land in and around Vijayawada is said to be skyrocketing, and a quality site may be hard to find.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the October 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     Tunisia. After five years’ worth of delays, Gulf Finance House figures to break ground on its “financial gateway” in Tunisia sometime next year. The Bahrain-based, publicly traded investment bank had hoped to get started on Tunis Financial Harbour in 2009, but its plans were stymied first by the world-wide economic crash and then by the civil insurrection that booted Tunisia’s president from office. The community, which is to take shape on 1,300 acres in a northern suburb of Tunis, is expected to become the “financial hub of North Africa.” It’ll feature office space for banking and insurance companies as well as houses for the corporate executives who’ll work in them, along with schools, shopping areas, a marina, a beach club, and an 18-hole, championship-length golf course. GFH has hired a French company, Alliance International Holding, to build the golf course.

     Some information in the preceding post originally appeared in the August 2009, February 2012, and April 2014 issues of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.

     Vietnam. As part of a renewed effort to jump-start its tourism business, one of Vietnam’s coastal provinces has reissued a license for an oceanfront golf resort. NewCity Vietnam will take shape on 1,070 acres near Bãi Xép, a beach town in the Tuy An district of Phú Yên Province. The resort, which has shrunk in size by about one-third since it was originally unveiled, will include holiday villas, hotels, meeting space, office space, a water park, and a 36-hole golf complex. The People’s Committee of Phú Yên Province has granted the development permission to the Vietnamese affiliate of Brunei-based New City Properties Development Company, Ltd. According to the Vietnam Investment Review, New City had originally claimed the license in 2008 but failed to make progress due to the “slow pace of site clearance.” Over the years, Phú Yên has mostly attracted tourists with what’s been described as “a wealth of wild, sandy beaches.” Today, the people’s committee is investing in transportation improvements and actively seeking developers willing to fund large-scale tourist attractions.

     Saudi Arabia. The golf resurgence taking place in the Middle East has spread to an emerging mega-city in Saudi Arabia. The 18-hole golf course at King Abdullah Economic City, designed by Dave Sampson of European Golf Design, is finally under construction, after cooling on the back burner for several years. KAEC is taking shape on a 67-square-mile expanse of desert -- a tract roughly the size of Washington, DC -- just south of Rabigh, on the Red Sea coast. The Saudi government, which has a stake in the venture, intends for it to become “one of the most important cities” in the world. Sampson’s course will anchor Al-Murooj, the mega-city’s “most exclusive” and “most prestigious” community, and its developers say it’ll offer “new and unique opportunities for both amateur and accomplished golfers, all in an atmosphere of fun and relaxation.” The track, the first of two courses in KAEC, is expected to debut in late 2015 or early 2016.

     Some information in the preceding post first appeared in the June 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.