The Year That Was, january 1, 2017

     The top stories of 2016, in no particular order

     Months before he became the President Elect, Donald Trump received a vote of no confidence from the R&A. It came in February, when, in what amounted to an act of self-protection, the golf industry’s most self-righteous institutional power passed on an opportunity to award the Open Championship to Trump Turnberry. The decision was a slap in the face for Trump, who’d acquired the historic Scottish resort in part because it’s long held a spot in the Open rotation and figured to help him realize his paramount golf dream, which is to host a major championship at one of his golf properties. Of course, decisions can be reversed, and Trump Turnberry will likely get back into the rotation in 2022.

     An affiliate of HNA Group, one of the high flyers in China’s golf business, purchased a high-profile golf portfolio in greater Seattle, Washington. In October, the company reportedly paid $137.5 million for eight properties assembled by Oki Golf, a collection that includes Golf Club at Hawks Prairie in Lacey, Golf Club at Newcastle in Newcastle, Indian Summer Golf & Country Club in Olympia, and Washington National Golf Club in Auburn. HNA Group is primarily an aviation company, but it owns seven golf properties on Hainan Island and at least four others elsewhere in the People’s Republic. And though it reportedly views Seattle as “a gateway into the North American golf market,” it’s already established a presence in U.S. golf operations. In recent years it’s acquired Nicklaus Club Monterey (formerly Pasadera Country Club) in Monterey, California and Somers Pointe Golf Club in Somers, New York. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the company eventually found other buying opportunities on our shores.

     Gil Hanse’s golf course in Rio de Janeiro may be a critical success, but it isn’t doing much to grow the game in Brazil. In fact, a few weeks ago Agence France Presse suggested that the track has such serious money troubles that it may soon go out of business. The gory details: The course, which hosted the golf competition for the 2016 Olympics, attracts only 40 customers on an average day, and its operators, who aren’t getting paid, are “set to pull out.” This news should come as no surprise, seeing as how Rio, a city of 6 million, has, according to Golf magazine, just 1,500 golfers.

     Phil Mickelson, a golf superstar and a frequent gambler, had a couple of uncomfortable brushes with the law. In May, the Securities & Exchange Commission determined that he’d been “unjustly enriched,” with nearly $1 million in “ill-gotten gains,” in connection with a stock-trading scheme. As the story goes, some time ago Mickelson became indebted to an acquaintance, Billy Walters, an inveterate gambler and a longtime target of SEC investigators. Walters, acting on a tip from an insider, reportedly encouraged Mickelson to buy some stock in a company called Dean Foods, and the “investment” paid off in spades. Mickelson was, according to the SEC, able to “pay off his debts with the proceeds of the trade.” Then, just weeks after he’d agreed to pay the fines related to the case, Mickelson was linked to a money-laundering scheme that had been designed to conceal what court documents describe as “losing wagers.” The scheme involved a Mickelson associate who’d pleaded guilty to transferring $2.75 million between bank accounts “virtually as a personal favor to an individual who did not wish his wagering activity to become public.” Mickelson wasn’t mentioned by name, but Bloomberg reported that he was the individual whose identity was being protected. Thanks to loopholes in securities laws, however, neither of these incidents led to a criminal charge.

     Arnold Palmer, who disdained crowns but was nonetheless known as the King, died in September. It’s impossible to over-estimate the impact he had on sports in general and golf in particular. He was a ferocious competitor, a coveted corporate spokesman, a founder of “signature” golf, the face of his sport for more than a half-century, and, above all, the most approachable superstar who ever lived. Many golfers become famous. Palmer became beloved, in large part because he always remained true to his roots. Unlike so many others, he managed to harness the power of fame without being consumed by it. Three other course architects died in 2016 – Christy O’Connor, Bob Cupp, and Gene Hamm – all of them members of the generation of designers who defined high-quality golf architecture in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Finally, in November, another golf-industry legend passed: Peggy Kirk Bell, an accomplished golfer, a renowned golf instructor, a pioneer for women’s golf, a tireless ambassador for the sport, and the owner of two popular, well-regarded golf properties in the Pinehurst area, Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club and Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club. No wonder a commentator once called her “the female Arnold Palmer.”

     In golf’s battle of the sexes, another domino fell in July, when the members of Royal Troon, a historic enclave in South Ayrshire, Scotland, voted to allow women into their club. The decision came after two other venues in the rotation for the Open Championship – the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in 2014 and Royal St. George’s Golf Club in 2015 – similarly chose to end their discriminatory membership policies. “I think this means that Royal Troon Golf Club is reflecting the society in which we exist in the 21st century,” the club’s captain told the New York Times. More importantly, the vote meant that Royal Troon wouldn’t suffer the fate of Muirfield, which was stripped of its cherished spot in the rotation when its members voted to remain true to their exclusionary principles. It’s worth noting that Muirfield’s members have come to regret their decision and plan to hold another vote on their woman problem later this month. The outcome will likely be different.

     Last summer Peter Thomson, one of Australia’s most prolific “signature” architects, retired from the design business. He cited his age – he turned 87 last year – and “declining health” as the reasons for his retirement. Thomson may not be very well-known in the United States, but he’s one of the greatest golfers of all time. He reportedly had 89 victories as a professional, and beginning in 1954 he won the Open Championship three consecutive times, a nearly impossible feat, and then he won it again in 1958 and in 1965. Thompson began to design golf courses in the early 1960s, and over the years he and various associates designed, redesigned, or renovated more than 200 courses, most of them in Australia, Asia, and Southeast Asia. The firm’s work isn’t universally admired, but it’s had a hand in producing at least 10 courses that Golf Digest ranks among its top 100 in Australia. Thomson’s retirement ought to remind us that other aging “signature” architects – Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, Gary Player, Rees Jones, and Robert Trent Jones, Jr. notable among them – will also be leaving the business before long. All of them thrived during a remarkable era when golf development, propelled in large part by a parade of former professional stars, spread across the planet. Collectively, they had a tremendous influence on public perceptions of golf. Each in his own way is an industry titan.

     For the first time, a golf course in Africa won a seal of approval from the British PGA, as the group identified Vipingo Ridge, the centerpiece of a 2,500-acre community in suburban Mombasa, Kenya, as a worthy destination for its members. Such recognition may not mean much to us in the United States, but it’s a significant milestone in Africa. With the PGA’s branding, Vipingo Ridge’s owners will be able to attract more golf travelers, host high-prestige tournaments, charge more for their real estate, and perhaps even break ground on their long-overdue second course. A golf commentator wondered whether the award might spark “a new phase in Kenya’s golfing scene.” The rest of us are wondering how much golf development it sparks in other African nations.

     All the ducks aren’t yet lined up in their respective rows, but it appears that Chicago on the cusp of becoming a bona-fide destination for elite professional tournaments. Mark Rolfing, a commentator for the Golf Channel, is twisting arms in an attempt to create a 27-hole golf complex – a world-class 18-hole course and an easy-to-play nine-hole layout – along the Windy City’s lakefront, on property currently occupied by a pair of struggling municipal tracks. Some heavy hitters are involved, as Mike Keiser is among the fundraisers for the complex, which will be designed by Tiger Woods and take shape just a chip shot from the site of Barack Obama’s forthcoming presidential library. If Rolfing and his partners can secure financing and negotiate their way through the city’s political bureaucracy – issues where a locally beloved president and one of the world’s most famous golfers would certainly be helpful – their golf course could open in 2021, the same year that the library is scheduled to open.

     The planet’s hottest golf market, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, set an official target for golf construction: 96 courses by 2020. Seeing as how the nation currently has something like 40 or 45 courses, the math says that about 50 courses might open in Vietnam over the next four years. Such a pace of construction begs two obvious questions. First, Can Vietnam’s resident golfers (all 10,000 of them) and vacationing golfers from other nations (7,000 annually these days) sustain nearly 100 golf courses? And second, What happens when Vietnam reaches its goal?