The first Jack Nicklaus “legacy” course in Asia is supposed to open in early 2011, at Lan Hai International Golf Club on the island of Chongming, outside Shanghai.
I can’t say for sure what the “legacy” moniker means, but because the course has been co-designed by Nicklaus and his son Jack, I suspect that it ranks somewhere in the family hierarchy between a “signature” design and a Nicklaus Design. In any case, the club will eventually add a second 18 (it’s expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012) and a 30,000-square-foot, Tuscan-style clubhouse.
Lan Hai will be managed by IMG Golf Course Management, which reports that one of the courses will be capable of hosting “a significant international professional tournament.”
The club is part of a 617-acre community that’s being developed by Shanghai Zhongying Enterprises. IMG has said that the community will have a hotel and “an extensive real estate component,” and Nicklaus has said that the houses have been designed in the “Tuscan, Italian, and Spanish style.”
The Chinese are known for being great exporters, but they’re clearly great importers as well.
While I'm at it, I should note that a Nicklaus “signature” track is under construction at Changbaishan Golf & Ski Resort in Changbaishan (Jilin Province). Nicklaus has also been tapped to design a “signature” layout for Dayabay Nicklaus Golf Resort in Huizhou (Guangdong Province).
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Week That Was: February 20, 2011
england Lobb Shot
The members of Wimbledon Park Golf Club have selected Thomson Perrett & Lobb to give their 5,483-yard, parkland-style golf course a minor makeover.
TPL plans to rebuild and relocate the bunkers on the 18-hole, par-66 track. The upgrades will be overseen by Tim Lobb, who operates out of TPL's office in suburban London.
“Our plans are to review the current bunkering across the whole course and implement a design plan that will enhance the playing experience for members and guests,” Lobb said in a press release.
The club, which has been in business since 1898, is in southwestern London, just a short hop from the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which hosts the annual Wimbledon tennis championship.
“TPL's work will undoubtedly give all golfers a greater strategic challenge when they play Wimbledon Park,” said the club's general manager, “but the improvements will also enhance the aesthetics of the course and make it much more appealing to the eye.”
The work is expected to start later this year.
canada Sutton Creek Seeks for a Buyer
A bankruptcy trustee is trying to sell Sutton Creek Golf Club in Essex, Ontario.
The club went into receivership in late 2010. Its 18-hole, 6,900-yard golf course was designed by Robert Heaslip and opened in 1991.
A story in the Windsor Star suggests that Debbie Aliberti, the club's owner and general manager, hopes to get $3.6 million for her 169-acre property.
“We’ve had some considerable interest already,” the bankruptcy trustee told the Star, “all from individuals or groups interested in operating it as a golf course.”
Sutton Creek has been in a financial pinch for years. In 2010, in an attempt to attract members, Aliberti cut its initiation fee from $15,000 to $2,000.
“Like most clubs in the area, we are struggling financially and will for the next couple of years,” Aliberti said late last year.
Robert Thompson, a Canadian golf critic, says that Heaslip has designed “straight-forward, affordable golf courses throughout Canada” but is “not particularly adept at marketing” his talents.
Essex is a 30-minute drive south of Windsor.
ghana Improvements Planned at Achimota
Ghana's premier golf course is looking to spiff up its clubhouse, modernize its irrigation system, and build a better practice area.
Those are among the plans outlined by Rene L. Gameli-Kwame, the recently appointed captain of Achimota Golf Club. Gameli-Kwame, who attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to secure grants from the R&A, the United States Golf Association, and the Tiger Woods Foundation to help pay for the improvements.
The upgrades are designed to maintain the club's position in Ghana's golf hierarchy. The club hosted the first Ghana Open, in 1940, and numerous other major events since.
Achimota was established (with a seven-hole track) by a group of Scots in 1934. It was probably the fourth or fifth course to open in Accra, but it was the first that grew to 18 holes and the only one that survives today. Its second nine opened in 1970, extending the course to 6,445 yards.
Gameli-Kwame told Modern Ghana that he aims to recruit new members to Achimota “by providing a social atmosphere where good conduct, discipline, and mutual respect for all are promoted.”
scotland Trump: A Progress Report?
The fear and loathing of Donald Trump continues in Scotland.
The Scottish distaste for all things Trump manifested itself this week in a news account from the Daily Express, which contends that “the world’s greatest golf course,” as Trump once called it, won't open as scheduled in the summer of 2012.
As evidence, the newspaper claimed that “there is little sign of the major construction work needed to complete the £1 billion project” and posted some photos that it says “cast doubt on whether it will be finished in time.”
Worse, the paper published some critical comments made by none other than David Milne, who lives on property that Trump has been trying to buy for years and has steadfastly refused to sell. Milne is hardly an objective observer and no expert in golf construction, but the Daily Express nevertheless asked for his opinion on the progress Trump has made.
“There is a fair amount of work going on,” Milne acknowledged, “but it doesn’t seem to be at the speed I would expect it to be, considering the so-called investment that has gone into it.”
He added: “They seem to be having major issues with the whole thing.”
This is idle speculation if I ever heard it, and really shoddy journalism.
Naturally, the allegations put Trump on the defensive, forcing him to insist that he's “on target” to complete the golf course on time. He admitted that he hasn't yet begun work on the course's clubhouse, the hotel, and the 1,450 houses he plans to build, but he said that his construction crew is “installing irrigation systems,” “ready to plant our turf,” and “very much on schedule to open by July 1 next year.”
If the course doesn't open in July, you can be sure of one thing: The Scottish newspapers will be first with the story.
The members of Wimbledon Park Golf Club have selected Thomson Perrett & Lobb to give their 5,483-yard, parkland-style golf course a minor makeover.
TPL plans to rebuild and relocate the bunkers on the 18-hole, par-66 track. The upgrades will be overseen by Tim Lobb, who operates out of TPL's office in suburban London.
“Our plans are to review the current bunkering across the whole course and implement a design plan that will enhance the playing experience for members and guests,” Lobb said in a press release.
The club, which has been in business since 1898, is in southwestern London, just a short hop from the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which hosts the annual Wimbledon tennis championship.
“TPL's work will undoubtedly give all golfers a greater strategic challenge when they play Wimbledon Park,” said the club's general manager, “but the improvements will also enhance the aesthetics of the course and make it much more appealing to the eye.”
The work is expected to start later this year.
canada Sutton Creek Seeks for a Buyer
A bankruptcy trustee is trying to sell Sutton Creek Golf Club in Essex, Ontario.
The club went into receivership in late 2010. Its 18-hole, 6,900-yard golf course was designed by Robert Heaslip and opened in 1991.
A story in the Windsor Star suggests that Debbie Aliberti, the club's owner and general manager, hopes to get $3.6 million for her 169-acre property.
“We’ve had some considerable interest already,” the bankruptcy trustee told the Star, “all from individuals or groups interested in operating it as a golf course.”
Sutton Creek has been in a financial pinch for years. In 2010, in an attempt to attract members, Aliberti cut its initiation fee from $15,000 to $2,000.
“Like most clubs in the area, we are struggling financially and will for the next couple of years,” Aliberti said late last year.
Robert Thompson, a Canadian golf critic, says that Heaslip has designed “straight-forward, affordable golf courses throughout Canada” but is “not particularly adept at marketing” his talents.
Essex is a 30-minute drive south of Windsor.
ghana Improvements Planned at Achimota
Ghana's premier golf course is looking to spiff up its clubhouse, modernize its irrigation system, and build a better practice area.
Those are among the plans outlined by Rene L. Gameli-Kwame, the recently appointed captain of Achimota Golf Club. Gameli-Kwame, who attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to secure grants from the R&A, the United States Golf Association, and the Tiger Woods Foundation to help pay for the improvements.
The upgrades are designed to maintain the club's position in Ghana's golf hierarchy. The club hosted the first Ghana Open, in 1940, and numerous other major events since.
Achimota was established (with a seven-hole track) by a group of Scots in 1934. It was probably the fourth or fifth course to open in Accra, but it was the first that grew to 18 holes and the only one that survives today. Its second nine opened in 1970, extending the course to 6,445 yards.
Gameli-Kwame told Modern Ghana that he aims to recruit new members to Achimota “by providing a social atmosphere where good conduct, discipline, and mutual respect for all are promoted.”
scotland Trump: A Progress Report?
The fear and loathing of Donald Trump continues in Scotland.
The Scottish distaste for all things Trump manifested itself this week in a news account from the Daily Express, which contends that “the world’s greatest golf course,” as Trump once called it, won't open as scheduled in the summer of 2012.
As evidence, the newspaper claimed that “there is little sign of the major construction work needed to complete the £1 billion project” and posted some photos that it says “cast doubt on whether it will be finished in time.”
Worse, the paper published some critical comments made by none other than David Milne, who lives on property that Trump has been trying to buy for years and has steadfastly refused to sell. Milne is hardly an objective observer and no expert in golf construction, but the Daily Express nevertheless asked for his opinion on the progress Trump has made.
“There is a fair amount of work going on,” Milne acknowledged, “but it doesn’t seem to be at the speed I would expect it to be, considering the so-called investment that has gone into it.”
He added: “They seem to be having major issues with the whole thing.”
This is idle speculation if I ever heard it, and really shoddy journalism.
Naturally, the allegations put Trump on the defensive, forcing him to insist that he's “on target” to complete the golf course on time. He admitted that he hasn't yet begun work on the course's clubhouse, the hotel, and the 1,450 houses he plans to build, but he said that his construction crew is “installing irrigation systems,” “ready to plant our turf,” and “very much on schedule to open by July 1 next year.”
If the course doesn't open in July, you can be sure of one thing: The Scottish newspapers will be first with the story.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Shameless Self-Promotion, February 2011
Did you know that Eduardo “El Gato” Romero and Randy Thompson have agreed to co-design a golf course in suburban Buenos Aires? Or that a Harvard-educated economist is itching to build a ski resort in China's Tian Shan Mountains? Or that Robert Trent Jones, Jr. is designing a golf course in South Korea for an affiliate of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church?
Those are just three of the golf projects we profile in this month's World Edition of the Golf Course Report. The new issue hit the streets about two weeks ago. If recent experience is a reliable guide, some of February's stories will soon be spread all over cyberspace -- minus my byline, of course, and sometimes with the bylines of people who had nothing whatsoever to do with the researching, reporting, and writing that occupy so many hours of my time.
Yes, I'm talking about you, Jonny Lyman, you weasel. What gives you the right to put your name on my work?
February's World Edition also has news about two high-profile golf projects that are being resurrected: Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Anguilla and Forest Hills Golf & Country Club in suburban Moscow.
We also have stories about the Italian group that aims to build a golf course in Romania, the Swedish golf star who's co-designed a “sustainable” course in Austria, and a new course in St. Petersburg. (That would be Russia, not Florida.)
We also report on several new courses in China, a pair in Vietnam, and others in Poland, Scotland, Argentina, and Egypt, plus notable renovations in Australia and India.
If you'd like a copy of this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.
And if you're out there, Jonny Lyman, I'd love for you to give me a call. We have a lot to talk about.
Those are just three of the golf projects we profile in this month's World Edition of the Golf Course Report. The new issue hit the streets about two weeks ago. If recent experience is a reliable guide, some of February's stories will soon be spread all over cyberspace -- minus my byline, of course, and sometimes with the bylines of people who had nothing whatsoever to do with the researching, reporting, and writing that occupy so many hours of my time.
Yes, I'm talking about you, Jonny Lyman, you weasel. What gives you the right to put your name on my work?
February's World Edition also has news about two high-profile golf projects that are being resurrected: Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Anguilla and Forest Hills Golf & Country Club in suburban Moscow.
We also have stories about the Italian group that aims to build a golf course in Romania, the Swedish golf star who's co-designed a “sustainable” course in Austria, and a new course in St. Petersburg. (That would be Russia, not Florida.)
We also report on several new courses in China, a pair in Vietnam, and others in Poland, Scotland, Argentina, and Egypt, plus notable renovations in Australia and India.
If you'd like a copy of this month's World Edition, give me a call at 301/680-9460 or send an e-mail to me at WorldEdition@aol.com.
And if you're out there, Jonny Lyman, I'd love for you to give me a call. We have a lot to talk about.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
india Letter from Ron Fream
I depart soon for Assam and Arunachal Pradesh -- states in northeastern India. I was in the same area in November, at Thanksgiving.
This part of the world is fully primitive, lacking in modern conveniences, densely crowded with uneducated, unwashed folks. Shameful housing, and hotels only a low-caste Indian could enjoy. Sometimes there's no hot water, or water at all. Arunachal Pradesh is considered South Tibet by China.
The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt show the need for governments to provide employment as a means of raising living standards. India has huge employment-producing needs, and even its so-called democratic government is not immune to discontent. I shudder when I think that in 2050 India is projected to have a population of 1.7 billion (up from 1.2 billion now) in a land area about half the size of the United States. Five hundred million Indians do not consistently earn a dollar a day in income.
I will be touring tea plantations and national oil-company areas where golf courses exist. The challenge: how to create tourist-quality golfing experiences from simple, 100-year-old, nine-hole courses. The clubhouses have signs listing club champions from as far back as 1900. They are meager facilities, but in 1920 they were uptown hang-outs for English tea planters.
There is no history of tourist golf in this part of India, and little serious tourist golf elsewhere in the country. The recently opened courses and those set to open in the next few years -- maybe 10 or so -- will help grow the local market.
From India, I go to Nepal. The Bhutan Youth Golf Association shifted country focus last year, to Nepal. The Nepal Golf Association is very supportive. The Bhutanese golf association did not have the vision or the empathy for youth golf to provide adequate local support.
Today there are some 200 young people active in golf lessons at three sites in Nepal. The teaching pro is a woman from the United States who's living in Kathmandu. She works with the executive secretary of the Nepal Golf Association. The lesson program is impacting young people who have at times not had three meals a day.
The program is focusing on picking four of the best players who also have scholastic aptitude. The Nepal Golf Association is working to fund four-year scholarships so these good student-players can go to university, where golf is on offer. The hope is to produce graduates who can become role models for other Nepali youth, and maybe one day make it to the Indian pro circuit or even the Asian Tour -- quite a leap for such a marginally developed country.
I have been helping, as it may be, in Nepal since around 1978. Golf tourism is more advanced there than in northeastern India, but there are none of the tea estates that encouraged golf 100 years ago. Royal Nepal Golf Club, the oldest club in the kingdom, is 70 or so years old.
I am hopeful that my efforts in northeastern India and Nepal grow and yield meaningful results. I tried for several years to encourage tourist golf in Kashmir, in northwestern India, but sectarian terrorism and deteriorating social conditions prevented any measure of progress. The unemployment rate in Kashmir must be 40 percent. Islamic promises look good to the under-fed and under-employed.
The final stop on this trip is Sri Lanka, to evaluate a new resort site. Sri Lanka was the site of a mass war, killing thousands, up until about the time of the tsunami. I have not been there for 25 years, so it will be interesting to see what has changed.
I do not know how much longer my health will hold out. I am beyond normal retirement age now, but the satisfaction I get from visiting exotic places still holds an attraction for me.
Best wishes!
Ron Fream
Ron Fream is the founder of GolfPlan, a Santa Rosa, California-based design firm. He's designed about 75 new courses, including one for the Sultan of Brunei, and he currently has projects in Mongolia, Uganda, and other countries. He lives in Malaysia.
This part of the world is fully primitive, lacking in modern conveniences, densely crowded with uneducated, unwashed folks. Shameful housing, and hotels only a low-caste Indian could enjoy. Sometimes there's no hot water, or water at all. Arunachal Pradesh is considered South Tibet by China.
The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt show the need for governments to provide employment as a means of raising living standards. India has huge employment-producing needs, and even its so-called democratic government is not immune to discontent. I shudder when I think that in 2050 India is projected to have a population of 1.7 billion (up from 1.2 billion now) in a land area about half the size of the United States. Five hundred million Indians do not consistently earn a dollar a day in income.
I will be touring tea plantations and national oil-company areas where golf courses exist. The challenge: how to create tourist-quality golfing experiences from simple, 100-year-old, nine-hole courses. The clubhouses have signs listing club champions from as far back as 1900. They are meager facilities, but in 1920 they were uptown hang-outs for English tea planters.
There is no history of tourist golf in this part of India, and little serious tourist golf elsewhere in the country. The recently opened courses and those set to open in the next few years -- maybe 10 or so -- will help grow the local market.
From India, I go to Nepal. The Bhutan Youth Golf Association shifted country focus last year, to Nepal. The Nepal Golf Association is very supportive. The Bhutanese golf association did not have the vision or the empathy for youth golf to provide adequate local support.
Today there are some 200 young people active in golf lessons at three sites in Nepal. The teaching pro is a woman from the United States who's living in Kathmandu. She works with the executive secretary of the Nepal Golf Association. The lesson program is impacting young people who have at times not had three meals a day.
The program is focusing on picking four of the best players who also have scholastic aptitude. The Nepal Golf Association is working to fund four-year scholarships so these good student-players can go to university, where golf is on offer. The hope is to produce graduates who can become role models for other Nepali youth, and maybe one day make it to the Indian pro circuit or even the Asian Tour -- quite a leap for such a marginally developed country.
I have been helping, as it may be, in Nepal since around 1978. Golf tourism is more advanced there than in northeastern India, but there are none of the tea estates that encouraged golf 100 years ago. Royal Nepal Golf Club, the oldest club in the kingdom, is 70 or so years old.
I am hopeful that my efforts in northeastern India and Nepal grow and yield meaningful results. I tried for several years to encourage tourist golf in Kashmir, in northwestern India, but sectarian terrorism and deteriorating social conditions prevented any measure of progress. The unemployment rate in Kashmir must be 40 percent. Islamic promises look good to the under-fed and under-employed.
The final stop on this trip is Sri Lanka, to evaluate a new resort site. Sri Lanka was the site of a mass war, killing thousands, up until about the time of the tsunami. I have not been there for 25 years, so it will be interesting to see what has changed.
I do not know how much longer my health will hold out. I am beyond normal retirement age now, but the satisfaction I get from visiting exotic places still holds an attraction for me.
Best wishes!
Ron Fream
Ron Fream is the founder of GolfPlan, a Santa Rosa, California-based design firm. He's designed about 75 new courses, including one for the Sultan of Brunei, and he currently has projects in Mongolia, Uganda, and other countries. He lives in Malaysia.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
australia Doon Deal
Michael Clayton and former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, who formed a design partnership last year, have landed their first job: an overhaul of the 18-hole links at Bonnie Doon Golf Club, the third-oldest course in suburban Sydney.
Bonnie Doon was founded in 1897 and relocated to its current digs in Pagewood in the late 1940s. Expanding suburbia has gradually squeezed the life out of the layout, which was once ranked among the top 100 in Australia. But the club has claimed 16 adjacent acres, and Clayton and Ogilvy promise to give the holes some breathing room.
In their master plan proposal, they wrote: “This is a golf course that could easily sit amongst the top 20 or 30 in the country. . . . Currently there are two distinct golf courses out there, and neither is doing as well as the land and the historic standing of the club demands.”
The renovation begins in the spring. Two or three holes will be completely redesigned, and the greens complexes on at least five others will get a thorough makeover.
Bonnie Doon was founded in 1897 and relocated to its current digs in Pagewood in the late 1940s. Expanding suburbia has gradually squeezed the life out of the layout, which was once ranked among the top 100 in Australia. But the club has claimed 16 adjacent acres, and Clayton and Ogilvy promise to give the holes some breathing room.
In their master plan proposal, they wrote: “This is a golf course that could easily sit amongst the top 20 or 30 in the country. . . . Currently there are two distinct golf courses out there, and neither is doing as well as the land and the historic standing of the club demands.”
The renovation begins in the spring. Two or three holes will be completely redesigned, and the greens complexes on at least five others will get a thorough makeover.
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