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.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Friday, June 13, 2014
Vital Signs, june 13, 2014
Golf participation in the United States continues to fall, to distressingly low numbers last seen a quarter-century ago. More than 1 million golfers said good-bye to the game last year, according to Pellucid Corporation, and today our nation counts fewer than 23 million players. Pellucid reports that the U.S. golf participation rate is now 8 percent, about what it was in the late 1980s. “Despite the increasing frequency and intensity of industry association cheerleaders’ attempts to ‘wish’ an increase in the consumer base into existence,” Pellucid writes, “unfortunately the facts show both a decline in the consumer base and an accelerated rate of decline compared to the previous year.” To add insult to injury, Pellucid says last year’s decline in play was driven by a bread-and-butter demographic, men aged between 25 and 54.
We’re Number One! In 2013, the United States was the world’s fastest-growing golf-travel destination, according to the International Association of Golf Tour Operators. “In 2012 we saw the resurgence of the USA as a powerful force in outbound golf tourism, recovering from the economic crises ahead of its European counterparts, and this was followed up quite clearly last year, with sales to golf destinations throughout the USA growing faster than any others around the world,” the group’s chief executive said. The IAGTO provided no solid evidence to back up its rankings, but it said that we finished ahead of Portugal, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Scotland, Morocco, Ireland, Spain, and Vietnam.
An estimated 640,000 of the adult women in the United Kingdom are “very interested in taking up golf this summer,” according to a forthcoming survey by Syngenta. In addition, the data says that 3.8 million women aged 19 to 64 are “somewhat or [a] little interested” in giving the game a try. The question now is, Can the owners and operators of the U.K.’s golf venues find them?
Half of the golf clubs in Australia are under “financial duress,” according to a study by Golf Australia and Golf Management Australia, and they must connect with women, families, and especially young people if they expect to survive. “Many clubs are under increasing financial pressure and experiencing challenging times,” concludes the 2013 National Golf Participation Report, which compiled data from 1,583 properties. According to the report, club membership in Australia peaked in 1998, with roughly 500,000 golfers. Today, the nation’s clubs count just 398,804 members, a decline of more than 20 percent. The clubs have lost 6.7 percent of their members since 2010, the study has determined, largely because participation among young people -- those between 15 and 34 -- has waned. Some of the clouds hovering over Australia’s golf industry may have a silver lining, however. Last year, 42 percent of the nation’s clubs increased the size of their membership, and 18 percent posted increases of 10 percent or more.
Here are five noteworthy statistics about golf in Australia from the 2013 National Golf Participation Report: 1) Golf participation levels in Australia have fallen by 11 percent since 2000 and currently sit at 6.7 percent of the population. Last year, an estimated 1.18 million adults (apparently defined as those aged 15 and older) played at least one round of golf. 2) The average club in Australia has 250 members, but more than half (51 percent) have fewer than 100 and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) have fewer than 200. 3) Australia’s golf clubs rang up nearly 25 million rounds in 2013. (Note: This number doesn’t include public play.) 4) Of the nation’s 398,804 club members, 60 percent are at least 55 years old. 5) Last year, the nation’s clubs lost 1.6 percent of their members.
$20 million: That’s the size of the economic divot created by the departure of Rochester, New York’s annual LPGA event. A local elected official believes that the loss of the tournament, known of late as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, will leave “a void in the community.” Starting next year, the tournament will be played on the other side of the state, in Westchester.
We’re Number One! In 2013, the United States was the world’s fastest-growing golf-travel destination, according to the International Association of Golf Tour Operators. “In 2012 we saw the resurgence of the USA as a powerful force in outbound golf tourism, recovering from the economic crises ahead of its European counterparts, and this was followed up quite clearly last year, with sales to golf destinations throughout the USA growing faster than any others around the world,” the group’s chief executive said. The IAGTO provided no solid evidence to back up its rankings, but it said that we finished ahead of Portugal, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Scotland, Morocco, Ireland, Spain, and Vietnam.
An estimated 640,000 of the adult women in the United Kingdom are “very interested in taking up golf this summer,” according to a forthcoming survey by Syngenta. In addition, the data says that 3.8 million women aged 19 to 64 are “somewhat or [a] little interested” in giving the game a try. The question now is, Can the owners and operators of the U.K.’s golf venues find them?
Half of the golf clubs in Australia are under “financial duress,” according to a study by Golf Australia and Golf Management Australia, and they must connect with women, families, and especially young people if they expect to survive. “Many clubs are under increasing financial pressure and experiencing challenging times,” concludes the 2013 National Golf Participation Report, which compiled data from 1,583 properties. According to the report, club membership in Australia peaked in 1998, with roughly 500,000 golfers. Today, the nation’s clubs count just 398,804 members, a decline of more than 20 percent. The clubs have lost 6.7 percent of their members since 2010, the study has determined, largely because participation among young people -- those between 15 and 34 -- has waned. Some of the clouds hovering over Australia’s golf industry may have a silver lining, however. Last year, 42 percent of the nation’s clubs increased the size of their membership, and 18 percent posted increases of 10 percent or more.
Here are five noteworthy statistics about golf in Australia from the 2013 National Golf Participation Report: 1) Golf participation levels in Australia have fallen by 11 percent since 2000 and currently sit at 6.7 percent of the population. Last year, an estimated 1.18 million adults (apparently defined as those aged 15 and older) played at least one round of golf. 2) The average club in Australia has 250 members, but more than half (51 percent) have fewer than 100 and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) have fewer than 200. 3) Australia’s golf clubs rang up nearly 25 million rounds in 2013. (Note: This number doesn’t include public play.) 4) Of the nation’s 398,804 club members, 60 percent are at least 55 years old. 5) Last year, the nation’s clubs lost 1.6 percent of their members.
$20 million: That’s the size of the economic divot created by the departure of Rochester, New York’s annual LPGA event. A local elected official believes that the loss of the tournament, known of late as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, will leave “a void in the community.” Starting next year, the tournament will be played on the other side of the state, in Westchester.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
The Week That Was, june 8, 2014
The Asia Pacific Golf Group, for years an unabashed promoter for Asian golf, has had a change of opinion regarding golf development in China.
The Singapore-based group, best known as the organizer the annual Asia Pacific Golf Summit, has concluded that China’s golf industry has hit the skids and won’t recover anytime soon. “The Chinese dragon seems to have lost its puff,” it writes in the June issue of Asian Club Business.
Such a reappraisal reflects the angst that’s become palpable as China’s golf business falls from its dizzying heights. In its anonymously written cover story, Asian Club Business says that golf course architects are “very disappointed with the pace of golf course development in China, or the lack of it.” It notes that fewer people went through the turnstiles at this year’s Beijing Golf Show, with “a big drop in registered attendance for architects and designers.” It quotes an unnamed architect as saying, “Golf in China has been awful for over two years now” and allows another to complain about “all the crappy Chinese courses built by bad designers that nobody wants to play on.”
Asian Club Business also has misgivings about the future of golf in China, due mostly to the industry’s poisonously close relationship with home builders. Like other analysts, the magazine fears that the nation’s real estate market “may collapse,” a prospect it believes would have dire consequences for golf development because “most golf courses in China are built as an excuse to develop real estate.”
“Golf development in China is rarely connected with a genuine interest to develop and grow the game,” the magazine sadly notes.
Maybe that’s why there are so many crappy courses in the People’s Republic.
For a more upbeat analysis of the current state of the golf industry, look no further than Donald Trump. During a recent visit to Dubai, where he’s building a Gil Hanse-designed golf course, Trump dismissed the evidence of golf’s decline and various downbeat projections about the game’s future. “Worldwide, golf is the hottest thing there is, and in the U.S. it’s doing really, really well,” Trump told Arabian Business. “Nothing is really even close to it. You go to China, all over Asia, South America -- golf is just booming.” So who do you believe?
The last rites have already been read to one of Salt Lake City, Utah’s financially distressed municipal golf courses, and now it looks as if only an act of God can prevent further closings. The city is pulling the plug on Jordan River Par 3 Golf Course at the end of the current golf season, and the Salt Lake Tribune reports that three 18-hole tracks -- the Wingpointe, Forest Dale, and Glendale courses -- have been put on the endangered list as well. “Doing nothing is not an option,” a councilmember told the newspaper. “The longer we delay, the harder it gets.” Only three of Salt Lake City’s eight golf properties are safe. The city’s golf operation -- $1 million in the red and desperate to fund $23 million worth of capital improvements -- is said to be “financially unsustainable.”
Memo to struggling municipal golf courses in Great Britain: It’s your own fault. At least that’s the message being delivered by Maureen Brooker, the chairperson of the National Association of Public Golf Courses. All too often, Brooker believes, municipalities milked their golf facilities for all they were worth and failed to make capital improvements that might have generated consistent play over the long term. “Councils for many years reaped the benefit of good profits from municipal courses, but under-investment and the taking of these profits to put into council coffers brought many into decline,” she said in a comment published by Golf Club Management. “Courses need to be maintained correctly to attract golfers and members, and the facilities need to be adequate and kept to a decent standard.” As has been well documented, in recent years British munis have been suffering as much as their U.S. counterparts, and the magazine notes that “the situation has continued to deteriorate this year.” Brooker is trying to convey an important lesson, but it’s too little too late.
Another surprise from Brazil: The golf course for the 2016 Olympics -- supposedly a grow-the-game initiative for a nation with precious few public venues -- is guaranteed to be public for just 10 years. “It’s not clear how the course will be run after that,” notes a dispatch from the Associated Press. And it may be completely unrelated, but the AP also notes that the course will be flanked by some of the most expensive real estate in Rio de Janeiro: four 20-story towers whose 160 residential units will cost between $2.5 million and $7 million apiece. How cynical does one have to be to see a private club on the horizon?
As expected, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club has closed on its purchase of National Golf Club. National’s 25-year-old Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course will become Pinehurst No. 9, a number that the famed resort in North Carolina has been trying to assign for years. Originally, No. 9 belonged to a new, Rees Jones-designed course that was unfortunately never built. Then it appeared that No. 9 would be worn by the Pit, a defunct, Dan Maples-designed layout in nearby Aberdeen that Pinehurst bought three years ago. So now that No. 9 has finally been awarded, what’s Pinehurst’s plan for No. 10? Will it commence work on a Coore & Crenshaw track where the Pit once stood, give the green light to Jones, or come up with something completely different?
The Singapore-based group, best known as the organizer the annual Asia Pacific Golf Summit, has concluded that China’s golf industry has hit the skids and won’t recover anytime soon. “The Chinese dragon seems to have lost its puff,” it writes in the June issue of Asian Club Business.
Such a reappraisal reflects the angst that’s become palpable as China’s golf business falls from its dizzying heights. In its anonymously written cover story, Asian Club Business says that golf course architects are “very disappointed with the pace of golf course development in China, or the lack of it.” It notes that fewer people went through the turnstiles at this year’s Beijing Golf Show, with “a big drop in registered attendance for architects and designers.” It quotes an unnamed architect as saying, “Golf in China has been awful for over two years now” and allows another to complain about “all the crappy Chinese courses built by bad designers that nobody wants to play on.”
Asian Club Business also has misgivings about the future of golf in China, due mostly to the industry’s poisonously close relationship with home builders. Like other analysts, the magazine fears that the nation’s real estate market “may collapse,” a prospect it believes would have dire consequences for golf development because “most golf courses in China are built as an excuse to develop real estate.”
“Golf development in China is rarely connected with a genuine interest to develop and grow the game,” the magazine sadly notes.
Maybe that’s why there are so many crappy courses in the People’s Republic.
For a more upbeat analysis of the current state of the golf industry, look no further than Donald Trump. During a recent visit to Dubai, where he’s building a Gil Hanse-designed golf course, Trump dismissed the evidence of golf’s decline and various downbeat projections about the game’s future. “Worldwide, golf is the hottest thing there is, and in the U.S. it’s doing really, really well,” Trump told Arabian Business. “Nothing is really even close to it. You go to China, all over Asia, South America -- golf is just booming.” So who do you believe?
The last rites have already been read to one of Salt Lake City, Utah’s financially distressed municipal golf courses, and now it looks as if only an act of God can prevent further closings. The city is pulling the plug on Jordan River Par 3 Golf Course at the end of the current golf season, and the Salt Lake Tribune reports that three 18-hole tracks -- the Wingpointe, Forest Dale, and Glendale courses -- have been put on the endangered list as well. “Doing nothing is not an option,” a councilmember told the newspaper. “The longer we delay, the harder it gets.” Only three of Salt Lake City’s eight golf properties are safe. The city’s golf operation -- $1 million in the red and desperate to fund $23 million worth of capital improvements -- is said to be “financially unsustainable.”
Memo to struggling municipal golf courses in Great Britain: It’s your own fault. At least that’s the message being delivered by Maureen Brooker, the chairperson of the National Association of Public Golf Courses. All too often, Brooker believes, municipalities milked their golf facilities for all they were worth and failed to make capital improvements that might have generated consistent play over the long term. “Councils for many years reaped the benefit of good profits from municipal courses, but under-investment and the taking of these profits to put into council coffers brought many into decline,” she said in a comment published by Golf Club Management. “Courses need to be maintained correctly to attract golfers and members, and the facilities need to be adequate and kept to a decent standard.” As has been well documented, in recent years British munis have been suffering as much as their U.S. counterparts, and the magazine notes that “the situation has continued to deteriorate this year.” Brooker is trying to convey an important lesson, but it’s too little too late.
Another surprise from Brazil: The golf course for the 2016 Olympics -- supposedly a grow-the-game initiative for a nation with precious few public venues -- is guaranteed to be public for just 10 years. “It’s not clear how the course will be run after that,” notes a dispatch from the Associated Press. And it may be completely unrelated, but the AP also notes that the course will be flanked by some of the most expensive real estate in Rio de Janeiro: four 20-story towers whose 160 residential units will cost between $2.5 million and $7 million apiece. How cynical does one have to be to see a private club on the horizon?
As expected, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club has closed on its purchase of National Golf Club. National’s 25-year-old Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course will become Pinehurst No. 9, a number that the famed resort in North Carolina has been trying to assign for years. Originally, No. 9 belonged to a new, Rees Jones-designed course that was unfortunately never built. Then it appeared that No. 9 would be worn by the Pit, a defunct, Dan Maples-designed layout in nearby Aberdeen that Pinehurst bought three years ago. So now that No. 9 has finally been awarded, what’s Pinehurst’s plan for No. 10? Will it commence work on a Coore & Crenshaw track where the Pit once stood, give the green light to Jones, or come up with something completely different?
Friday, June 6, 2014
The Pipeline, june 6, 2014
Before long, the world’s golfers may have even more reasons to head for the Hills. Borrowing an idea from Augusta National Golf Club, New Zealand’s most exclusive private club plans to add a nine-hole, par-3 layout that would add some fun to its championship events. In addition, five of the course’s holes will be redesigned, to improve a track that already ranks among the nation’s best. “We’ve just got to keep pushing and make this course better and better,” the course’s owner, Sir Michael Hill, told the Otago Daily Times. “We’re on the tip of doing something great here. We want to make this a 100 percent world-class course.” Since its existing 18-hole layout opened, in 2007, the Hills has hosted the New Zealand Open several times, and these days it also hosts the nation’s PGA championship. Sir Bob Charles, New Zealand’s most enduring golf star, thinks it’s the nation’s top course, and Top 100 Golf Courses of the World ranks it #6. The track occupies part of a largely untamed 500-acre spread outside Queenstown, on the South Island, and earned its reputation in part because Hill decorated it with more than a dozen museum-quality sculptures.
A group of Saudi investors is funding the development of a master-planned community that’s said to be “the single largest development ever proposed” in Lake County, Florida. The investors aim to build the community, called Villa City, on roughly 2,500 acres in Groveland. At build-out, in 2035, Villa City would reportedly have 3,054 houses for seniors, 1,610 other houses, 900 apartments, a shopping center, an industrial park, more than 200,000 square feet of office space, and an 18-hole golf course. “This could be a great starting point for our city," Groveland’s city manager told the Orlando Sentinel. The Saudi group, which has owned the property for more than a decade, is said to include members of the royal family.
A top official of the Asian Tour is going to put his “signature” on a championship-caliber golf course outside Myanmar’s last royal capital. Kyi Hia Han’s course will be among the attractions at Mandalay Myotha, a mini city that’s emerging on more than 10,000 acres roughly 30 miles southwest of Mandalay. Han, the Asian Tour’s executive director, will co-design the 18-hole track with Lee Schmidt, a principal of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Schmidt-Curley Design. The partners aim to create an “innovative” 8,000-yard layout that Schmidt believes will offer “a stern test for today’s best players.” The city is being developed by Mandalay Myotha Industrial Development Public Company, Ltd., an entity controlled by Royal Hi-Tech Group. MMID expects Mandalay Myotha to offer “the country’s best living, working, enjoyment, and investment opportunities” and to become “a model for modernization in other developing nations.” It plans to break ground on the golf course this summer and to open it by the end of 2015.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the March 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Sometime this fall, the premier golf venue in Poland hopes to take the wraps off what it calls a “championship course in miniature.” The track, called Orli Las, will complement the 18-hole, Gary Player-designed layout at Modry Las Golf Club, the property regarded by Golf Digest as the nation’s best. “We know we cannot sit on our laurels,” the club’s marketing director said in a press release. “That is why we are continuing with our investment program, in order to make Modry Las a luxurious, thriving, and sustainable community.” Orli Las, which can reportedly be played in less than an hour, is said to be “big on challenge.” Modry Las, which is located outside Choszczno, opened Player’s course in 2009. The track is said to be especially popular among Scandinavian golfers.
With inspiration from Alister MacKenzie, a French touring pro has embarked on a career as a course architect. Nicolas Joakimides, who made his professional debut in 1993, has designed a 27-hole golf complex in Navarrenx, a village in southwestern France. The complex is taking shape on 325 acres surrounding Nitot de Sus, a chateau that dates from the 18th century. Jean-François Cabarrouy, the chateau’s owner, believes the site is ideal for golf. “When I found this property, in 2004,” he explained to La Republic des Pyrenees, “I immediately saw a golf course.” Originally, Cabarrouy wanted Joakimides to produce a course like MacKenzie’s at Augusta National Golf Club, but he settled for something less ambitious: A track that Joakimides says will serve as “a tribute to Mackenzie’s work and ideas.” Cabarrouy broke ground on the 18-hole layout last year. He hopes to open it in the summer of next year, with the nine-hole track to be unveiled in 2016.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Gary Player has been enlisted to transform a 27-hole complex near Beijing’s international airport into a venue capable of hosting professional tournaments. To complete the mission, Player’s design firm will completely redesign Tianzhu Golf & Country Club, a facility whose original layout was created by Tim Kent of Strategic Golf Design. When all is said and done, Tianzhu will be marketed as a Gary Player “signature” design. Tianzhu’s owners, a group led by Yafei Yuan, expect Player’s firm to complete one nine-hole loop this year and the remaining holes in 2015. “I am confident that the end result will be a fantastic addition to further grow the game in Beijing,” Player said in a press release. Yuan is the chairman of Sanpower Group, a Nanjing-based conglomerate that owns one of China’s major department stores, Nanjing Xinjinkou. Sanpower has ranked as one of China’s Top 500 Enterprises for a decade, and Yuan expects it to become a Fortune Global 500 Company as soon as next year.
One of Joe Lee’s former apprentices may design the first public course in northern Colombia. Joe Jemsek, an architect based in Chicago, Illinois, is working with an unnamed group that hopes to build a “short” course and a driving range in the Atlantico region, a densely populated area (population: almost 2.3 million) that includes the cities of Barranquilla, Malambo, and Soledad. If the course is a success, it could become a regulation-length layout. “These types of feeder facilities are critical for new player development,” Jemsek told Golf Course Architecture. What’s more, he said, Atlantico is “a great tourist destination” that’s “safe for foreign tourists.” While he waits for the developers to make some headway, Jemsek is overseeing a complete overhaul of Club Lagos de Caujaral (Caujaral Club), a tony private club in suburban Barranquilla that features an 18-hole course designed by Lee in the late 1960s.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
The new nine-hole golf course outside Rwamagana, the capital of Rwanda’s Eastern Province, may be just a hint of things to come. Falcon Golf & Country Club, which officially opened in August 2013, is among the attractions at Eagle on the Lake, a resort community located along Lake Muhazi, in the Kayonza District. At build-out, Eagle on the Lake will feature houses, a hotel, meeting space, and an 18-hole golf “championship” course that its owners believe will be “the ideal place for regional and international golfing events.” Falcon Properties Rwanda, Ltd. hasn’t announced when the 18-hole track will be built, but it probably won’t happen until the community loses its self-described reputation as “one of East Africa’s best-kept secrets.”
A group of Saudi investors is funding the development of a master-planned community that’s said to be “the single largest development ever proposed” in Lake County, Florida. The investors aim to build the community, called Villa City, on roughly 2,500 acres in Groveland. At build-out, in 2035, Villa City would reportedly have 3,054 houses for seniors, 1,610 other houses, 900 apartments, a shopping center, an industrial park, more than 200,000 square feet of office space, and an 18-hole golf course. “This could be a great starting point for our city," Groveland’s city manager told the Orlando Sentinel. The Saudi group, which has owned the property for more than a decade, is said to include members of the royal family.
A top official of the Asian Tour is going to put his “signature” on a championship-caliber golf course outside Myanmar’s last royal capital. Kyi Hia Han’s course will be among the attractions at Mandalay Myotha, a mini city that’s emerging on more than 10,000 acres roughly 30 miles southwest of Mandalay. Han, the Asian Tour’s executive director, will co-design the 18-hole track with Lee Schmidt, a principal of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Schmidt-Curley Design. The partners aim to create an “innovative” 8,000-yard layout that Schmidt believes will offer “a stern test for today’s best players.” The city is being developed by Mandalay Myotha Industrial Development Public Company, Ltd., an entity controlled by Royal Hi-Tech Group. MMID expects Mandalay Myotha to offer “the country’s best living, working, enjoyment, and investment opportunities” and to become “a model for modernization in other developing nations.” It plans to break ground on the golf course this summer and to open it by the end of 2015.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the March 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Sometime this fall, the premier golf venue in Poland hopes to take the wraps off what it calls a “championship course in miniature.” The track, called Orli Las, will complement the 18-hole, Gary Player-designed layout at Modry Las Golf Club, the property regarded by Golf Digest as the nation’s best. “We know we cannot sit on our laurels,” the club’s marketing director said in a press release. “That is why we are continuing with our investment program, in order to make Modry Las a luxurious, thriving, and sustainable community.” Orli Las, which can reportedly be played in less than an hour, is said to be “big on challenge.” Modry Las, which is located outside Choszczno, opened Player’s course in 2009. The track is said to be especially popular among Scandinavian golfers.
With inspiration from Alister MacKenzie, a French touring pro has embarked on a career as a course architect. Nicolas Joakimides, who made his professional debut in 1993, has designed a 27-hole golf complex in Navarrenx, a village in southwestern France. The complex is taking shape on 325 acres surrounding Nitot de Sus, a chateau that dates from the 18th century. Jean-François Cabarrouy, the chateau’s owner, believes the site is ideal for golf. “When I found this property, in 2004,” he explained to La Republic des Pyrenees, “I immediately saw a golf course.” Originally, Cabarrouy wanted Joakimides to produce a course like MacKenzie’s at Augusta National Golf Club, but he settled for something less ambitious: A track that Joakimides says will serve as “a tribute to Mackenzie’s work and ideas.” Cabarrouy broke ground on the 18-hole layout last year. He hopes to open it in the summer of next year, with the nine-hole track to be unveiled in 2016.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Gary Player has been enlisted to transform a 27-hole complex near Beijing’s international airport into a venue capable of hosting professional tournaments. To complete the mission, Player’s design firm will completely redesign Tianzhu Golf & Country Club, a facility whose original layout was created by Tim Kent of Strategic Golf Design. When all is said and done, Tianzhu will be marketed as a Gary Player “signature” design. Tianzhu’s owners, a group led by Yafei Yuan, expect Player’s firm to complete one nine-hole loop this year and the remaining holes in 2015. “I am confident that the end result will be a fantastic addition to further grow the game in Beijing,” Player said in a press release. Yuan is the chairman of Sanpower Group, a Nanjing-based conglomerate that owns one of China’s major department stores, Nanjing Xinjinkou. Sanpower has ranked as one of China’s Top 500 Enterprises for a decade, and Yuan expects it to become a Fortune Global 500 Company as soon as next year.
One of Joe Lee’s former apprentices may design the first public course in northern Colombia. Joe Jemsek, an architect based in Chicago, Illinois, is working with an unnamed group that hopes to build a “short” course and a driving range in the Atlantico region, a densely populated area (population: almost 2.3 million) that includes the cities of Barranquilla, Malambo, and Soledad. If the course is a success, it could become a regulation-length layout. “These types of feeder facilities are critical for new player development,” Jemsek told Golf Course Architecture. What’s more, he said, Atlantico is “a great tourist destination” that’s “safe for foreign tourists.” While he waits for the developers to make some headway, Jemsek is overseeing a complete overhaul of Club Lagos de Caujaral (Caujaral Club), a tony private club in suburban Barranquilla that features an 18-hole course designed by Lee in the late 1960s.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2014 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
The new nine-hole golf course outside Rwamagana, the capital of Rwanda’s Eastern Province, may be just a hint of things to come. Falcon Golf & Country Club, which officially opened in August 2013, is among the attractions at Eagle on the Lake, a resort community located along Lake Muhazi, in the Kayonza District. At build-out, Eagle on the Lake will feature houses, a hotel, meeting space, and an 18-hole golf “championship” course that its owners believe will be “the ideal place for regional and international golfing events.” Falcon Properties Rwanda, Ltd. hasn’t announced when the 18-hole track will be built, but it probably won’t happen until the community loses its self-described reputation as “one of East Africa’s best-kept secrets.”
Sunday, June 1, 2014
The Week That Was, june 1, 2014
The crackdown on corruption in China is going to claim a few golf courses. The National Development & Reform Commission has identified five illegally built golf courses in the People’s Republic, all of them built on farmland in Yunnan Province, Liaoning Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and metropolitan Beijing. Few details are available, but a course in southwestern Yunnan owned by a subsidiary of Agile Property Holdings appears to be among those deemed to be illegal. Global Times reports that one of the properties -- LaoHeWan Golf Club in suburban Beijing (Chaoyang District) -- has been “demolished,” and Reuters, citing a report by a Chinese news service, says that “all facilities on the illegal courses had been demolished and their owners fined heavily.” The penalties are being meted out by China’s Ministry of Land & Resources.
Yet again, an unforeseen impediment is threatening to delay the construction of the golf venue for the 2016 Olympics. For unexplained reasons, a government official has demanded that the private-sector group building the Gil Hanse-designed course provide documents that prove it’s heeding all applicable environmental regulations in Rio de Janeiro. Hanse, who’s had to deal with such setbacks several times since he won the project’s $300,000 design commission, appears to have serious anxieties about what the latest delay might mean to the final product. “Going forward, we have to make sure we don’t all of a sudden start to rush the finish work,” he explained to the Associated Press. “Because ultimately, the details of the finished surface are what players are going to see. You need to lavish lots of time and attention on the details of the finished surfaces.” The government’s environmental concerns may have something to do with the ancillary development taking place adjacent to the course: The developers plan to build 160 residential units that will cost between $2.5 million and $7 million.
Another major U.S. developer has soured on the golf business. Fayetteville, Arkansas-based Lindsey Management, an apartment developer that’s responsible for more than 40 affordably priced golf courses in eight Midwestern and southern states, believes that hiking trails now attract just as many renters. “There was a point in time where the golf course greased the skids,” company president Lyndy Lindsey told Arkansas Business. “I don’t think the golf course has quite the appeal now.” Lindsey says his company may still build a golf course here and there, but only when the market absolutely demands it. “We are looking at smaller sites,” he explained. “The tough thing about golf is, people are so busy it’s hard to find time to go play.”
A Chinese-American group has purchased what’s said to be “the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi.” Konmer Venture LLC paid $2.1 million for Mare Island Golf Club, a venue in Vallejo, California whose original nine dates from 1892. Konmer’s four partners -- two of them Chinese nationals who’ve relocated to the San Francisco Bay area -- plan to add a hotel, a restaurant, and a banquet center adjacent to what has become an 18-hole, 6,150-yard track. “We like the demographics and the location,” one of the new owners told the Vallejo Times-Herald. “We want it to be a destination point.” Konmer bought Mare Island from Castle Linksters, an entity affiliated with a local home builder, Castle Companies. Castle, which has owned the property since 2003, put it on the market in 2011.
This week it was revealed that two well-known personalities in our industry -- Phil Mickelson, the PGA Tour star, and Billy Walters, the most influential person in Las Vegas golf -- are being investigated in connection with alleged insider-trading schemes. Here are 10 things to know about the case:
1. In the summer of 2011, a series of options purchases in Clorox stock raised red flags at the Securities & Exchange Commission. Why? Because the purchases took place just days before Carl Ichan, a notorious corporate raider, drove up the price of Clorox’s stock by announcing that he intended to take over the company. A group of investors, Mickelson and Walters among them, reportedly made “several million dollars” on their purchases.
2. Here’s how the dots are connected: Ichan and Walters “struck up a friendship” years ago, according to the Wall Street Journal, and Walters and Mickelson “play golf together.” The Journal also says that Walters has occasionally “suggested stocks for Mr. Mickelson to consider buying.”
3. The trades in Clorox were made nearly three years ago, and the government hasn’t yet accused anyone of committing a crime. That’s because it’s incredibly hard to compile evidence and prove an insider-trading case. Besides, Icahn may have been entirely within his legal rights if he’d wanted to share information about his plans for Clorox.
4. The New York Times reports that the government is trying to “scare” Mickelson into cooperating with its investigation.
5. Mickelson has professed his innocence. “I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” he said in a statement released by his lawyer. “I have cooperated with the government in this investigation and will continue to do so.”
6. The federal probe isn’t limited to trading in Clorox’s stock. Walters and Mickelson (not Ichan) are also being investigated for stock purchases they made in Dean Foods in 2012. The New York Times reports that authorities are trying to determine if Walters had inside information about Dean Foods and shared it with Mickelson and others.
7. Mickelson’s lawyer told the Wall Street Journal that his client “is not the target of any investigation. Period.” However, the Journal also noted that the FBI “declined to comment” on the statement.
8. Mickelson and Walters aren’t the only people in golf whose trading has aroused suspicion. The Times reports that stock purchases in Clorox were also made by “at least one other investor connected to Mr. Walters and the golfing world.”
9. Walters, who owns and/or manages three golf properties in Las Vegas, may be the government’s true target. Walters is a legendary sports bettor and an outstanding golfer, and he wields considerable power in the city’s political circles. Federal and state authorities have been trying to nail him for various alleged crimes -- illegal gambling, money laundering -- since the early 1990s but haven’t been able to bring a conviction.
10. If the government files charges against anyone it’s investigating, it’s likely to win. Since August 2009, according to the Journal, federal prosecutors have accused 90 corporate executives, Wall Street traders, and other individuals of insider trading. So far, the government has won 85 convictions and guilty pleas. The other five cases are still pending.
Yet again, an unforeseen impediment is threatening to delay the construction of the golf venue for the 2016 Olympics. For unexplained reasons, a government official has demanded that the private-sector group building the Gil Hanse-designed course provide documents that prove it’s heeding all applicable environmental regulations in Rio de Janeiro. Hanse, who’s had to deal with such setbacks several times since he won the project’s $300,000 design commission, appears to have serious anxieties about what the latest delay might mean to the final product. “Going forward, we have to make sure we don’t all of a sudden start to rush the finish work,” he explained to the Associated Press. “Because ultimately, the details of the finished surface are what players are going to see. You need to lavish lots of time and attention on the details of the finished surfaces.” The government’s environmental concerns may have something to do with the ancillary development taking place adjacent to the course: The developers plan to build 160 residential units that will cost between $2.5 million and $7 million.
Another major U.S. developer has soured on the golf business. Fayetteville, Arkansas-based Lindsey Management, an apartment developer that’s responsible for more than 40 affordably priced golf courses in eight Midwestern and southern states, believes that hiking trails now attract just as many renters. “There was a point in time where the golf course greased the skids,” company president Lyndy Lindsey told Arkansas Business. “I don’t think the golf course has quite the appeal now.” Lindsey says his company may still build a golf course here and there, but only when the market absolutely demands it. “We are looking at smaller sites,” he explained. “The tough thing about golf is, people are so busy it’s hard to find time to go play.”
A Chinese-American group has purchased what’s said to be “the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi.” Konmer Venture LLC paid $2.1 million for Mare Island Golf Club, a venue in Vallejo, California whose original nine dates from 1892. Konmer’s four partners -- two of them Chinese nationals who’ve relocated to the San Francisco Bay area -- plan to add a hotel, a restaurant, and a banquet center adjacent to what has become an 18-hole, 6,150-yard track. “We like the demographics and the location,” one of the new owners told the Vallejo Times-Herald. “We want it to be a destination point.” Konmer bought Mare Island from Castle Linksters, an entity affiliated with a local home builder, Castle Companies. Castle, which has owned the property since 2003, put it on the market in 2011.
This week it was revealed that two well-known personalities in our industry -- Phil Mickelson, the PGA Tour star, and Billy Walters, the most influential person in Las Vegas golf -- are being investigated in connection with alleged insider-trading schemes. Here are 10 things to know about the case:
1. In the summer of 2011, a series of options purchases in Clorox stock raised red flags at the Securities & Exchange Commission. Why? Because the purchases took place just days before Carl Ichan, a notorious corporate raider, drove up the price of Clorox’s stock by announcing that he intended to take over the company. A group of investors, Mickelson and Walters among them, reportedly made “several million dollars” on their purchases.
2. Here’s how the dots are connected: Ichan and Walters “struck up a friendship” years ago, according to the Wall Street Journal, and Walters and Mickelson “play golf together.” The Journal also says that Walters has occasionally “suggested stocks for Mr. Mickelson to consider buying.”
3. The trades in Clorox were made nearly three years ago, and the government hasn’t yet accused anyone of committing a crime. That’s because it’s incredibly hard to compile evidence and prove an insider-trading case. Besides, Icahn may have been entirely within his legal rights if he’d wanted to share information about his plans for Clorox.
4. The New York Times reports that the government is trying to “scare” Mickelson into cooperating with its investigation.
5. Mickelson has professed his innocence. “I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” he said in a statement released by his lawyer. “I have cooperated with the government in this investigation and will continue to do so.”
6. The federal probe isn’t limited to trading in Clorox’s stock. Walters and Mickelson (not Ichan) are also being investigated for stock purchases they made in Dean Foods in 2012. The New York Times reports that authorities are trying to determine if Walters had inside information about Dean Foods and shared it with Mickelson and others.
7. Mickelson’s lawyer told the Wall Street Journal that his client “is not the target of any investigation. Period.” However, the Journal also noted that the FBI “declined to comment” on the statement.
8. Mickelson and Walters aren’t the only people in golf whose trading has aroused suspicion. The Times reports that stock purchases in Clorox were also made by “at least one other investor connected to Mr. Walters and the golfing world.”
9. Walters, who owns and/or manages three golf properties in Las Vegas, may be the government’s true target. Walters is a legendary sports bettor and an outstanding golfer, and he wields considerable power in the city’s political circles. Federal and state authorities have been trying to nail him for various alleged crimes -- illegal gambling, money laundering -- since the early 1990s but haven’t been able to bring a conviction.
10. If the government files charges against anyone it’s investigating, it’s likely to win. Since August 2009, according to the Journal, federal prosecutors have accused 90 corporate executives, Wall Street traders, and other individuals of insider trading. So far, the government has won 85 convictions and guilty pleas. The other five cases are still pending.
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