In a bid to host the Houston Open, perhaps as soon as the 2020 golf season, the city of Houston has hired Tom Doak to overhaul Memorial Park Golf Course. The commission will enable Doak, who’s working with professional golfer Brooks Koepka and a prominent local design team, to produce what Golf News Net calls “his first PGA Tour-hosting course.” Memorial Park is a 7,300-yard track that was created by John Bredemus in 1935, and it was once considered to be a tournament-worthy track, as it hosted the Houston Open for 13 consecutive years beginning in 1951. It’s said to host 60,000 rounds a year, but it reportedly needs a thorough overhaul.
Pipeline Overflow – Come the spring of 2020, a community in suburban Madison, Wisconsin that hopes to become “a fun, family neighborhood” is expected to feature a 13-hole, par-3 golf course. Co-designing the course are Jerry Kelly, a player on the Champions Tour, and Lohmann Quitno Golf Course Architects, who’ve set out to create a track that’s “challenging but still cool for everybody to play.” . . . The first “signature” layout in Pakistan, an 18-hole track designed by Sir Nick Faldo, is under construction and scheduled to open in 2020. Faldo says that Rumanza Golf Course, the centerpiece of a community in Multan, will be “a memorable test of golf” and “serve as a source of inspiration for a new generation of golfers in Pakistan.” . . . Elsewhere in Pakistan – in Islamabad, specifically – Peter Harradine expects to soon break ground on a “unique” 18-hole golf course. The track will be among the attractions at Islamabad Capital Smart City, and a press release says it’ll take shape on “one of the most beautiful and challenging sites” that Harradine, a third-generation architect, “has ever worked on.”
ClubCorp has become the latest in a series of owners of Ridge Club, a 30-year-old “lifestyle” property in Sandwich, Massachusetts that’s been called “one of the finest clubs in the Cape Cod region.” The Ridge, part of a gated community, features an 18-hole, Robert von Hagge-designed golf course. Despite its reputation – ClubCorp thinks it’s purchased “a truly unique club located in one of the most beautiful and historical parts of the country” – the Ridge has burned through owners in recent years. In 2003, it was sold to an individual for $2.5 million. In 2007, it was sold to an entity linked to Carlyle Group for $5.9 million. In 2011, it was sold for $3 million at a foreclosure auction, to the bank that held the mortgage on the property. It was sold again in 2012, this this time to a group of members (including Bobby Orr, the hockey legend) for $3 million. And now comes ClubCorp, which didn’t mention any of the previous sales in a press release. Nonetheless, the self-described “world leader in private clubs” claims to be “very excited” about the acquisition.
Surplus Transactions – Mark Moore didn’t hang on to Sapona Ridge Country Club for very long. Moore, who bought the 50-year-old facility in Lexington, North Carolina just weeks ago, has sold it to a homeowners’ group, reportedly for $1.6 million. He turned a profit of roughly $400,000 on the deal, and he including a right of first refusal on a future sale, because he believes that “it’s going to fail again.” . . . An investment group led by Dan Coleman has paid an undisclosed price for River Valley Ranch Golf Course, a 20-year-old venue in Carbondale, Colorado. The club features an 18-hole, Jay Morrish-designed course that’s been called “the jewel of the Rockies,” and a lawyer involved in the sale told the Aspen Times that the top item on the new owners’ agenda is “to figure out if we can get the golf course open for next season.” . . . Crossings at Montevideo, a 95-year-old venue in Montevideo, Minnesota that’s reportedly been “struggling with money,” may soon have a new owner. Jim Hagen has made an acceptable offer for the former Montevideo Country Club, and the transaction could close by the end of the year.
Duly Noted – Topgolf has entered into exclusive negotiations to build one of its golf-inspired entertainment centers alongside a nine-hole municipal golf course in El Segundo, California. If all goes as planned, the existing track will be renovated and outfitted with lights for nighttime play. . . . Pending an all-but-certain approval by city officials, WFAA-TV reports that the PGA of America will indeed be relocating its headquarters to Frisco, Texas. The group’s new digs will be part of a master-planned community that includes an 18-hole, Gil Hanse-designed golf course (one capable of hosting the PGA Championship), a less-challenging, Beau Welling-designed course, a nine-hole “short” course, a resort-style hotel with meeting space, and a PGA-branded golf academy. . . . Golf Digest’s best new courses for 2018: The Black Course at Streamsong, in Florida, on the public side, and Congaree, in South Carolina, on the private side. The runners-up are the Mammoth Dunes track at Sand Valley, in Wisconsin, and Trinity Forest Golf Club in Texas.
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Sunday, November 25, 2018
The Week That Was, november 25, 2018
A Texas-based investor hopes to build a resort, including what will supposedly be “a really good golf course,” on Pašman Island in Croatia. Jeff Blackard, who’s said to be “a passionate fan of Croatia,” will reportedly build Pašman Riviera on 650 waterfront acres, and it’s expected to include villas, apartments, a hotel, a water park, a medical center, and other attractions. Promotional materials say the place will be “everything the guests of a state-of-the-art resort may dream of.” Well, perhaps not quite everything. Blackard has acknowledged that a golf course isn’t officially in Pašman Riviera’s master plan, but he told a Croatian news service that he wants to build one because golf courses “create value for the surrounding land.” If he can find enough land for the track, it’ll be built “in the future.”
Pipeline Overflow – Jack Nicklaus and Greg “the Living Brand” Norman may be grabbing all the headlines, but they aren’t the only U.S. designers who are capitalizing on opportunities in Vietnam. The Lansing State Journal reports that Paul Albanese, who’s been commissioned to produce two 18-hole tracks at at Yên Dũng Golf Resort in metropolitan Hà Nội (the first one is already open), also has “a current project in Hồ Chí Minh City.” . . . Graham Marsh may be known for designing “long, difficult, ‘tournament-standard’ golf courses,” but the former touring pro will be creating something different for a proposed seniors-only community outside Gladstone, Queensland. Marsh Marsh told the Gladstone Observer that his “unique” course at Station Creek Lifestyle Village will be tailored for people who “just want to go out and enjoy themselves.” . . . Pontos Oy, a Finnish company led by Ilpo Kokkila, hopes to build an 18-hole, Jorge Santana da Silva-designed golf course at the Ombria resort outside Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The course, which the developers say will offer “a truly memorable round of golf,” will be flanked by a boutique hotel as well as villas and apartments.
Pipeline Overflow Overflow – Come the spring, Big Cedar Lodge will debut Ozarks National, a much-anticipated Coore & Crenshaw layout. The resort, near Table Rock Lake in Missouri, believes that the 18-hole course will “showcase golf in the manner in which it was intended” and cement its place as “America’s next great golf destination.” . . . Greg Coffey, the wealthy, London-based hedge-fund manager nicknamed “the Wizard of Oz,” expects to debut his much-anticipated, Bob Harrison-designed golf course in the spring. It’s hard to believe, but news accounts indicate that Coffey, who’s reportedly relocating his firm to New York City, still hasn’t decided whether the 18-hole layout, on Scotland’s Jura Island, will be the centerpiece of a private “destination” club or simply serve as his “personal” track. . . . Also in the spring of next year, and more than a decade after it was formally announced, the golf course at what aims to be “the most opulent and stylish resort in Morocco” will be unveiled. The 18-hole track, co-designed by Graham Marsh and Vijay Singh, will be the centerpiece of Qatari Diar’s Al Houara oceanside resort community outside Tangier.
Duly Noted – Two of Australia’s premier golf venues, the National Golf Club and Huntingdale Golf Club, are engaged in “preliminary discussions” that are expected to create what Golf Australia calls “an unprecedented ‘Super Club.’” If the proposal is approved by members, the merged properties would boast five world-class golf courses at three locations and be “by far the biggest club in Australia.” . . . Of the 15 million international travelers who visited Vietnam last year, says the nation’s tourism ministry, 500,000 came to play golf. Through October of this year, the socialist republic had attracted 12.8 million international travelers, so it’s well on its way to getting or exceeding 15 million again this year. . . . Profits continued to elude Donald “the Deceiver” Trump’s golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland last year, but the owners have promised “the return of operating profits” in 2018. FYI, this is a promise they’ve made previously.
Pipeline Overflow – Jack Nicklaus and Greg “the Living Brand” Norman may be grabbing all the headlines, but they aren’t the only U.S. designers who are capitalizing on opportunities in Vietnam. The Lansing State Journal reports that Paul Albanese, who’s been commissioned to produce two 18-hole tracks at at Yên Dũng Golf Resort in metropolitan Hà Nội (the first one is already open), also has “a current project in Hồ Chí Minh City.” . . . Graham Marsh may be known for designing “long, difficult, ‘tournament-standard’ golf courses,” but the former touring pro will be creating something different for a proposed seniors-only community outside Gladstone, Queensland. Marsh Marsh told the Gladstone Observer that his “unique” course at Station Creek Lifestyle Village will be tailored for people who “just want to go out and enjoy themselves.” . . . Pontos Oy, a Finnish company led by Ilpo Kokkila, hopes to build an 18-hole, Jorge Santana da Silva-designed golf course at the Ombria resort outside Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The course, which the developers say will offer “a truly memorable round of golf,” will be flanked by a boutique hotel as well as villas and apartments.
Pipeline Overflow Overflow – Come the spring, Big Cedar Lodge will debut Ozarks National, a much-anticipated Coore & Crenshaw layout. The resort, near Table Rock Lake in Missouri, believes that the 18-hole course will “showcase golf in the manner in which it was intended” and cement its place as “America’s next great golf destination.” . . . Greg Coffey, the wealthy, London-based hedge-fund manager nicknamed “the Wizard of Oz,” expects to debut his much-anticipated, Bob Harrison-designed golf course in the spring. It’s hard to believe, but news accounts indicate that Coffey, who’s reportedly relocating his firm to New York City, still hasn’t decided whether the 18-hole layout, on Scotland’s Jura Island, will be the centerpiece of a private “destination” club or simply serve as his “personal” track. . . . Also in the spring of next year, and more than a decade after it was formally announced, the golf course at what aims to be “the most opulent and stylish resort in Morocco” will be unveiled. The 18-hole track, co-designed by Graham Marsh and Vijay Singh, will be the centerpiece of Qatari Diar’s Al Houara oceanside resort community outside Tangier.
Duly Noted – Two of Australia’s premier golf venues, the National Golf Club and Huntingdale Golf Club, are engaged in “preliminary discussions” that are expected to create what Golf Australia calls “an unprecedented ‘Super Club.’” If the proposal is approved by members, the merged properties would boast five world-class golf courses at three locations and be “by far the biggest club in Australia.” . . . Of the 15 million international travelers who visited Vietnam last year, says the nation’s tourism ministry, 500,000 came to play golf. Through October of this year, the socialist republic had attracted 12.8 million international travelers, so it’s well on its way to getting or exceeding 15 million again this year. . . . Profits continued to elude Donald “the Deceiver” Trump’s golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland last year, but the owners have promised “the return of operating profits” in 2018. FYI, this is a promise they’ve made previously.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
The Week That Was, november 18, 2018
In response to the flow of criticism that’s been directed at golf development, Vietnam’s ministry of planning and investment has issued what’s been described as “a draft decree” of new guidelines for golf construction and operations. The new proposals may not placate detractors, however, because, when boiled down, they basically only call for golf courses that are “environmentally friendly,” contribute to “local socio-economic development,” and support “national security.”
If the guidelines are adopted, it appears that the most significant change for the industry is that golf development would be regulated “by business conditions instead of planning instruments,” an order that would presumably give government officials more flexibility to deny approval to projects. In addition, the proposals would oblige developers to secure investment certificates before they break ground, to limit construction to 54 holes in a given project, and to complete their work within 36 months.
The golf courses themselves would have to be built according to “international standards,” and they could only take shape in “areas with the potential for tourism development” instead of properties designated for “national defense and security purposes, natural forest land, rice fields, or industrial and urban zones.”
And finally, in another reflection of the ministry’s concerns, it would be expressly prohibited to use a golf course “to organize illegal gambling activities.”
Paul Albanese has floated a makeover idea for a financially challenged 18-hole golf course in Plymouth, Michigan. The Plymouth-based architect, a principal of Albanese & Lutzke Golf Course Design, has proposed to shrink Hilltop Golf Course, a 90-year-old municipal track, to nine holes, and to surround those holes with sports fields, a collection of sculptures, and a dog park. To give the course some pizazz, Albanese plans what may be a reversible layout – a design that the Lansing State Journal, says would allow golfers to “play one nine-hole layout one day and a totally different layout the next.” Local elected officials are warm to the idea, but everyone involved counsels that the plan is still in what Albanese has characterized as “the exploratory phase.”
Pipeline Overflow – After playing a round last summer, Donald Trump decided that the Ailsa links at Turnberry was “too difficult,” so he’s reportedly demanded that changes be made to at least two greens. The greens, according to the Very Stable Genius, “potentially punished good shots” by “allowing the ball to roll off the back of the green.” . . . If it can secure an estimated $1.3 million in tax concessions, a New York City-based development group will redesign and reopen Rondout Golf Club, an 18-hole track in suburban Poughkeepsie, New York. The course will lose nine holes, but the survivors will be re-recreated by Tad King and Rob Collins, the duo responsible for Sweetens Cove Golf Club, a much-acclaimed nine-hole layout outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. . . . Inveravante Inversiones Universales, a conglomerate led by billionaire investor Manuel Jove Capellán, has broken ground on what Golf Course Architecture calls “a strategic and attractive golf course” on a historic estate in A Coruña, the provincial capital of Galicia, Spain. The 18-hole track has been designed by Stirling & Martin, which reports that the property has “lush vegetation everywhere,” with topography that’s “almost ideal.”
After months of debate, the city of Green, Ohio has decided to buy Raintree Country Club, a 26-year-old venue that features an 18-hole, Brian Huntley-designed golf course. The 145-acre property has reportedly been appraised for $2.7 million, but the city will pay the seller, John Rainieri, $3.3 million. Though Rainieri had described Raintree as “a money-maker,” he was eager to sell it, and the city feared that a residential developer would snap it up. “I value green space,” the city’s mayor said in a comment published by the Canton Repository. The city, in suburban Akron, expects to continue operating the site as a golf course in the immediate future, but it appears that the property will eventually become a park.
Surplus Transactions – American Golf Corporation has found a buyer for another one of the 26 golf properties that it’s set out to sell. A partnership led by Robert Ridino and Mark Holcomb has reportedly purchased Seascape Golf Club, an 82-year-old venue in Aptos, California. A price hasn’t been disclosed, but it appears that AGC is going to take something like a $2 million loss on the transaction. . . . The city of Henderson, Kentucky has acquired the Players Club and contracted with a local company, K&J Course Management, to manage and revitalize the property’s 18-hole, Danny McQueen-designed golf course. When the layout is ready for play, likely sometime next summer, it’ll operate at Bridges Golf Course of Henderson. . . . Christopher and Roseana Duval, citing their willingness to take on “a challenge,” have paid $640,000 for Beaver Brook Golf Club, in suburban Springfield, Massachusetts. Beaver Brook’s nine-hole track opened in 1960, the new owners told the Republican that “there was no interest from any buyer to keep it as a golf course.”
Duly Noted – China became home to 373 billionaires last year, up from 16 in 2006, and UBS Global Wealth Management has concluded that the People’s Republic is now “the leading country for entrepreneurs to create wealth.” What’s more, billionaires were created fast and furious in China last year: Two per week. To put that number into context, in 2017 the United States created 53 billionaires. . . . Like its Coore & Crenshaw-created predecessor, the second course at Sand Valley has been named as the year’s best course by Golf magazine. The editors cited Mammoth Dunes, a David McLay Kidd design, for its “joy-filled appeal for both low- and high-handicappers” and “plethora of individually memorable, strategy-laced holes,” and they praised the architect’s desire to deliver “maximum fun and minimal frustration.” . . . In what they’ve characterized as “an historic occasion,” the members of Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society have voted to admit women to their club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club, said to be the world’s fourth-oldest, believes the change in policy “will ensure we are well-positioned for the future.”
In compliance with recently issued European laws regarding data collection, I’ve been asked to provide a statement about my use of the data that’s collected about those of you who read the World Golf Report. So here it is: I don’t collect any data, and I don’t put any cookies into your computers. All I do is write what’s on my mind and then post what I write. I don’t know your names or addresses or ages or income levels, and I have no interest in learning any of that information. That being said, the World Golf Report occupies a slice of cyberspace owned by Google, one of the world’s foremost data collectors, and I’d bet dollars to donuts that Google collects information about you. For what it’s worth, I’ve downloaded an official-looking statement that’s supposed to appear at the bottom of the blog, but I can’t figure out how to load it.
If the guidelines are adopted, it appears that the most significant change for the industry is that golf development would be regulated “by business conditions instead of planning instruments,” an order that would presumably give government officials more flexibility to deny approval to projects. In addition, the proposals would oblige developers to secure investment certificates before they break ground, to limit construction to 54 holes in a given project, and to complete their work within 36 months.
The golf courses themselves would have to be built according to “international standards,” and they could only take shape in “areas with the potential for tourism development” instead of properties designated for “national defense and security purposes, natural forest land, rice fields, or industrial and urban zones.”
And finally, in another reflection of the ministry’s concerns, it would be expressly prohibited to use a golf course “to organize illegal gambling activities.”
Paul Albanese has floated a makeover idea for a financially challenged 18-hole golf course in Plymouth, Michigan. The Plymouth-based architect, a principal of Albanese & Lutzke Golf Course Design, has proposed to shrink Hilltop Golf Course, a 90-year-old municipal track, to nine holes, and to surround those holes with sports fields, a collection of sculptures, and a dog park. To give the course some pizazz, Albanese plans what may be a reversible layout – a design that the Lansing State Journal, says would allow golfers to “play one nine-hole layout one day and a totally different layout the next.” Local elected officials are warm to the idea, but everyone involved counsels that the plan is still in what Albanese has characterized as “the exploratory phase.”
Pipeline Overflow – After playing a round last summer, Donald Trump decided that the Ailsa links at Turnberry was “too difficult,” so he’s reportedly demanded that changes be made to at least two greens. The greens, according to the Very Stable Genius, “potentially punished good shots” by “allowing the ball to roll off the back of the green.” . . . If it can secure an estimated $1.3 million in tax concessions, a New York City-based development group will redesign and reopen Rondout Golf Club, an 18-hole track in suburban Poughkeepsie, New York. The course will lose nine holes, but the survivors will be re-recreated by Tad King and Rob Collins, the duo responsible for Sweetens Cove Golf Club, a much-acclaimed nine-hole layout outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. . . . Inveravante Inversiones Universales, a conglomerate led by billionaire investor Manuel Jove Capellán, has broken ground on what Golf Course Architecture calls “a strategic and attractive golf course” on a historic estate in A Coruña, the provincial capital of Galicia, Spain. The 18-hole track has been designed by Stirling & Martin, which reports that the property has “lush vegetation everywhere,” with topography that’s “almost ideal.”
After months of debate, the city of Green, Ohio has decided to buy Raintree Country Club, a 26-year-old venue that features an 18-hole, Brian Huntley-designed golf course. The 145-acre property has reportedly been appraised for $2.7 million, but the city will pay the seller, John Rainieri, $3.3 million. Though Rainieri had described Raintree as “a money-maker,” he was eager to sell it, and the city feared that a residential developer would snap it up. “I value green space,” the city’s mayor said in a comment published by the Canton Repository. The city, in suburban Akron, expects to continue operating the site as a golf course in the immediate future, but it appears that the property will eventually become a park.
Surplus Transactions – American Golf Corporation has found a buyer for another one of the 26 golf properties that it’s set out to sell. A partnership led by Robert Ridino and Mark Holcomb has reportedly purchased Seascape Golf Club, an 82-year-old venue in Aptos, California. A price hasn’t been disclosed, but it appears that AGC is going to take something like a $2 million loss on the transaction. . . . The city of Henderson, Kentucky has acquired the Players Club and contracted with a local company, K&J Course Management, to manage and revitalize the property’s 18-hole, Danny McQueen-designed golf course. When the layout is ready for play, likely sometime next summer, it’ll operate at Bridges Golf Course of Henderson. . . . Christopher and Roseana Duval, citing their willingness to take on “a challenge,” have paid $640,000 for Beaver Brook Golf Club, in suburban Springfield, Massachusetts. Beaver Brook’s nine-hole track opened in 1960, the new owners told the Republican that “there was no interest from any buyer to keep it as a golf course.”
Duly Noted – China became home to 373 billionaires last year, up from 16 in 2006, and UBS Global Wealth Management has concluded that the People’s Republic is now “the leading country for entrepreneurs to create wealth.” What’s more, billionaires were created fast and furious in China last year: Two per week. To put that number into context, in 2017 the United States created 53 billionaires. . . . Like its Coore & Crenshaw-created predecessor, the second course at Sand Valley has been named as the year’s best course by Golf magazine. The editors cited Mammoth Dunes, a David McLay Kidd design, for its “joy-filled appeal for both low- and high-handicappers” and “plethora of individually memorable, strategy-laced holes,” and they praised the architect’s desire to deliver “maximum fun and minimal frustration.” . . . In what they’ve characterized as “an historic occasion,” the members of Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society have voted to admit women to their club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club, said to be the world’s fourth-oldest, believes the change in policy “will ensure we are well-positioned for the future.”
In compliance with recently issued European laws regarding data collection, I’ve been asked to provide a statement about my use of the data that’s collected about those of you who read the World Golf Report. So here it is: I don’t collect any data, and I don’t put any cookies into your computers. All I do is write what’s on my mind and then post what I write. I don’t know your names or addresses or ages or income levels, and I have no interest in learning any of that information. That being said, the World Golf Report occupies a slice of cyberspace owned by Google, one of the world’s foremost data collectors, and I’d bet dollars to donuts that Google collects information about you. For what it’s worth, I’ve downloaded an official-looking statement that’s supposed to appear at the bottom of the blog, but I can’t figure out how to load it.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
The Week That Was, november 11, 2018
Fallout from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is rippling through the golf industry, as the European Tour is having second thoughts about holding one of its events in Saudi Arabia.
The tour isn’t saying so out loud, of course, because if it complained in public about a journalist’s slaying or a tragic war in Yemen, it would be pressured to withdraw. So instead, the tour is simply trying to avoid talking about where it’ll be in late January and early February.
The Irish Times reports that the tour’s press release announcing its 2019 schedule didn’t mention the Saudi International, an event that was much ballyhooed several months ago, when the contract for it was signed. What’s more, Keith Pelley, the tour’s CEO, only reluctantly answered questions about the event. In a gaggle with reporters earlier this month, he acknowledged that he’s “heard some of the criticism of the region” – who hasn’t? – and promised “to monitor the situation,” which translates as, “No, we aren’t going to change our schedule.” It’s a message that Saudi Arabia is thrilled to hear, because the cache of a big-time professional golf tournament is worth its weight in gold to a nation that desperately needs to diversify its economy.
More troubling to me, however, was something else Pelley said. He claimed that he’s had “no dialogue” with the tour’s “partners, with our own [British] government, with the Saudi Arabian Golf Federation, or anybody from Saudi Arabia.” This is shocking. When it comes to negotiating sensitive situations where both reputations and millions of dollars are on the table, one of a CEO’s primary responsibilities is to consult with each and every one of the stakeholders who might be affected. If Pelley was telling the truth – if he really isn’t taking and considering advice from everybody the tour does business with – then he’s doing a disservice to his constituency.
Right about now, it’s legitimate to wonder if Pelley regrets calling Saudi Arabia, a nation with hardly any golf courses and no history with the sport, “a perfect fit for the European Tour.”
While we’re on the subject, Tiger Woods has turned down a guaranteed £2.5 million – nearly $3.25 million – to play in the Saudi International. Woods hasn’t explained why he declined the offer, but the optimist in me wants to believe that he’s making a statement how a homicidal regime in Saudi Arabia should be treated. If that’s the case, good for him.
South Caicos, described by CNN as “a delightfully sleepy Caribbean retreat” and a “pristine paradise,” may soon get its first golf course. The course will serve as an attraction for the nearly two-year-old Sailrock Resort, which is envisioned to emerge as the centerpiece of a resort community that will feature, among other things, “a collection of residential neighborhoods,” “overwater bungalows,” and more hotels. The community will be created by Sailrock Development, Ltd., which is said to own 2,400 acres – nearly half of the island. To put the developers’ plans into perspective, CNN helpfully notes that South Caicos, part of the Turks & Caicos Islands, is home to “about a thousand locals” and has so far this year attracted “only about 7,500 overnight visitors.”
Pipeline Overflow – Chris Wilczynski, a protégé of Arthur Hills, has been hired to design his second course at Lakewood Ranch, a huge master-planned community outside Sarasota, Florida. In a press release, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based architect said the track would take shape on “a relatively flat piece of land” (hey, it’s Florida) with “a nice pastoral aesthetic” and promised that the final product “will not feel like a typical residential golf course.” . . . The new leadership at Wynn Resorts, Ltd. has set out to re-open Wynn Golf Club, the venue on the Las Vegas Strip that it closed late last year. Tom Fazio has been directed to create two new holes for the 18-hole track he designed in 2005 and to spiff up the others. Wynn hopes to debut the new course next fall. . . . Phil Ryan, an Australian course designer, has been commissioned to produce an 18-hole track for a proposed “retirement lifestyle” community in metropolitan Hyderabad. India is familiar territory to Ryan, who’s designed a handful of courses in the nation (among them Oxford Golf & Country Club in Pune and Clover Greens in Bangalore) and redesigned probably a half-dozen others.
ClubCorp has created a free-standing management division that aims to take over operations at private clubs, resorts, and daily-fee golf courses. On its website, ClubLife Management claims to have a dozen properties in its portfolio, among them Mossy Oak Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi and Engineers Country Club on New York’s Long Island. It’s worth noting, however, that at least three of the listed properties – River Run Country Club in Davidson, North Carolina; Canebrake Country Club in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Fort Collins Country Club in Fort Collins, Colorado – were formerly operated by another ClubCorp affiliate, Sequoia Golf Management, while others had also previously been part of the ClubCorp family. ClubLife is being led by Seth Churi, who once worked for Sequoia, and Doug Hellman, who comes over from KemperSports.
The rate of U.S. golf-course closings continues to far outpace openings, and keeping up with all of them is difficult. Here’s a capsule accounting of some that have recently departed:
– Cahoon Plantation Golf Club, a Wallace Cahoon-owned venue in Chesapeake, Virginia. According to the Virginian-Pilot, the club’s management posted a sign at the 18-hole, Ault-Clark design saying that its demise was “due to uncontrolable [sic] circumstances.”
– Hombre Golf Club, a 27-hole complex in Panama City Beach, Florida. The club’s owner, George Roberts, reportedly closed nine holes earlier this year, and he shut down the remaining 18 after they were damaged by Hurricane Michael.
– Masonboro Golf Club, an 18-hole, Gene Hamm-designed course in Wilmington, North Carolina. Originally opened in 1984 as Cape Golf & Racquet Club, the last straw for Masonboro was reportedly “damage from Hurricane Florence.”
– Rutherfordton Golf Course, a nine-hole, municipally owned but privately operated layout in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The course, which opened in 1929, closed due to what’s been called “a decrease in play.”
– Lupton City Golf Club, which is said to be the last remaining nine-hole track in Chattanooga, Tennessee. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has sold the club, which has operated since 1939, to a residential developer.
– Overton Community Golf Course, a nine-hole, 60-year-old, municipally owned track outside Tyler, Texas. The Kilgore News Herald cited “several years of slow business, an aging group of regular players, and low fees” as reasons for its passing.
– Evergreen Golf Course, an 18-hole venue in Grand Haven, Michigan. Brent Fredericks, who built the course in 2000, has sold it, and the new owners apparently have other plans for the 74-acre property.
– Fig Garden Golf Course, an 18-hole layout in Fresno, California. The 60-year-old, Nick Lombardo-designed course will go dark before year’s end.
– Fort Steilacoom Golf Course, a 57-year-old municipal layout in the southern suburbs of Tacoma, Washington. The nine-hole, Forest Richardson-designed course was said to be “the perfect golf course for golfers of every skill level,” but a local newspaper said that it was “grossly underused.”
Duly Noted – Greg “the Living Brand” Norman, who’s designed three golf courses in Vietnam, is about to become the socialist republic’s tourism ambassador. During his three-year (2019-21) appointment, according to a press release, the LB will promote golf tourism by “organizing international competitions” “and building new, high-class golf courses in unique locations.” . . . For the second consecutive year, the World Golf Awards have named the Luke Donald “signature’ layout at Bà Nà Hills Golf Club as Vietnam’s Best Golf Course. (Last year the track, created in collaboration with Brit Stenson of IMG Golf, was also named as the Best Golf Course in Asia.) Nobody takes this award very seriously, but clearly, Bà Nà Hills is providing an experience that resonates with some golfers. . . . Though he’s been deceased for more than two years, Arnold Palmer still earned $35 million over the past year, according to Forbes’ ranking of the highest-paid dead celebrities. The King ranked third on the magazine’s list, after Michael Jackson ($400 million) and Elvis Presley ($40 million).
Are you wondering how much of a week’s golf news I cover in this blog? The answer, unfortunately, is just a fraction of what passes my way. The golf business, particularly the development side of the golf business, has unquestionably perked up over the past year or two, and there’s no way for me to address all of it. So if your business requires a more comprehensive news digest, contact me via e-mail at golfcoursereport@aol.com. I’ll send you a sample issue of either U.S. or International Construction Clips, depending on your needs.
The tour isn’t saying so out loud, of course, because if it complained in public about a journalist’s slaying or a tragic war in Yemen, it would be pressured to withdraw. So instead, the tour is simply trying to avoid talking about where it’ll be in late January and early February.
The Irish Times reports that the tour’s press release announcing its 2019 schedule didn’t mention the Saudi International, an event that was much ballyhooed several months ago, when the contract for it was signed. What’s more, Keith Pelley, the tour’s CEO, only reluctantly answered questions about the event. In a gaggle with reporters earlier this month, he acknowledged that he’s “heard some of the criticism of the region” – who hasn’t? – and promised “to monitor the situation,” which translates as, “No, we aren’t going to change our schedule.” It’s a message that Saudi Arabia is thrilled to hear, because the cache of a big-time professional golf tournament is worth its weight in gold to a nation that desperately needs to diversify its economy.
More troubling to me, however, was something else Pelley said. He claimed that he’s had “no dialogue” with the tour’s “partners, with our own [British] government, with the Saudi Arabian Golf Federation, or anybody from Saudi Arabia.” This is shocking. When it comes to negotiating sensitive situations where both reputations and millions of dollars are on the table, one of a CEO’s primary responsibilities is to consult with each and every one of the stakeholders who might be affected. If Pelley was telling the truth – if he really isn’t taking and considering advice from everybody the tour does business with – then he’s doing a disservice to his constituency.
Right about now, it’s legitimate to wonder if Pelley regrets calling Saudi Arabia, a nation with hardly any golf courses and no history with the sport, “a perfect fit for the European Tour.”
While we’re on the subject, Tiger Woods has turned down a guaranteed £2.5 million – nearly $3.25 million – to play in the Saudi International. Woods hasn’t explained why he declined the offer, but the optimist in me wants to believe that he’s making a statement how a homicidal regime in Saudi Arabia should be treated. If that’s the case, good for him.
South Caicos, described by CNN as “a delightfully sleepy Caribbean retreat” and a “pristine paradise,” may soon get its first golf course. The course will serve as an attraction for the nearly two-year-old Sailrock Resort, which is envisioned to emerge as the centerpiece of a resort community that will feature, among other things, “a collection of residential neighborhoods,” “overwater bungalows,” and more hotels. The community will be created by Sailrock Development, Ltd., which is said to own 2,400 acres – nearly half of the island. To put the developers’ plans into perspective, CNN helpfully notes that South Caicos, part of the Turks & Caicos Islands, is home to “about a thousand locals” and has so far this year attracted “only about 7,500 overnight visitors.”
Pipeline Overflow – Chris Wilczynski, a protégé of Arthur Hills, has been hired to design his second course at Lakewood Ranch, a huge master-planned community outside Sarasota, Florida. In a press release, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based architect said the track would take shape on “a relatively flat piece of land” (hey, it’s Florida) with “a nice pastoral aesthetic” and promised that the final product “will not feel like a typical residential golf course.” . . . The new leadership at Wynn Resorts, Ltd. has set out to re-open Wynn Golf Club, the venue on the Las Vegas Strip that it closed late last year. Tom Fazio has been directed to create two new holes for the 18-hole track he designed in 2005 and to spiff up the others. Wynn hopes to debut the new course next fall. . . . Phil Ryan, an Australian course designer, has been commissioned to produce an 18-hole track for a proposed “retirement lifestyle” community in metropolitan Hyderabad. India is familiar territory to Ryan, who’s designed a handful of courses in the nation (among them Oxford Golf & Country Club in Pune and Clover Greens in Bangalore) and redesigned probably a half-dozen others.
ClubCorp has created a free-standing management division that aims to take over operations at private clubs, resorts, and daily-fee golf courses. On its website, ClubLife Management claims to have a dozen properties in its portfolio, among them Mossy Oak Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi and Engineers Country Club on New York’s Long Island. It’s worth noting, however, that at least three of the listed properties – River Run Country Club in Davidson, North Carolina; Canebrake Country Club in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Fort Collins Country Club in Fort Collins, Colorado – were formerly operated by another ClubCorp affiliate, Sequoia Golf Management, while others had also previously been part of the ClubCorp family. ClubLife is being led by Seth Churi, who once worked for Sequoia, and Doug Hellman, who comes over from KemperSports.
The rate of U.S. golf-course closings continues to far outpace openings, and keeping up with all of them is difficult. Here’s a capsule accounting of some that have recently departed:
– Cahoon Plantation Golf Club, a Wallace Cahoon-owned venue in Chesapeake, Virginia. According to the Virginian-Pilot, the club’s management posted a sign at the 18-hole, Ault-Clark design saying that its demise was “due to uncontrolable [sic] circumstances.”
– Hombre Golf Club, a 27-hole complex in Panama City Beach, Florida. The club’s owner, George Roberts, reportedly closed nine holes earlier this year, and he shut down the remaining 18 after they were damaged by Hurricane Michael.
– Masonboro Golf Club, an 18-hole, Gene Hamm-designed course in Wilmington, North Carolina. Originally opened in 1984 as Cape Golf & Racquet Club, the last straw for Masonboro was reportedly “damage from Hurricane Florence.”
– Rutherfordton Golf Course, a nine-hole, municipally owned but privately operated layout in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The course, which opened in 1929, closed due to what’s been called “a decrease in play.”
– Lupton City Golf Club, which is said to be the last remaining nine-hole track in Chattanooga, Tennessee. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has sold the club, which has operated since 1939, to a residential developer.
– Overton Community Golf Course, a nine-hole, 60-year-old, municipally owned track outside Tyler, Texas. The Kilgore News Herald cited “several years of slow business, an aging group of regular players, and low fees” as reasons for its passing.
– Evergreen Golf Course, an 18-hole venue in Grand Haven, Michigan. Brent Fredericks, who built the course in 2000, has sold it, and the new owners apparently have other plans for the 74-acre property.
– Fig Garden Golf Course, an 18-hole layout in Fresno, California. The 60-year-old, Nick Lombardo-designed course will go dark before year’s end.
– Fort Steilacoom Golf Course, a 57-year-old municipal layout in the southern suburbs of Tacoma, Washington. The nine-hole, Forest Richardson-designed course was said to be “the perfect golf course for golfers of every skill level,” but a local newspaper said that it was “grossly underused.”
Duly Noted – Greg “the Living Brand” Norman, who’s designed three golf courses in Vietnam, is about to become the socialist republic’s tourism ambassador. During his three-year (2019-21) appointment, according to a press release, the LB will promote golf tourism by “organizing international competitions” “and building new, high-class golf courses in unique locations.” . . . For the second consecutive year, the World Golf Awards have named the Luke Donald “signature’ layout at Bà Nà Hills Golf Club as Vietnam’s Best Golf Course. (Last year the track, created in collaboration with Brit Stenson of IMG Golf, was also named as the Best Golf Course in Asia.) Nobody takes this award very seriously, but clearly, Bà Nà Hills is providing an experience that resonates with some golfers. . . . Though he’s been deceased for more than two years, Arnold Palmer still earned $35 million over the past year, according to Forbes’ ranking of the highest-paid dead celebrities. The King ranked third on the magazine’s list, after Michael Jackson ($400 million) and Elvis Presley ($40 million).
Are you wondering how much of a week’s golf news I cover in this blog? The answer, unfortunately, is just a fraction of what passes my way. The golf business, particularly the development side of the golf business, has unquestionably perked up over the past year or two, and there’s no way for me to address all of it. So if your business requires a more comprehensive news digest, contact me via e-mail at golfcoursereport@aol.com. I’ll send you a sample issue of either U.S. or International Construction Clips, depending on your needs.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
The Week That Was, october 28, 2018
If you abhor change, you’ll love the latest “country snapshot” published by KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice.
KPMG’s “Golf Participation Report for Europe 2018” concludes that trends established in recent years continue to linger, as there have been “no significant changes in the overall supply and demand figures” since the last time KPMG took an in-depth look at the golf business in the Old Country. In other words, the business remains “stable,” to use KPMG’s word, which is, unfortunately, another way of saying “still no growth.”
Let’s start with the big picture: In 2017, according to KPMG’s new report, Europe had a total of 4.15 million golfers and 6,861 courses.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper. In 2017, KPMG says, the number of “registered” golfers (that is, golfers who are members of clubs or associations) fell by 0.8 percent from the number posted in 2016 (a loss of 34,925 actual golfers), while the number of “affiliated” golf courses (courses that are members of their golf associations) fell by 1 percent (a loss of 71 courses). The largest losses were found in two of Europe’s biggest, most-important markets, England (35) and Scotland (18).
The largest decreases in players were registered in England (-38,784), the Netherlands (-12,913), Ireland (7,422), and Scotland (4,731), while the largest increases were registered in Italy (+8,478), the Czech Republic (+5,983), and Sweden (+4,618). When you add, subtract, multiply, and divide all the numbers across the Continent, you get an overall participation rate of 0.86 percent, which is worse than the 0.92 percent that was reported for 2016 but close enough for KPMG to characterize it as “stable.”
KPMG views the losses it’s recorded as statistically insignificant, but they are declines nonetheless. Year by year, a small erosion here and a small erosion there may not amount to much, but they eventually create a canyon.
Star Resort Group, a firm based in Bozeman, Montana, will oversee the development of a community that it describes in a press release as “the Bahamas’ first eco-engineered luxury waterfront destination.” Port St. George will occupy 882 acres on Long Island, and it’ll feature 15 vacation villas, 500 condominiums and townhouses, a village center with retail and commercial space, a hotel, a spa, a 640-berth marina (the largest in the Bahamas), yacht and beach clubs, “an abundance of dining options” (including a lighthouse with a bar and a café), a culinary school, sports facilities, and an 18-hole golf course. SRG believes that the community will attract people who seek “an experience characterized by an authentic Bahamian environment, luxurious, modern amenities, and an eco-friendly lifestyle.”
Pipeline Overflow – A golf insider in Lake County, California reports that the throwback Brambles golf venture, originally announced in 2014, appears to be “getting closer to fruition.” Coore & Crenshaw, who’ve been hired to create a course in the tradition of North Berwick, Prestwick, and the Old Course at St. Andrews, are said to have made a site visit last week. . . . Lebanon, which the Economist contends is “plagued by sectarian divides,” facing a possible “banking crisis,” and “tipping into a property slump,” may nonetheless add to its meager golf portfolio. Intra Investment, a company owned primarily by the nation’s Central Bank, hopes to build a hotel, some houses, and an 18-hole golf course on 148 acres in suburban Beirut. . . . In collaboration with a local developer, Wanderers Golf Club has set out to add high-end housing, office space, retail space, and other attractions to its property in suburban Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the Business Report, the venture will require the club’s 18-hole golf course to be “partially redesigned and substantially upgraded.”
One of the few U.S. golf venues with its own air strip has changed hands. The member/owners of Pauma Valley Golf Club, in suburban San Diego, have sold their property to Sis Rainbow, a closely held entity that now owns at least four clubs in Southern California. A sales price hasn’t yet been disclosed, but Sis Rainbow apparently agreed to pay off Pauma Valley’s debt, allocate money for capital improvements, and promise to preserve the club’s private “heritage.” Pauma Valley, which has been in business since 1960, features an 18-hole, Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course. It’ll complement Sis Rainbow’s other properties, namely Steele Canyon Golf Club in Jamul, Dove Canyon Golf Club outside Irvine, and Bear Creek in Temecula.
Surplus Transactions – The group that operates the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, Washington has accepted $3.75 million for Loomis Trail Golf Course, a nearby 18-hole, Graham Cooke-designed track. Along with the golf course, the business arm of the Lummi Indian tribe, already the owner of a casino just down the road, acquired a small hotel, meeting space, and 180 acres of presumably undeveloped land. . . . To preserve open space, the members of the Sea Palms West homeowners’ association have agreed to buy their community’s West course, a nine-hole, Tom Jackson-designed layout that opened in 1969. The association, on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, hopes to complete the $2 million purchase next month, according to the Brunswick News, and will eventually pull the plug on the golf course. . . . Dennis Napier has sold Ranch Club Golf Course, a nine-hole layout that’s operated in Priest River, Idaho since the early 1950s. The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that new owners are John Vickers and his wife, Debbie Soderblom, who’ve hired Napier to help run the place.
Duly Noted – John Malone, a Colorado-based billionaire (Forbes estimates that he’s worth $7.2 billion), is among the bidders for K Club, the luxurious golf resort (and former Ryder Cup venue) in County Kildare, Ireland. Malone already owns a castle and a historic estate in Ireland, and his other holdings include investments in the Atlanta Braves, Formula One, Discovery Communications, and Sirius XM. . . . The air quality in many Chinese cities often requires people to wear respirators, but Bloomberg says that the world’s 10 most polluted cities are in India. Enjoy your rounds, golf travelers! . . . The Independent reports that in 2004 Donald Trump offered to buy a picturesque Irish golf property, sight unseen. The owners of Old Head Links, currently #83 on Golf Digest’s list of the World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, told him it wasn’t for sale.
KPMG’s “Golf Participation Report for Europe 2018” concludes that trends established in recent years continue to linger, as there have been “no significant changes in the overall supply and demand figures” since the last time KPMG took an in-depth look at the golf business in the Old Country. In other words, the business remains “stable,” to use KPMG’s word, which is, unfortunately, another way of saying “still no growth.”
Let’s start with the big picture: In 2017, according to KPMG’s new report, Europe had a total of 4.15 million golfers and 6,861 courses.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper. In 2017, KPMG says, the number of “registered” golfers (that is, golfers who are members of clubs or associations) fell by 0.8 percent from the number posted in 2016 (a loss of 34,925 actual golfers), while the number of “affiliated” golf courses (courses that are members of their golf associations) fell by 1 percent (a loss of 71 courses). The largest losses were found in two of Europe’s biggest, most-important markets, England (35) and Scotland (18).
The largest decreases in players were registered in England (-38,784), the Netherlands (-12,913), Ireland (7,422), and Scotland (4,731), while the largest increases were registered in Italy (+8,478), the Czech Republic (+5,983), and Sweden (+4,618). When you add, subtract, multiply, and divide all the numbers across the Continent, you get an overall participation rate of 0.86 percent, which is worse than the 0.92 percent that was reported for 2016 but close enough for KPMG to characterize it as “stable.”
KPMG views the losses it’s recorded as statistically insignificant, but they are declines nonetheless. Year by year, a small erosion here and a small erosion there may not amount to much, but they eventually create a canyon.
Star Resort Group, a firm based in Bozeman, Montana, will oversee the development of a community that it describes in a press release as “the Bahamas’ first eco-engineered luxury waterfront destination.” Port St. George will occupy 882 acres on Long Island, and it’ll feature 15 vacation villas, 500 condominiums and townhouses, a village center with retail and commercial space, a hotel, a spa, a 640-berth marina (the largest in the Bahamas), yacht and beach clubs, “an abundance of dining options” (including a lighthouse with a bar and a café), a culinary school, sports facilities, and an 18-hole golf course. SRG believes that the community will attract people who seek “an experience characterized by an authentic Bahamian environment, luxurious, modern amenities, and an eco-friendly lifestyle.”
Pipeline Overflow – A golf insider in Lake County, California reports that the throwback Brambles golf venture, originally announced in 2014, appears to be “getting closer to fruition.” Coore & Crenshaw, who’ve been hired to create a course in the tradition of North Berwick, Prestwick, and the Old Course at St. Andrews, are said to have made a site visit last week. . . . Lebanon, which the Economist contends is “plagued by sectarian divides,” facing a possible “banking crisis,” and “tipping into a property slump,” may nonetheless add to its meager golf portfolio. Intra Investment, a company owned primarily by the nation’s Central Bank, hopes to build a hotel, some houses, and an 18-hole golf course on 148 acres in suburban Beirut. . . . In collaboration with a local developer, Wanderers Golf Club has set out to add high-end housing, office space, retail space, and other attractions to its property in suburban Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the Business Report, the venture will require the club’s 18-hole golf course to be “partially redesigned and substantially upgraded.”
One of the few U.S. golf venues with its own air strip has changed hands. The member/owners of Pauma Valley Golf Club, in suburban San Diego, have sold their property to Sis Rainbow, a closely held entity that now owns at least four clubs in Southern California. A sales price hasn’t yet been disclosed, but Sis Rainbow apparently agreed to pay off Pauma Valley’s debt, allocate money for capital improvements, and promise to preserve the club’s private “heritage.” Pauma Valley, which has been in business since 1960, features an 18-hole, Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course. It’ll complement Sis Rainbow’s other properties, namely Steele Canyon Golf Club in Jamul, Dove Canyon Golf Club outside Irvine, and Bear Creek in Temecula.
Surplus Transactions – The group that operates the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, Washington has accepted $3.75 million for Loomis Trail Golf Course, a nearby 18-hole, Graham Cooke-designed track. Along with the golf course, the business arm of the Lummi Indian tribe, already the owner of a casino just down the road, acquired a small hotel, meeting space, and 180 acres of presumably undeveloped land. . . . To preserve open space, the members of the Sea Palms West homeowners’ association have agreed to buy their community’s West course, a nine-hole, Tom Jackson-designed layout that opened in 1969. The association, on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, hopes to complete the $2 million purchase next month, according to the Brunswick News, and will eventually pull the plug on the golf course. . . . Dennis Napier has sold Ranch Club Golf Course, a nine-hole layout that’s operated in Priest River, Idaho since the early 1950s. The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that new owners are John Vickers and his wife, Debbie Soderblom, who’ve hired Napier to help run the place.
Duly Noted – John Malone, a Colorado-based billionaire (Forbes estimates that he’s worth $7.2 billion), is among the bidders for K Club, the luxurious golf resort (and former Ryder Cup venue) in County Kildare, Ireland. Malone already owns a castle and a historic estate in Ireland, and his other holdings include investments in the Atlanta Braves, Formula One, Discovery Communications, and Sirius XM. . . . The air quality in many Chinese cities often requires people to wear respirators, but Bloomberg says that the world’s 10 most polluted cities are in India. Enjoy your rounds, golf travelers! . . . The Independent reports that in 2004 Donald Trump offered to buy a picturesque Irish golf property, sight unseen. The owners of Old Head Links, currently #83 on Golf Digest’s list of the World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, told him it wasn’t for sale.
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