Mike Keiser is lending his name -- and, more importantly, his money -- to a world-class golf venture that’s been proposed by a commentator for the Golf Channel. The famed developer of Bandon Dunes and other destination-worthy golf venues has joined Mark Rolfing, who’s set out to create a 27-hole complex along Chicago’s lakefront, on property currently occupied by a pair of municipal tracks. The proposal is unquestionably a long shot, but Rolfing has won the support of some particularly effective persuaders in the city’s golf scene, among them Jerry Rich of Rich Harvest Farms, Josh Lesnick of KemperSports, and John Kaczkowski of the Western Golf Association. “It’s easy to envision the end result,” Keiser told the Chicago Tribune. “But it’s hard to envision all the ins and outs.” The end result is a course capable of hosting the BMW Championship and an easy-to-play nine-hole layout. The ins and outs are largely political, as the developers appear to be intent on seeking government approval to fill in a bit of Lake Michigan. “I’m dubbing this as the future of urban golf in America,” said Rolfing, who believes that Chicago is “arguably the greatest golf town in America.” A possible ace in the hole: Barack Obama, a golf nut who could lobby to have his presidential library built overlooking the complex.
John McConnell is looking to acquire his 11th golf property. The Triad Business Journal reports that McConnell Golf is “in talks” to pick up Providence Country Club, a venue in Charlotte, North Carolina that describes itself as “one of Charlotte’s premier family country clubs.” Providence’s centerpiece is an 18-hole, Dan Maples-designed track that opened in 1989. McConnell Golf’s portfolio consists of seven golf properties in North Carolina and three in South Carolina. Providence would be the company’s second property in the Charlotte area, joining Old North State Club in New London.
Donald “the Candidate” Trump may also be looking to add to his golf inventory. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump Organization “is considering making a play” for Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico, a venue on the nation’s northeastern coast that declared for bankruptcy protection in July. (The Organization manages the club but doesn’t own it.) Before it took to wearing the Trump brand, the club -- the centerpiece of a 700-acre resort -- was known as Coco Beach Golf & Country Club. It features a pair of 18-hole, Tom Kite-designed golf courses and a well-appointed, 46,000-square-foot clubhouse. At this time, U.S. Bankruptcy Court has received just one offer, a low-ball $2 million bid from a San Juan-based group, OHorizons Global LLC. If Trump ends up trying to strike a deal, remember this: He knows an opportunity when he sees one.
Two years shy of its 125th anniversary, an all-male club in suburban Glasgow, Scotland has opened its doors to women. The members of Pollock Golf Club, described by the Herald as “one of Scotland’s most exclusive clubs,” voted overwhelmingly (89 to 11 percent) in favor of the overdue change and almost immediately welcomed four female juniors. With the decision, the club can make good on its stated aim, which is “to consistently achieve the highest standards of professionalism and hospitality in golf.”
Question: How does a presidential candidate know when the nomination will never be his? Answer: When he earns an endorsement from the American Neo-Nazi Party.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Friday, September 25, 2015
The Pipeline, september 25, 2015
Tucson, Arizona. Thanks to an improving local housing market, a long-delayed master-planned community in the desert southeast of Tucson has begun to show signs of life. Of course, post-recession life will only hint at what was originally promised for Rocking K, a 5,600-acre spread that was supposed to have 10,000 houses and four golf courses. Assuming it eventually takes shape, the new, downsized Rocking K will have a mere 3,000 houses and just one golf course. As sad as it is to admit, such is the new normal for golf development. Nobody said recovery would be easy.
Wollongong, Australia. An infusion of Chinese money has revived a comatose golf community on the southern coast of New South Wales. Visionary Investment Group, an Australian company that claims to tap “a broad network of mainly Chinese investors” to fund its development ventures, has taken control of Huntley, a 1,050-acre community outside Wollongong. At build-out, Huntley is expected to include 500 houses, 65 apartments, a shopping area, and an 18-hole, Greg Norman-designed golf course. Huntley has been kicking around since the mid 2000s. Norman, who’s based in West Palm Beach, Florida, was hired by its s original developers, a group called HTT Huntley Heritage. At the time, he promised to create a layout that would rank among the state’s best. “You’re lucky when you get hold of a piece of land like this,” he said, noting that course architects sometimes “get some really crappy sites.” VIG expects Norman’s track to attract events on the Australian PGA Tour.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the July 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Soccer may be “the beautiful game,” but before long some of England’s finest “football” players will also be spending time on a golf course. The nine-hole track will take shape at St. George’s Park, the Football Association’s three-year-old national development center in Staffordshire. The 330-acre facility, where the nation’s elite players and coaches gather to train and practice, currently features a dozen world-class soccer pitches, a regulation-sized indoor pitch, state-of-the-art medical facilities, fitness centers, and a Hilton hotel, but earlier this year one of the nation’s star players called the place “boring.” So the FA sprung to action, announcing that it’s got plans for further development, including a lodge for younger players. The older players stay at the Hilton, naturally.
Yalta, Crimea. These days Crimea is attracting a wide variety of investments from China, and a golf course may eventually be among them. A few weeks ago, a delegation of Chinese businessmen visited Crimea, and they floated proposals to build factories, entertainment venues, shopping malls, and leisure-time attractions, including a golf resort somewhere along the peninsula’s southern coast, within a short drive of Yalta. “If we build a golf club here, we can draw a lot of Chinese tourists to Crimea,” said Chen Zhijun, the leader of the delegation, in a comment published by Radio Free Europe. No deals have so far been struck, but Chinese investors obviously view Crimea as a land of opportunity. How much opportunity? As best I can determine, there are no golf courses anywhere on the Crimean peninsula.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the July 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Yalta, Crimea. When it comes to golf construction in Crimea, Chinese developers may need to stand in line. Just days after Russia’s army rolled across the Crimean peninsula, a Chechen businessman, Ruslan Baisarov, proposed to build a resort that would include 500 hotel rooms, an amusement park, a water park, a marina capable of berthing yachts, a spa, and a golf course. A specific location wasn’t mentioned, but Kommersant located it “in the southeast part of Crimea.”
Lake Charles, Louisiana. Sometimes an unfortunate end leads to a new beginning. Such is the case in southwestern Louisiana, where the expansion of Chennault International Airport will lead to the demise of Mallard Cove Golf Course, a nearly 40-year-old municipal track. The area’s golfers won’t be hung out to dry, however, as the city of Lake Charles has vowed to build a replacement 18-hole layout that will be, in the words of the American Press, “as good as or better than Mallard Cove.” The city is searching for a site, and the newspaper reports that Mallard Cove will continue to operate until the new course opens.
Odry, Czech Republic. One of Europe’s up-and-coming golf architects has broken ground on his first course in the Czech Republic, at a four-season resort that’s looking to boost its summertime revenues. Jonathan Davison of Bratislava, Slovakia-based Create Golf plans to create a pair of nine-hole tracks at the Heipark resort in Odry, a vacation spot in the eastern part of the nation. Heipark, which is owned by an Odry-based stove manufacturing company, currently has a ski area, a hotel, places to eat and drink, and a golf driving range. Its “academy” course is expected to open next summer, with a regulation-length track to follow in 2017. Like many architects these days, Davison believes that “a truly great golf course is discovered and created in the ground and not designed on a piece of paper or a computer screen.” With that philosophy, he’s produced a track in Slovakia, the Heritage course at Penati Golf Resort in Senica, and one in Poland, Sobienie Królewskie Golf & Country Club in suburban Warsaw.
Urla, Turkey. A freshly minted golf group has floated a plan to build the first golf course in Urla, a town in western Turkey. İzmir Golf Club, which was established last year, hopes to open the course in 2017. The club hasn’t announced any details about its plans, but it appears that the members wish to create an easy-to-play, community-oriented layout. “We want to increase the number of golfers in İzmir, especially among children and teens, and create a place that families can enjoy together,” the club’s president, Heval Savaş Kaya, told the Hurriyet Daily News. The course will take shape on property that the club has leased.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the May 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Mysore, India. Before he died, in the summer of 2013, Ashok Kumar set out to create what he felt would be “one of the finest courses in India.” Later this year, the nation’s golfers will determine whether he achieved his goal. Kumar, who understood the economic value of golf courses, created a template for India’s private golf communities in the late 1990s with Eagleton Golf Village, which has been described as the “most sought-over residential enclave in Bangalore.” Using Eagleton as a model -- high-end houses, a hotel, a golf academy -- Kumar created a master plan for Eagleburg Golf Resort in Mysore, in the state of Karnataka, which is being marketed as “the pinnacle of the ultimate luxury golfing experience.” Like Eagleton, Eagleburg will feature an 18-hole track designed by Phil Ryan of Pacific Coast Design, who thinks the forthcoming layout will be “great fun for all golfers” and ensure that the community becomes “a great place to live and play.” Eagleburg’s development is being overseen by Kumar’s sons, Kiran and Chetan. Like their father, they’re attempting to tap into the tastes of the area’s corporate executives, especially those who desire to live in “a picturesque, lush green retreat from everyday life.”
Wollongong, Australia. An infusion of Chinese money has revived a comatose golf community on the southern coast of New South Wales. Visionary Investment Group, an Australian company that claims to tap “a broad network of mainly Chinese investors” to fund its development ventures, has taken control of Huntley, a 1,050-acre community outside Wollongong. At build-out, Huntley is expected to include 500 houses, 65 apartments, a shopping area, and an 18-hole, Greg Norman-designed golf course. Huntley has been kicking around since the mid 2000s. Norman, who’s based in West Palm Beach, Florida, was hired by its s original developers, a group called HTT Huntley Heritage. At the time, he promised to create a layout that would rank among the state’s best. “You’re lucky when you get hold of a piece of land like this,” he said, noting that course architects sometimes “get some really crappy sites.” VIG expects Norman’s track to attract events on the Australian PGA Tour.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the July 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Soccer may be “the beautiful game,” but before long some of England’s finest “football” players will also be spending time on a golf course. The nine-hole track will take shape at St. George’s Park, the Football Association’s three-year-old national development center in Staffordshire. The 330-acre facility, where the nation’s elite players and coaches gather to train and practice, currently features a dozen world-class soccer pitches, a regulation-sized indoor pitch, state-of-the-art medical facilities, fitness centers, and a Hilton hotel, but earlier this year one of the nation’s star players called the place “boring.” So the FA sprung to action, announcing that it’s got plans for further development, including a lodge for younger players. The older players stay at the Hilton, naturally.
Yalta, Crimea. These days Crimea is attracting a wide variety of investments from China, and a golf course may eventually be among them. A few weeks ago, a delegation of Chinese businessmen visited Crimea, and they floated proposals to build factories, entertainment venues, shopping malls, and leisure-time attractions, including a golf resort somewhere along the peninsula’s southern coast, within a short drive of Yalta. “If we build a golf club here, we can draw a lot of Chinese tourists to Crimea,” said Chen Zhijun, the leader of the delegation, in a comment published by Radio Free Europe. No deals have so far been struck, but Chinese investors obviously view Crimea as a land of opportunity. How much opportunity? As best I can determine, there are no golf courses anywhere on the Crimean peninsula.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the July 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Yalta, Crimea. When it comes to golf construction in Crimea, Chinese developers may need to stand in line. Just days after Russia’s army rolled across the Crimean peninsula, a Chechen businessman, Ruslan Baisarov, proposed to build a resort that would include 500 hotel rooms, an amusement park, a water park, a marina capable of berthing yachts, a spa, and a golf course. A specific location wasn’t mentioned, but Kommersant located it “in the southeast part of Crimea.”
Lake Charles, Louisiana. Sometimes an unfortunate end leads to a new beginning. Such is the case in southwestern Louisiana, where the expansion of Chennault International Airport will lead to the demise of Mallard Cove Golf Course, a nearly 40-year-old municipal track. The area’s golfers won’t be hung out to dry, however, as the city of Lake Charles has vowed to build a replacement 18-hole layout that will be, in the words of the American Press, “as good as or better than Mallard Cove.” The city is searching for a site, and the newspaper reports that Mallard Cove will continue to operate until the new course opens.
Odry, Czech Republic. One of Europe’s up-and-coming golf architects has broken ground on his first course in the Czech Republic, at a four-season resort that’s looking to boost its summertime revenues. Jonathan Davison of Bratislava, Slovakia-based Create Golf plans to create a pair of nine-hole tracks at the Heipark resort in Odry, a vacation spot in the eastern part of the nation. Heipark, which is owned by an Odry-based stove manufacturing company, currently has a ski area, a hotel, places to eat and drink, and a golf driving range. Its “academy” course is expected to open next summer, with a regulation-length track to follow in 2017. Like many architects these days, Davison believes that “a truly great golf course is discovered and created in the ground and not designed on a piece of paper or a computer screen.” With that philosophy, he’s produced a track in Slovakia, the Heritage course at Penati Golf Resort in Senica, and one in Poland, Sobienie Królewskie Golf & Country Club in suburban Warsaw.
Urla, Turkey. A freshly minted golf group has floated a plan to build the first golf course in Urla, a town in western Turkey. İzmir Golf Club, which was established last year, hopes to open the course in 2017. The club hasn’t announced any details about its plans, but it appears that the members wish to create an easy-to-play, community-oriented layout. “We want to increase the number of golfers in İzmir, especially among children and teens, and create a place that families can enjoy together,” the club’s president, Heval Savaş Kaya, told the Hurriyet Daily News. The course will take shape on property that the club has leased.
The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the May 2015 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Mysore, India. Before he died, in the summer of 2013, Ashok Kumar set out to create what he felt would be “one of the finest courses in India.” Later this year, the nation’s golfers will determine whether he achieved his goal. Kumar, who understood the economic value of golf courses, created a template for India’s private golf communities in the late 1990s with Eagleton Golf Village, which has been described as the “most sought-over residential enclave in Bangalore.” Using Eagleton as a model -- high-end houses, a hotel, a golf academy -- Kumar created a master plan for Eagleburg Golf Resort in Mysore, in the state of Karnataka, which is being marketed as “the pinnacle of the ultimate luxury golfing experience.” Like Eagleton, Eagleburg will feature an 18-hole track designed by Phil Ryan of Pacific Coast Design, who thinks the forthcoming layout will be “great fun for all golfers” and ensure that the community becomes “a great place to live and play.” Eagleburg’s development is being overseen by Kumar’s sons, Kiran and Chetan. Like their father, they’re attempting to tap into the tastes of the area’s corporate executives, especially those who desire to live in “a picturesque, lush green retreat from everyday life.”
Sunday, September 20, 2015
The Week That Was, september 20, 2015
Now that Tom Doak’s second golf course in New Zealand is about to debut, a question becomes inevitable: Is it as good as the first? It’ll be months before course raters weigh in on that question, but it’s going to be difficult for Tara Iti Golf Club to match the ranking achieved by Doak’s layout at Cape Kidnappers Golf Club in Hawkes Bay, which checks in at #6 on Golf Digest’s list of the 100 best courses outside the United States. That being said, our industry’s first responders say that Tara Iti is definitely destination worthy -- the head of New Zealand Golf thinks it’s “one of the very best courses in the world” -- and the club’s developers, a group led by Ric Kayne of Los Angeles, California-based Anderson Capital Advisors, believe that the venue will eventually be viewed as the nation’s premier private track. Tara Iti is located along Te Arai Beach, along the sparsely populated eastern coast of the North Island, on 1,400 acres that have been master-planned by John Darby of Queenstown-based Darby Partners, who’s produced some of the nation’s best-known golf properties, including a trio in the Queenstown area: Jack’s Point Golf Course, Hills Golf Club, and the Millbrook resort. Tara Iti is slated to open officially next month.
The owners of a defunct country club in suburban San Diego, California have negotiated a settlement in the infamous chicken-manure incident that’s highlighted their battle against members of the accompanying community. Stuck in the Rough LLC has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $100,000 for dumping five tons’ worth of manure -- a “soil enhancer,” it claimed -- on the golf course in April 2014, an action that many neighbors believed was, in the words of the San Diego Union-Tribune, “done out of spite to annoy nearby residents opposed to [the LLC’s] development plans.” According to the head of the county’s air pollution control district, “People could not open their doors and windows because of the strong odors.” The developers’ attorney, Ronald Richards, called the money a “donation” and noted that his clients weren’t admitting to any wrongdoing.
Regarding those forthcoming Trump International Golf Clubs in Indonesia: It appears that Golfasian was only half right. In June, Golfasian’s Asian Golf Travel Nation reported that Hary Tanoesoedibjo planned to turn over the management of his resorts in Indonesia -- Nirwana Bali Golf Club, on the southwestern coast of Bali, and Lido Golf Club, in West Java -- to the Trump Organization’s management. Golfasian now reports that the Greg Norman-designed golf course at Nirwana Bali is going to be razed, perhaps by the end of this year, to create room for “a Donald Trump-branded luxury resort and residential development.” As far as Lido goes, the Jakarta Post says that Trump Hotels Collection will oversee the property’s “hospitality and golf course component,” the latter consisting of an Ernie Els-designed layout that’s under construction. No word yet on whether the course, which is scheduled to open roughly a year from now, will operate as a Trump International Golf Club.
Gifts of Gab: Has Donald Trump laid plans to develop some of his golf properties? In an interview with Golf Digest, the Candidate indicated that he views his involvement in golf as a business choice that isn’t necessarily permanent. “I have locations that are good for many other things,” he explained. “So I’m not necessarily stuck in the world of golf. But I choose to be. But I have land that is so valuable, that if I ever wanted to do housing on it, as an example, but I just don’t choose to do that.” Before you conclude that I’m making too much of Trump’s comment, remember that business is said to be “bad” at his club in Briarcliff Manor, New York -- so bad that Trump’s lawyers have argued that the property, once believed to be worth $50 million or more, is now worth only $1.4 million.
A construction-industry website asks a provocative question: Will Golf Course Communities Soon Be Extinct? The correct answer is no, but Construction Dive wants its readers to decide for themselves. Incidentally, the online magazine “researched” the question by reading an article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
The owners of a defunct country club in suburban San Diego, California have negotiated a settlement in the infamous chicken-manure incident that’s highlighted their battle against members of the accompanying community. Stuck in the Rough LLC has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $100,000 for dumping five tons’ worth of manure -- a “soil enhancer,” it claimed -- on the golf course in April 2014, an action that many neighbors believed was, in the words of the San Diego Union-Tribune, “done out of spite to annoy nearby residents opposed to [the LLC’s] development plans.” According to the head of the county’s air pollution control district, “People could not open their doors and windows because of the strong odors.” The developers’ attorney, Ronald Richards, called the money a “donation” and noted that his clients weren’t admitting to any wrongdoing.
Regarding those forthcoming Trump International Golf Clubs in Indonesia: It appears that Golfasian was only half right. In June, Golfasian’s Asian Golf Travel Nation reported that Hary Tanoesoedibjo planned to turn over the management of his resorts in Indonesia -- Nirwana Bali Golf Club, on the southwestern coast of Bali, and Lido Golf Club, in West Java -- to the Trump Organization’s management. Golfasian now reports that the Greg Norman-designed golf course at Nirwana Bali is going to be razed, perhaps by the end of this year, to create room for “a Donald Trump-branded luxury resort and residential development.” As far as Lido goes, the Jakarta Post says that Trump Hotels Collection will oversee the property’s “hospitality and golf course component,” the latter consisting of an Ernie Els-designed layout that’s under construction. No word yet on whether the course, which is scheduled to open roughly a year from now, will operate as a Trump International Golf Club.
Gifts of Gab: Has Donald Trump laid plans to develop some of his golf properties? In an interview with Golf Digest, the Candidate indicated that he views his involvement in golf as a business choice that isn’t necessarily permanent. “I have locations that are good for many other things,” he explained. “So I’m not necessarily stuck in the world of golf. But I choose to be. But I have land that is so valuable, that if I ever wanted to do housing on it, as an example, but I just don’t choose to do that.” Before you conclude that I’m making too much of Trump’s comment, remember that business is said to be “bad” at his club in Briarcliff Manor, New York -- so bad that Trump’s lawyers have argued that the property, once believed to be worth $50 million or more, is now worth only $1.4 million.
A construction-industry website asks a provocative question: Will Golf Course Communities Soon Be Extinct? The correct answer is no, but Construction Dive wants its readers to decide for themselves. Incidentally, the online magazine “researched” the question by reading an article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
The Week That Was, september 13, 2015
Donald “the Candidate” Trump isn’t only trying to slash the tax hit on his golf club in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He’s also trying to avoid paying a $238,000 bill for flood damage that village officials say his high-priced club caused, and the dispute has made its way to the state’s supreme court. “It’s not the best use of taxpayer dollars,” one of Trump’s attorneys told the Journal News. “I’m surprised they are proceeding with the case.” If you read between those lines, Trump’s strategy for winning this battle becomes clear: He thinks he can lawyer the village into submission. Is this what he means when he says he’s going to make American great again?
Gifts of Gab: Greg “the Living Brand” Norman wants somebody to fix what’s wrong with golf before it’s too late. “I’m a big proponent of increasing the speed of the game -- building 12-hole golf courses, reducing the time,” he told the Australian Financial Review. “Why do we have to build these 7,000-metre-long golf courses for maybe one week a year, or not even one week, when the cost of constructing and maintaining these ridiculous clubhouses gets out of hand? We’ve really got to get our crap together.” The irony here is that Norman, one of the richest and most influential people in golf, is among the precious few who can pretty much effect change on his own, presuming he actually wants to. If Norman thinks championship-length tracks are truly a detriment to our industry, he should stop selling them.
Spokane Country Club’s days as a private club are numbered. Much to the dismay of some members, Phil “the Gambler” Mickelson’s investment group, M Club Holdings, has dropped out as a bidder for Spokane, leaving the bankrupt club to negotiate with suitors who aim to open the property to the public. The moral of the story: Private clubs shouldn’t foolishly discriminate against their own members.
Tom Doak isn’t usually regarded as a designer of courses created to sell high-priced real estate, but the lots flanking his forthcoming course in New Zealand are commanding Dubai-like prices. The developers of Tara Iti Golf Club, which is expected to open next month, have set out to sell 11 lots around Doak’s links-like course, with prices reportedly ranging from $2.8 million (U.S. $1.77 million) to $4 million ($2.53 million). If the sales go smoothly, developers of high-end communities might start choosing Doak’s courses over Gil Hanse’s.
Donald “the Candidate” Trump, who’s promised to make Trump Turnberry “the finest resort of its kind anywhere in the world,” has secured permission to build a huge Roman-themed fountain outside the property’s hotel. The monument’s design is in keeping with the resort’s new marketing slogan: Let’s Make Scotland Great Again!
Gifts of Gab: Greg “the Living Brand” Norman wants somebody to fix what’s wrong with golf before it’s too late. “I’m a big proponent of increasing the speed of the game -- building 12-hole golf courses, reducing the time,” he told the Australian Financial Review. “Why do we have to build these 7,000-metre-long golf courses for maybe one week a year, or not even one week, when the cost of constructing and maintaining these ridiculous clubhouses gets out of hand? We’ve really got to get our crap together.” The irony here is that Norman, one of the richest and most influential people in golf, is among the precious few who can pretty much effect change on his own, presuming he actually wants to. If Norman thinks championship-length tracks are truly a detriment to our industry, he should stop selling them.
Spokane Country Club’s days as a private club are numbered. Much to the dismay of some members, Phil “the Gambler” Mickelson’s investment group, M Club Holdings, has dropped out as a bidder for Spokane, leaving the bankrupt club to negotiate with suitors who aim to open the property to the public. The moral of the story: Private clubs shouldn’t foolishly discriminate against their own members.
Tom Doak isn’t usually regarded as a designer of courses created to sell high-priced real estate, but the lots flanking his forthcoming course in New Zealand are commanding Dubai-like prices. The developers of Tara Iti Golf Club, which is expected to open next month, have set out to sell 11 lots around Doak’s links-like course, with prices reportedly ranging from $2.8 million (U.S. $1.77 million) to $4 million ($2.53 million). If the sales go smoothly, developers of high-end communities might start choosing Doak’s courses over Gil Hanse’s.
Donald “the Candidate” Trump, who’s promised to make Trump Turnberry “the finest resort of its kind anywhere in the world,” has secured permission to build a huge Roman-themed fountain outside the property’s hotel. The monument’s design is in keeping with the resort’s new marketing slogan: Let’s Make Scotland Great Again!
Friday, September 11, 2015
Desolation Row, september 11, 2015
Las Vegas, Nevada. Investors from California have purchased and closed Silverstone Golf Course, and it appears that they intend to build something on it. The complex’s new owners haven’t identified themselves or spelled out any definitive plans for Silverstone, but their Beverly Hills-based lawyer has indicated that the 27-hole, Bob Cupp-designed complex isn’t going to reopen. “We are not in the golf course operations business,” Ronald Richards told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We have no set agenda and are open to numerous avenues of use other than requiring us to subsidize someone else’s golf game or operate an asset that has no economically viable use to anyone except a privileged few.” The residents of Silverstone’s accompanying community plan to fight any proposed development, but Richards has been through such battles before: He represents the group that aims to build houses on property in suburban San Diego, California that once operated as Escondido Country Club. Since 2010, Silverstone had been owned by Paul Jaramillo. In a letter to the club’s members, he admitted “the course has lost money every year we’ve operated it.”
Miami Lakes, Florida. Graham Companies, the group that created Miami Lakes, has donated the 18-hole, par-3 track at Don Shula’s Golf Club to the town. The 30-acre layout, which opened in 1963, will become a park. The regulation-length course at Shula’s, renovated in 2013 by Kipp Schulties, continues to operate, as does the steakhouse made famous by the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
Bastrop, Texas. The financially struggling golf course in Bastrop State Park didn’t open for play this year, and its future is uncertain. Lost Pines Golf Course opened with nine holes in 1937, and it got a second nine in 1997. But it began to lose customers after September 11, 2001 and never recovered. Earlier this year, the park set out to find another operator, but it doesn’t appear to have found one.
Brunswick, Georgia. Just a week or so ago, the last rounds were played at Coastal Pines Golf Club. The 18-hole, Mark Bennett-designed course opened in 2001, right as fears of terrorism spread across America and our economy collapsed. Like so many other mom-and-pop golf operations, Coastal Pines simply couldn’t withstand the pressure that was constantly being put on its bottom line. “We weren’t making enough money to stay open,” the course’s owner, Wade Carruth, told the Brunswick News. What happens next at Coastal Pines is anyone’s guess.
Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. After twice denying an application for a rezoning, local elected officials appear ready to put one of Dane County’s oldest public golf courses out of business. Dennis McGinley, the majority owner of Norsk Golf Club, requested a rezoning in 1995 and 2009. But you know what they say: The third time’s the charm. “We can’t put up resistance against what good business people want to do with their business,” the president of Mount Horeb’s village board told the Wisconsin State Journal. “So I don’t see any resistance coming from the board.” Norsk is a nine-hole track that’s been around since 1927. McGinley, who’s owned the course since 1970, has master-planned the property for single-family houses, multi-family units, and commercial space.
Indianapolis, Indiana. The end is near for Shortee’s Golf Course, although the track was never expected to have a long life. Don Turchan built the 18-hole, pitch-’n’-putt course in 2000, on leased farm land that he knew would eventually be developed. “We always knew the value of the land was greater than what we were using it for,” he told the Indianapolis Business Journal. Now a local developer, in search of property that can accommodate nearly 400 apartments, has acquired on option on the 23-acre tract. If its plans are approved, the developer aims to break ground on what it’s calling the Links at 96th in the spring.
Rocklin, California. Less than a year after he originally threatened to close Rocklin Golf Club, Charles Gibson has followed through. Last month, he turned out the lights at his 18-hole, Billy Bell-designed golf course, which opened in 1963 as Sunset Whitney Country Club. The city had hoped to buy the property, but during the due diligence process it discovered that overdue capital improvements might cost up to $4 million. Gibson, who’d been begging for permission to build some houses adjacent to the course, is now evaluating his options. He owns two other golf properties in California, Morgan Creek Golf Club in Roseville and Wildhorse Golf Course in Davis.
Springdale, Ohio. The 18-hole, executive-length track in GE Park, a 120-acre spread owned by the General Electric Employees Athletic Association for more than a half-century, closed on Labor Day. Was it a cruel irony or a happy coincidence?
Maple Grove, Minnesota. An Eden Prairie-based developer has agreed to purchase Sundance Golf Course, which it believes is an ideal site for a subdivision. Pending approval of its plans, Excelsior Group will buy Sundance from Brian Allen, who’d hoped to get out of the golf business last year. The course, part of a complex that includes a banquet center and a bowling alley, opened in 1970.
Louisville, Kentucky. A dispute over property rights is threatening the future of Glenmary Country Club. The 25-year-old venue closed last month and will presumably remain shuttered until its owner, Par Golf LLC, and Glenmary’s home owners’ association come to their senses and settle their argument over what, if any, development is permitted on the property. Both sides have dug in, however, and no end is in sight. And that’s exactly how the parties’ lawyers like it.
Miami Lakes, Florida. Graham Companies, the group that created Miami Lakes, has donated the 18-hole, par-3 track at Don Shula’s Golf Club to the town. The 30-acre layout, which opened in 1963, will become a park. The regulation-length course at Shula’s, renovated in 2013 by Kipp Schulties, continues to operate, as does the steakhouse made famous by the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
Bastrop, Texas. The financially struggling golf course in Bastrop State Park didn’t open for play this year, and its future is uncertain. Lost Pines Golf Course opened with nine holes in 1937, and it got a second nine in 1997. But it began to lose customers after September 11, 2001 and never recovered. Earlier this year, the park set out to find another operator, but it doesn’t appear to have found one.
Brunswick, Georgia. Just a week or so ago, the last rounds were played at Coastal Pines Golf Club. The 18-hole, Mark Bennett-designed course opened in 2001, right as fears of terrorism spread across America and our economy collapsed. Like so many other mom-and-pop golf operations, Coastal Pines simply couldn’t withstand the pressure that was constantly being put on its bottom line. “We weren’t making enough money to stay open,” the course’s owner, Wade Carruth, told the Brunswick News. What happens next at Coastal Pines is anyone’s guess.
Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. After twice denying an application for a rezoning, local elected officials appear ready to put one of Dane County’s oldest public golf courses out of business. Dennis McGinley, the majority owner of Norsk Golf Club, requested a rezoning in 1995 and 2009. But you know what they say: The third time’s the charm. “We can’t put up resistance against what good business people want to do with their business,” the president of Mount Horeb’s village board told the Wisconsin State Journal. “So I don’t see any resistance coming from the board.” Norsk is a nine-hole track that’s been around since 1927. McGinley, who’s owned the course since 1970, has master-planned the property for single-family houses, multi-family units, and commercial space.
Indianapolis, Indiana. The end is near for Shortee’s Golf Course, although the track was never expected to have a long life. Don Turchan built the 18-hole, pitch-’n’-putt course in 2000, on leased farm land that he knew would eventually be developed. “We always knew the value of the land was greater than what we were using it for,” he told the Indianapolis Business Journal. Now a local developer, in search of property that can accommodate nearly 400 apartments, has acquired on option on the 23-acre tract. If its plans are approved, the developer aims to break ground on what it’s calling the Links at 96th in the spring.
Rocklin, California. Less than a year after he originally threatened to close Rocklin Golf Club, Charles Gibson has followed through. Last month, he turned out the lights at his 18-hole, Billy Bell-designed golf course, which opened in 1963 as Sunset Whitney Country Club. The city had hoped to buy the property, but during the due diligence process it discovered that overdue capital improvements might cost up to $4 million. Gibson, who’d been begging for permission to build some houses adjacent to the course, is now evaluating his options. He owns two other golf properties in California, Morgan Creek Golf Club in Roseville and Wildhorse Golf Course in Davis.
Springdale, Ohio. The 18-hole, executive-length track in GE Park, a 120-acre spread owned by the General Electric Employees Athletic Association for more than a half-century, closed on Labor Day. Was it a cruel irony or a happy coincidence?
Maple Grove, Minnesota. An Eden Prairie-based developer has agreed to purchase Sundance Golf Course, which it believes is an ideal site for a subdivision. Pending approval of its plans, Excelsior Group will buy Sundance from Brian Allen, who’d hoped to get out of the golf business last year. The course, part of a complex that includes a banquet center and a bowling alley, opened in 1970.
Louisville, Kentucky. A dispute over property rights is threatening the future of Glenmary Country Club. The 25-year-old venue closed last month and will presumably remain shuttered until its owner, Par Golf LLC, and Glenmary’s home owners’ association come to their senses and settle their argument over what, if any, development is permitted on the property. Both sides have dug in, however, and no end is in sight. And that’s exactly how the parties’ lawyers like it.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
The Week That Was, september 6, 2015
A U.S. firm wants to teach India’s golf developers how to do things the American way. Alpharetta, Georgia-based Mosaic Clubs & Resorts has teamed up with an Indian firm to provide management services and development expertise in the world’s largest republic, with an eye toward establishing a foothold in a golf market with a lot of upside. “India is still a nascent market and has a growing middle class,” Mosaic’s chairman, Whitney Crouse, told the Economic Times. “As the Indian middle class grows, developers will discover the American golf course formula. The formula in the U.S. is that developers build golf courses to sell homes faster and add a premium to the project.” Just guessing, but my sense is that Mosaic’s presentations won’t focus on what’s happened to the American golf course formula since the onset of the Great Recession.
On the financial disclosure form he was required to submit when he became a candidate for our nation’s highest office, Donald Trump stated that Trump National Golf Club Westchester, in Briarcliff Manor, New York, is worth at least $50 million. But Trump’s lawyers have petitioned for tax relief on the property, claiming that it’s really worth only $1.4 million. The reason, according to CBS New York, is that “business is bad.” That may be, but Trump’s 140 acres in one of our nation’s wealthiest counties include an 18-hole golf course and a 75,000-square-foot clubhouse with a handful of overnight accommodations, and Trump has also secured permission to build 71 condos along hole #9. Trump is right when he says that hedge-fund managers get away with murder on their taxes, but they aren’t the only ones.
Regarding the Asia Golf Congress, a symposium that was created to “unleash the growth potential that resides within the Chinese and Asian golf industries”: It’s been canceled. The inaugural congress was supposed to be held this fall in China, where golf development has effectively become an enemy of the state. In fact, the show’s organizers blame the cancelation on the Chinese government’s failure to set regulations that might lend some certainty to the construction side of the business. The Asia Golf Congress isn’t dead, however. The organizers are looking to re-launch in a place “where the golf course activity is currently robust,” namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, or Thailand.
Unless the people at Reed Guanghe want to get more egg on their faces, they might want to avoid re-scheduling their first Asia Golf Congress in Malaysia. As a result of falling oil prices, according to a report in the September edition of Asian Golf Travel Nation, Malaysia has cut its tourism-promotion budget by 25 percent. “When the promotional and advertising budget is cut,” writes Mark Siegel of Golfasian, “then fewer golfers will even know about golf in Malaysia.” The budget cuts in Malaysia and the Asia Golf Congress’ aborted lift-off in China illustrate an important truth about wanna-be golf nations: They come and they go.
Though it may be hard for some folks to believe, several weeks ago a remote island nation in Oceania officially opened its fourth golf course. Exclusiv Golf Deva, a “world-class” layout, is the featured attraction of the Sheraton New Caledonia Deva Resort & Spa in Bourail, New Caledonia, a small French territory located roughly 750 miles east of Australia. New Caledonia’s Southern Province, which funded the course’s construction, expects to get its payback in the form of increased tourism to Grande Terre, the nation’s main island. The 18-hole track was designed by Denver, Colorado-based Cynthia Dye (she used to call herself Cynthia Dye-McGarey), a member of one of golf architecture’s first families. She’s called the site “a piece of land that one only dreams of coming across for a golf project,” with terrain that “places value on the shot placement.” New Caledonia’s other courses are located outside Noumea, the nation’s capital and largest city (Tina International Golf Course and Dumbea International Golf Course) and in Boulaparis (Ouenghi Golf Course).
Some information in the preceding post first appeared in the April 2010 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Gifts of Gab: Need another example of why golf has so much trouble connecting with women? At a recent Golfweek-sponsored get-together for CEOs in the equipment industry, Bob Philion of Cobra-Puma Golf said, “It is our responsibility to make [golf] more fun and inclusive. We can do this through our products, our players, market messages, partnerships, junior golf, how we speak to our female contingent.” Without putting too fine a point on it, any corporate executive who uses the phrase “female contingent” has no clue about how to communicate with women.
On the financial disclosure form he was required to submit when he became a candidate for our nation’s highest office, Donald Trump stated that Trump National Golf Club Westchester, in Briarcliff Manor, New York, is worth at least $50 million. But Trump’s lawyers have petitioned for tax relief on the property, claiming that it’s really worth only $1.4 million. The reason, according to CBS New York, is that “business is bad.” That may be, but Trump’s 140 acres in one of our nation’s wealthiest counties include an 18-hole golf course and a 75,000-square-foot clubhouse with a handful of overnight accommodations, and Trump has also secured permission to build 71 condos along hole #9. Trump is right when he says that hedge-fund managers get away with murder on their taxes, but they aren’t the only ones.
Regarding the Asia Golf Congress, a symposium that was created to “unleash the growth potential that resides within the Chinese and Asian golf industries”: It’s been canceled. The inaugural congress was supposed to be held this fall in China, where golf development has effectively become an enemy of the state. In fact, the show’s organizers blame the cancelation on the Chinese government’s failure to set regulations that might lend some certainty to the construction side of the business. The Asia Golf Congress isn’t dead, however. The organizers are looking to re-launch in a place “where the golf course activity is currently robust,” namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, or Thailand.
Unless the people at Reed Guanghe want to get more egg on their faces, they might want to avoid re-scheduling their first Asia Golf Congress in Malaysia. As a result of falling oil prices, according to a report in the September edition of Asian Golf Travel Nation, Malaysia has cut its tourism-promotion budget by 25 percent. “When the promotional and advertising budget is cut,” writes Mark Siegel of Golfasian, “then fewer golfers will even know about golf in Malaysia.” The budget cuts in Malaysia and the Asia Golf Congress’ aborted lift-off in China illustrate an important truth about wanna-be golf nations: They come and they go.
Though it may be hard for some folks to believe, several weeks ago a remote island nation in Oceania officially opened its fourth golf course. Exclusiv Golf Deva, a “world-class” layout, is the featured attraction of the Sheraton New Caledonia Deva Resort & Spa in Bourail, New Caledonia, a small French territory located roughly 750 miles east of Australia. New Caledonia’s Southern Province, which funded the course’s construction, expects to get its payback in the form of increased tourism to Grande Terre, the nation’s main island. The 18-hole track was designed by Denver, Colorado-based Cynthia Dye (she used to call herself Cynthia Dye-McGarey), a member of one of golf architecture’s first families. She’s called the site “a piece of land that one only dreams of coming across for a golf project,” with terrain that “places value on the shot placement.” New Caledonia’s other courses are located outside Noumea, the nation’s capital and largest city (Tina International Golf Course and Dumbea International Golf Course) and in Boulaparis (Ouenghi Golf Course).
Some information in the preceding post first appeared in the April 2010 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.
Gifts of Gab: Need another example of why golf has so much trouble connecting with women? At a recent Golfweek-sponsored get-together for CEOs in the equipment industry, Bob Philion of Cobra-Puma Golf said, “It is our responsibility to make [golf] more fun and inclusive. We can do this through our products, our players, market messages, partnerships, junior golf, how we speak to our female contingent.” Without putting too fine a point on it, any corporate executive who uses the phrase “female contingent” has no clue about how to communicate with women.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Transactions, september 4, 2015
Fredericksburg, Texas. Boot Ranch, one of the biggest real-estate flops in Texas history, has finally found a new owner. Terra Verde Group LLC and Wheelock Street Capital are plotting a new future for the partially developed, nine-year-old community, which had been seeking a buyer since 2010, when Lehman Brothers foreclosed on the original owners. “The previous developer opened the project at the wrong time in the market,” a principal of Terra Verde told the Dallas Morning News. The 2,052-acre community features a village center, a 55,000-square-foot clubhouse, a recreation area, an 18-hole, Hal Sutton-designed golf course, and a nine-hole, par-3 layout.
Monument, Colorado. An investment group that includes Armen Suny and Ken Limes has purchased Monument Hill Country Club, and for a reasonable price. Monument Investors LLC reportedly paid $1.25 million for the roughly 50-year-old, Colorado Springs-area club, which features an 18-hole, Press Maxwell-designed golf course. The 151-acre property has had its troubles in recent years -- three foreclosures since 2002 and a brief shut-down in 2013 -- but the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that it “added 200 members in the past 12 months” and “returned to profitability last year.” Suny and Limes worked together at Cherry Hills Country Club in suburban Denver, and Suny did a stint at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada. “We want to make this a showplace,” Suny wrote in a letter to Monument Hill’s members. “The club needs some love and attention, and we plan to do that.” The new owners also believe it needs a new name, so they’re now calling it Country Club at Woodmoor.
Mays Landing, New Jersey. Leo Fraser’s children have sold Mays Landing Golf & Country Club, a property they inherited in 1986. Fraser, who was devoted to golf like few others, designed and built the 18-hole layout at Mays Landing in 1962, and he opened it with an exhibition match between Sam Snead and Tony Lema. By then, Fraser had been working in the golf business for decades -- among other things, he also owned Atlantic City Country Club in Absecon, New Jersey -- and by the end of the 1960s he would become a president of the PGA of America. When he died, the Philadelphia Daily News said, “There was perhaps no greater promoter of golf or a more visionary individual in the sport.” His children had considered shrinking the course at Mays Landing to 12 holes, but the property’s new owner, Bill Green of Green Valley Destinations & Resorts, intends to maintain Fraser’s 18-hole design.
Ahwahnee, California. Less than a year after he almost shut it down, Robert H. Bard, Jr. has found buyers for Sierra Meadows Golf Course. The new owners, Charlie Sheldon and Reid Spice, have promised to keep the 18-hole track open through the end of October, but it may not last long after that. “We are currently in an evaluation period,” Sheldon told the Sierra Star. “From a financial perspective, the course has not done well in recent years, and we hope to turn that around.” In addition to its financial losses, last year Sierra Meadows also began to suffer from another problem: Damage from California’s persistent drought.
Cottonwood, Arizona. A pair of investors from California has purchased Coyote Trails Golf Course, the centerpiece of a gated, seniors-only community. Bob Baranek and Paul Reichert, the principals of San Diego-based On the Greens, paid an undisclosed price for the nine-hole, par-33 track formerly owned by Roles, Inc. Coyote Trails, which was designed by Jeff Hardin, opened in the mid 1990s, as Pine Shadows Golf Course.
Flintstone, Maryland. A Las Vegas, Nevada-based gaming company has acquired an interest in the Rocky Gap Casino Resort, which features a 200-room hotel and a Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course. Sartini Gaming, Inc., which owns more than 700 slots operations in Nevada (most of them in grocery stores, convenience stores, and taverns) has established a presence in the mid Atlantic via a merger with Lakes Entertainment, Inc., Rocky Gap’s owner. The partners, operating as Golden Entertainment, Inc., paid an undisclosed amount for the property. The Associated Press says that Rocky Gap, Maryland’s smallest casino, is the biggest conventional casino in Golden Entertainment’s portfolio.
State Center, Iowa. Harlan and Jeanette Kloppenborg have given their 18-hole golf course to the town of State Center. Lincoln Valley Golf Course, a Gordon Cunningham design, opened in the late 1970s. The reason for the donation: Harlan Kloppenborg reportedly believes that the course has become “too much for him to handle as he got older.” The transaction didn’t go smoothly, however, and the town’s mayor could lose his job as a result.
Limestone, Maine. Dean Kimball has assumed the lease on Limestone Country Club, a nine-hole, William Mitchell-designed layout originally created to provide recreation for military personnel at Loring Air Force Base. According to the Bangor Daily News, Kimball has “a three-year plan to restore the club to its original beauty.” For the past 20 years, the course had been operated by Craig Phair, who reportedly had to give up his lease for health reasons. “It has been a great 20 years,” Phair told a local television station. “Love to do it all over again, to tell you the truth.”
Monument, Colorado. An investment group that includes Armen Suny and Ken Limes has purchased Monument Hill Country Club, and for a reasonable price. Monument Investors LLC reportedly paid $1.25 million for the roughly 50-year-old, Colorado Springs-area club, which features an 18-hole, Press Maxwell-designed golf course. The 151-acre property has had its troubles in recent years -- three foreclosures since 2002 and a brief shut-down in 2013 -- but the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that it “added 200 members in the past 12 months” and “returned to profitability last year.” Suny and Limes worked together at Cherry Hills Country Club in suburban Denver, and Suny did a stint at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada. “We want to make this a showplace,” Suny wrote in a letter to Monument Hill’s members. “The club needs some love and attention, and we plan to do that.” The new owners also believe it needs a new name, so they’re now calling it Country Club at Woodmoor.
Mays Landing, New Jersey. Leo Fraser’s children have sold Mays Landing Golf & Country Club, a property they inherited in 1986. Fraser, who was devoted to golf like few others, designed and built the 18-hole layout at Mays Landing in 1962, and he opened it with an exhibition match between Sam Snead and Tony Lema. By then, Fraser had been working in the golf business for decades -- among other things, he also owned Atlantic City Country Club in Absecon, New Jersey -- and by the end of the 1960s he would become a president of the PGA of America. When he died, the Philadelphia Daily News said, “There was perhaps no greater promoter of golf or a more visionary individual in the sport.” His children had considered shrinking the course at Mays Landing to 12 holes, but the property’s new owner, Bill Green of Green Valley Destinations & Resorts, intends to maintain Fraser’s 18-hole design.
Ahwahnee, California. Less than a year after he almost shut it down, Robert H. Bard, Jr. has found buyers for Sierra Meadows Golf Course. The new owners, Charlie Sheldon and Reid Spice, have promised to keep the 18-hole track open through the end of October, but it may not last long after that. “We are currently in an evaluation period,” Sheldon told the Sierra Star. “From a financial perspective, the course has not done well in recent years, and we hope to turn that around.” In addition to its financial losses, last year Sierra Meadows also began to suffer from another problem: Damage from California’s persistent drought.
Cottonwood, Arizona. A pair of investors from California has purchased Coyote Trails Golf Course, the centerpiece of a gated, seniors-only community. Bob Baranek and Paul Reichert, the principals of San Diego-based On the Greens, paid an undisclosed price for the nine-hole, par-33 track formerly owned by Roles, Inc. Coyote Trails, which was designed by Jeff Hardin, opened in the mid 1990s, as Pine Shadows Golf Course.
Flintstone, Maryland. A Las Vegas, Nevada-based gaming company has acquired an interest in the Rocky Gap Casino Resort, which features a 200-room hotel and a Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course. Sartini Gaming, Inc., which owns more than 700 slots operations in Nevada (most of them in grocery stores, convenience stores, and taverns) has established a presence in the mid Atlantic via a merger with Lakes Entertainment, Inc., Rocky Gap’s owner. The partners, operating as Golden Entertainment, Inc., paid an undisclosed amount for the property. The Associated Press says that Rocky Gap, Maryland’s smallest casino, is the biggest conventional casino in Golden Entertainment’s portfolio.
State Center, Iowa. Harlan and Jeanette Kloppenborg have given their 18-hole golf course to the town of State Center. Lincoln Valley Golf Course, a Gordon Cunningham design, opened in the late 1970s. The reason for the donation: Harlan Kloppenborg reportedly believes that the course has become “too much for him to handle as he got older.” The transaction didn’t go smoothly, however, and the town’s mayor could lose his job as a result.
Limestone, Maine. Dean Kimball has assumed the lease on Limestone Country Club, a nine-hole, William Mitchell-designed layout originally created to provide recreation for military personnel at Loring Air Force Base. According to the Bangor Daily News, Kimball has “a three-year plan to restore the club to its original beauty.” For the past 20 years, the course had been operated by Craig Phair, who reportedly had to give up his lease for health reasons. “It has been a great 20 years,” Phair told a local television station. “Love to do it all over again, to tell you the truth.”
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