Deeds and Weeds

Results in Travel Back to Deeds and Weeds Index

Nicklaus and Sorenstam Want to Design Olympic Course

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 Comments
Before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro can host the first golf competition in the games in 112 years, the Brazilian capital needs to build a golf course. And Jack Nicklaus knows just who should design that course: the duo of himself and Annika Sorenstam, that's who.

Nicklaus and Sorenstam, who helped spearhead the effort that got their sport voted into the Summer Olympics last year, have made a pitch to co-design the layout where the 72-hole competition would be held. 

Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press has the story about the Nicklaus-Sorenstam pairing here. According to the article, "If selected, [Nicklaus] said he and Sorenstam would collaborate on the strategy of each hole -- Nicklaus from championship tees for the men, Sorenstam with women in mind."

Nicklaus has collaborated on courses before, most notably with Arnold Palmer on The King and the Bear at the World Golf Hall of Fame, and with Tom Doak at Sebonac on Long Island.

Competition for the job of designing Brazil's Olympics course is expected to be fierce -- one of the organizers of the 2016 Games recently said that more than a dozen golf architects have expressed interest in the project -- but a Nicklaus/Sorenstam bid will be tough to top.

"I'll be surprised if they don't select us," Nicklaus told Ferguson.

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Arizona Update: 'Getting Hit From All Sides'

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 Comments
The Arizona Republic starts the new year with an update on the overall golf market in Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs. In summary: golf course owners and developers aren't noticing any rebound, at least not yet. Some, uh, highlights:

Many private clubs have opened their courses to the public, even for just one or two days a week, in an effort to increase rounds and revenue.

Many facilities are negotiating green fees. One golfer talks about having played the Arizona Biltmore for $55, and guesses it would have cost him twice that much a year ago.

Arizona officials estimate that "only" 5 percent of the state's approximately 340 golf facilities are in dire economic condition, compared to 15 percent nationally.

The story said there were no golf course residential developments opened in Arizona in 2009 -- startling news (economic troubles notwithstanding) considering how "white hot" the state's golf market was as recently as five years ago.

You can read the complete story here.

-- G.R.


Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

At Doonbeg, Business is Up

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Comments
Doonbeg is bucking the trend.

In a tough year for the travel industry in general -- and golf resorts in particular -- officials at the luxury golf property in Ireland (which features a much acclaimed Greg Norman-designed golf course) released some very strong business numbers this week: rounds played are up 1,500 in 2009 compared to 2008, and overnight stays have increased between 45 and 50 percent.

How did Doonbeg pull off these kind of improvement in the teeth of a recession? The old-fashioned way: It lowered prices. On room rates. On golf packages. On membership deals.

Ireland's Sunday Business Post has the complete story on Doonbeg's strategy, and its results, here.

"Obviously rates are down, but we are still bringing people into the resort during the recession," Doonbeg's general manager, Joe Russell, told the Post. "The key thing now is value, and we have altered our offering and introduced more offers and more deals. The result is that we have remained very busy, albeit at a reduced margin."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Makena Resort to Remain Open

Friday, September 4, 2009 Comments
Last week, we passed along a report about the troubles at Makena Resort in Maui: Investors who had bought the resort two years ago with plans for a 15-year, $800 million development, are now in default on their $192.5 million mortgage.

Thursday, Pacific Business News had an update on the situation. According to this story, a new management company (so far unidentified) will take over the operation of the resort, which includes the Maui Prince Hotel and Makena golf course. According to Barry Sullivan, a spokesman for Wells Fargo Bank, which holds the note on the mortgage, both the hotel and the golf course will remain open for business.

"The threat of closing has disappeared," Sullivan told Pacific Business News. "We are confident there will be a smooth transition to the new resort management company."

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Skibo Castle Goes Into the Red

Friday, August 21, 2009 Comments
Skibo Castle, the lavish private golf club and sporting retreat near Dornoch, Scotland -- once part of the private club empire of Peter de Savary and probably best known for hosting Madonna's 2000 wedding to film director Guy Ritchie -- is now losing money, according to this story in The Herald. The cause, of course, is the recession and its effects on the economy, particularly the high-end travel and resort industry, in which Skibo Castle resides.

According to the article, "[Skibo Castle] ... posted an operating loss of £13,000 for the year to the end of March, compared with an underlying profit of £169,000 the year before. At the pre-tax level, the situation grew even more bleak, as losses deepened to £1.03m, compared with a loss of £648,000 last time."

In 2007 Skibo claimed to have reached its membership goal of 500, each of whom paid £23,000 to join, plus annual dues of £7,000. But according to The Herald story, Skibo is accepting applications for membership, indicating it is operating at less than capacity. The story also says Skibo's currently has 183 full- and part-time employees, about 20 below normal levels. 

Skibo's general manager, Peter Crome, wouldn't comment on the facility's financial state, but insisted the long-term outlook for Skibo Castle remains rosy. "In spite of the challenging environment -- and we expect this current year to be challenging also -- we are quite confident about the future," he told The Herald. "We're carrying on happily."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Mexico's Loreto Bay Resort Shuttered

Thursday, June 18, 2009 Comments
Loreto Bay, a planned eco-friendly community in the Baja Sur California peninsula about 750 miles south of San Diego whose owners had visions of becoming a rival to Los Cabos, has hit a speed bump. TSD Loreto Partners, its development group, announced that all construction activity would be suspended as of June 6, and that Loreto Bay Resort -- home to a 155-room hotel and 18-hole golf course with views of the Sea of Cortez -- would close. 

The cause, not surprisingly, is the stumbling economy. As this story in the San Diego Tribune explains, the development has sold fewer than 800 of its planned 6,000 lots, and its primary lender is Citigroup Property Investors, whose parent bank has been hit hard by the recession.

There is some good news: The story reports that Fonatur, the tourism development arm of the Mexican government, wants to take over and reopen the Loreto Bay Resort's hotel and golf course until a new buyer can be found.

"The golf course is an important attraction in Loreto, and its loss would be a great blow, from which this tourist destination would not easily recover," said Narciso Agúndez, governor of Baja California Sur.

Last year, in happier economic times, the New York Times profiled Loreto Bay, its history and its development plans, in a story you can read here. 

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Protect investors or 'our gravy train will stop'

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Comments
We've already written plenty on this blog about Tim Blixseth, Credit Suisse and the Yellowstone Club debacle, so this article from Fortune -- which reveals that eight high-end developments financed by CS are currently in some sort of financial trouble -- might seem like familiar territory to some of you. 

But the reporting on the subject is interesting, with its focus on the events of Yellowstone, and this passage caught our eye:

"The portfolio of loans was the brainchild of David Miller, a Managing Director at Credit Suisse, who was co-head of the U.S. capital markets business within the syndicated loan group. When Credit Suisse made the loans, it got paid millions in fees and then syndicated them all off to investors, who will be fortunate to get back pennies on the dollar during the various bankruptcy proceedings. (Credit Suisse currently has a minimal exposure to the original loans.)

Miller was well aware of the golden goose he had on his hands. In an August 2005 email to a colleague, Miller wrote, '[T]hese are aggressive deals and it is in all of our best interests, that the investors are protected, because if one of them should blow up, you will see these investors pull out of this land development mkt [market] and our gravy train will stop.' "

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Ups and Downs of New Orleans Market

Sunday, April 19, 2009 Comments
Comprehensive article on the New Orleans golf market in Saturday's edition of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Fascinating, too, for it encapsulates the confusing, maddening and enticing aspects that make up today's golf market.

What do I mean? Well, the first part of the article details the really (I have to say, given all the tough economic stories we've documented on this blog) extraordinary amount of new and renovated golf facilities opening, about to open or under construction in the New Orleans area, including the new $46 million City Park complex and Lakewood, which just underwent a $9 million refurbishment. 

The article makes the case that the activity is part of a campaign to make a stronger golf tourist destination out of New Orleans (and some of it is related to the post-Katrina rebuilding effort), and provides statistics that suggest the campaign isn't all that far-fetched: rounds played in Louisiana in the first two months of 2009 were up a startling 19 percent over the same period last year (the nationwide average was a 4 percent decline).

That's the good news. The bad news is that the second half of the article makes it clear that golf courses in the Crescent City are plagued with the same challenges as facilities all across the country: declining revenue, falling initiation fees, debilitating budget cuts—and course closings. This paragraph from the story the gives a pretty clear picture of the troubled side of New Orleans golf:

"Katrina closed down the East and West courses at City Park; the North Course reopened in September. Joe Bartholomew Golf Course, commonly called Pontchartrain Park, remains closed, awaiting a $5 million renovation. Eastover Golf Club in eastern New Orleans tried briefly to bounce back from Katrina, reopening nine of its 36 holes, but it ceased operations altogether in October 2007. And The Bluffs at Thompson Creek, a nationally recognized golf resort in St. Francisville, recently closed amid the recession."

My favorite quote is from Jimmy Headrick, who was director of golf at Eastover. As an 18-hole facility (according to Headrick) Eastover routinely made an annual profit of $500,000 throughout the 1990s. Then it decided to add a second course, took on too much debt, and was hit hard by the post-Sept. 11 recession. By 2007, Eastover was closed. 

"Courses that get overextended start living for the bottom line and lose sight of the fact that you also got to grow the game and build relationships with members," Headrick said. "I shudder to think how many courses are out there like that right now."

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

U.S. Travel Officials Fight Back

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Comments
Business travel has been pummeled by the public reaction to corporate entertaining, particularly by businesses that have received federal relief funds. Now, as this story in today's New York Times explains, the travel industry is starting to push back.

As the piece explains, "In a lobbying effort spearheaded by the U.S. Travel Association, industry representatives have met with President Obama, released a flurry of statistics about the economic contribution of meetings and events ($101 billion in spending, one million jobs) and have even established a 'rapid-response war room' to address 'false accusations against legitimate travel activities.' "

According to the story, a USTA study showed that hotel companies lost $220 million business in January and February alone. Starwood Hotels and Resorts, where group revenue is down 40 percent so far this year and cancellations are up 50 percent, was forced to lay off 10 percent of its staff, about 6,000 employees. 

The story goes on to make the case that most business travel is justifiable (in that it has a healthy impact on areas like product sales, customer loyalty and employee retention) and more often than not does not involve senior-level executives. 

--G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Golf Market Report: Las Vegas

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 Comments
There was a thorough report on the Las Vegas golf market by Jennifer Robison in Sunday's edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Not surprisingly, the golf market in Sin City, according to Robison, is struggling. I say "not surprisingly," given all the factors working against Las Vegas right now: Its housing market is among the most depressed of any city in the nation; tourist travel, the backbone of the Las Vegas economy, is way down; and the recession has effected everyone's discretionary spending, even full-time residents.

Still, there are bright spots. It isn't hard for Las Vegas golfers to get a tee time these days, and green fee rates are dropping. For example, at one Las Vegas course, Angel Park, weekday green fees are now $54, down almost $90 from a few years ago. Robison writes, "It's a great time to be a local golfer," a point elaborated on by Michael Schroeder, a Las Vegas resident and avid player:

"They need you here. They want you here," Schroeder said. "They used to have high prices, and they never tried to have deals for local people because they wanted the tourists more."

A couple of Robison's conclusions confused me, however. On the one hand, most of the Las Vegas courses she profiles sound empty and anxious for customers (Schroeder told Robison he counted just 12 other golfers during a recent round at Summerlin GC). On the other hand, she quotes local golf officials who insist Las Vegas avoided the great golf business pitfall of the 1990s -- it is not oversaturated with new courses.

If the economy turns around and the tourists return, the experts are probably right. But a lot of empty golf courses suggests otherwise. We'll see.

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
Keywords:

Search

most emailed

most commented

most viewed

Close

Thank you for signing up for the Tip of the Week newsletter.

You will receive your first newsletter soon.
Subscribe to Golf Digest
Subscribe today