Tiger To Start Investing (!?) And Designing In China

At least according to Paul Tharp in the New York Post...

Golf megastar Tiger Woods is going to invest some of his $200 million fortune in building golf courses - mostly for China's new country club set.

The sports world's highest paid player yesterday said he's launching Tiger Woods Design to build high-end links across the globe.

"I've had the luxury of playing golf around the world," said Woods. "I'd like to share my experiences and the lessons I've learned, and hopefully create some amazing, fun courses."

Woods is expected to follow in the footsteps of golf's best-known course builders - Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer - and tackle projects in China for his first three or four layouts.

"China says it needs 2,000 golf courses in the next several years, and Nicklaus and Palmer are already there working on it," said Michael E. Gleason, a leading golf architect and consultant.

"Tiger's following them because that's where the demand is. It's booming. His name is going to draw a lot of investors - and he can name his own price."

It takes upwards of $50 million to open a 36-hole golf course, depending on the location. Gleason is currently completing a new course on a mountaintop outside Seoul Korea for $36 million.

"China isn't going to give up agricultural land, and will probably be building them on mountaintops or even remediated brown fields," Gleason said.

Rees On Tiger

Mark Soltau went right to the top for a reaction to Tiger's entry into the design world:

"I think he'll do quite well," said noted golf course architect Rees Jones. "He's the biggest name in golf, and he'll command a big fee.

Wow, the insights you glean from those Jones boys.

"It's good for the interest of the game. He's going to have to go through a little bit of a learning curve to get his ideas on the ground. It's a craft; you learn by doing it.

"My only advice would be to limit himself to good projects, clients and sites. Concentrate on the game while he's still the best."

Translation: don't you even think of redoing one of my courses that needs redoing. 

Tiger Hangs Out Design Shingle...

...and whatever you think his fee is, there's a good chance you need to multiply it by 8.

I can honestly say that Tiger's career has been handled so beautifully, but at least to the design world, this could have been handled more tastefully... 

TIGER WOODS LAUNCHES GOLF COURSE DESIGN FIRM

Woods to Apply His Unique Golf Experiences to Course Design

Windermere, Fla. - Tiger Woods is taking a swing at a new venture in the golf industry - course design. Woods announced today the creation of Tiger Woods Design, a golf course design company that plans to embark upon projects around the world.

"My goal is to provide a unique collection of amazing courses all over the world that represent what I love about golf," Tiger Woods Design Chairman Tiger Woods said. "I'm very excited to announce the formation of this company and get to work on finding the right projects for my first few courses."

The company's philosophy is to further elevate the standards of golf course design and create enjoyable, challenging courses worldwide. At the heart of this vision is Woods' desire to apply his first-hand knowledge and personal experience to the design of each golf course.

"I've had the luxury of playing golf around the world, and I've spent a lot of time evaluating how to play all kinds of courses," Woods said. "I'd like to share my experience and the lessons I've learned and hopefully create some amazing, fun courses."

Woods, who has played golf on almost every continent in more than 20 countries, plans for Tiger Woods Design to encompass a global strategy that appeals to all skill levels. The organization will also seek unique properties for course development, while taking care to preserve the natural habitat of each location. 

"There are golfers everywhere that may never get a chance to play a links course in Scotland, a tree-lined course in America or the sand belts of Australia," Woods added. "Hopefully I can bring some of those elements into their backyards."

Woods decided to move forward with forming Tiger Woods Design in 2005 as he approached his 10th year playing professional golf on the PGA TOUR.

"I wanted to wait until I felt I had enough golf experience to launch Tiger Woods Design," Woods said. "I've been working very hard over the last decade to get a feel for all kinds of courses and really understand the best elements of design. Now, I feel I've logged enough time and learned enough lessons to start this venture."

Before moving forward with Tiger Woods Design, Woods sought the advice of friends and experts in the industry.

"I've spent a lot of time talking with experts in this field and gathering as much information as possible about what a great course should be," Woods said. "Friends like Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio have been a tremendous help by sharing their support and advice on this new venture. I hope I can bring as much to this industry as they have over the years."

And the website doesn't work yet...

Tiger Woods Design is currently reviewing projects and bids for theircourse design services. Visit  www.tigerwoodsdesign.com for upcoming announcements, more informationand instructions on submitting a proposal.

Online submissions?

Update on 2006-11-07 03:26 by Geoff

Looks like the site was finally up and running in the late afternoon...it doesn't have much in the way of details.

Making Offers They Can Refuse

Thanks to reader Tuco for this Post story on the Jack Nicklaus designed New York city course that was supposed to be built near the Whitestone Bridge and possibly serve as a future host to the Westchester event.

Doesn't sound like it's going to happen anytime soon.

When it was announced, the Jack Nicklaus-designed course was supposed to welcome golfers in December 2001 and provide sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline from a 222-acre site under the Whitestone Bridge.

"This groundbreaking project is a wonderful example of public and private sectors working together," then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in 1998.

He suggested the course might even become a stop on the PGA tour. But Pierre Gagne, the chief developer, couldn't pull it off.

The city poured in more than $8 million for environmental remediation. Lawsuits ensued after Gagne accepted 2.5 million cubic yards of fill to help cover the one-time landfill.

FBI wiretaps captured one mob-connected trucker boasting of collecting $5 for every cubic yard dumped.

Estimated construction costs skyrocketed from $22.4 million to $50 million and beyond.

Wait, the mob is charging $5 a cubic yard and it's only $50 million? Shoot, some of today's guys spend that much without the Corleone's looking over their shoulder.

 

Public Gets Reprieve As TPC Valencia Goes Private

Jill Painter reports the public golfer no longer can enjoy the power lines, concrete wave bunker and tract housing views at TPC Valencia:

The decision to change its status was made in September.

"It was just to primarily focus on the membership and to accommodate their needs and keep the golf course in excellent condition," said Hillary Ames, the director of membership.

The club, which is in the gated Westridge community, will expand the Oaks Grille restaurant and its patio area as well.

Cost of the average membership is $40,000, which is a refundable deposit if the member leaves, according to Ames. They are not equity memberships, meaning members don't own a part of the club.

Since the TPC already was a semi-private club, it had between 300-330 members.

"People are asking us if we're dropping our name, but we're not. We still have networking privileges with the (other) TPC courses," Ames said.

The Short 4 Finish

Tom Hanson continues his look at the TPC Treviso Bay's construction, with the dilemma facing player Hal Sutton: he doesn't like the planned short par-4 finish.

Eight months after breaking ground, the 18th hole is nothing but piles of dirt. But it's already providing loads of drama.

The lakes on the championship course in East Naples have been dredged. Negotiations to begin the shaping of the 7,200-yard layout is under way. And still there is one minor debate: Is a 320-yard, par-4, too, short?

That's the plan for the final hole at Treviso Bay.

With today's juiced balls and trampoline-effect drivers, players will have to decide if they want to drive the green or lay up and play it safe. The tempting proposition will make it possible for an eagle to win a tournament. Talk about instant excitement.

But not everyone is thrilled.

Hal Sutton, the PGA Tour player consultant on the project, isn't sold on the idea.

Sutton, standing by his classic golf course design theories, feels that a reachable par-4 will only create headaches instead of heart-stopping action. Sutton fears that the short strike will result in slow play. He also worries that the agony of defeat, (i.e. bogey, double-bogey or even a triple-bogey) will be taken out of the equation.

"Is it exciting that everyone is going for it and the difference between winning and losing could be an eagle?" Sutton said. "Or is exciting, OK there are 10 different ways to make a 3 here and only one way to make an eagle if you knock it in from the fairway."

"I think having a hole that short as the final hole is a real risk," Sutton said.

Arthur Hills, Treviso Bay's lead architect, and Chris Gray, the project manager for VK Development, both agree there is enough give and take with having a 320-yard finishing hole.

The hole is designed to be a slight dogleg to the left with water running down the entire left side. The green will be angled so that the lake will cause players to think twice about going for the green.

"There still will be plenty of risk but I think the reward will make it a unique hole," Hills said.

I love the idea of a short 4 finish. And at that point in the round, who cares about slow play? It's already been 5 to this point, what's another wait! 

Lorne On Bandon

Lorne Rubenstein looks at Bandon Dunes and some of the things that make the resort great.

PGA Tour players are calculating precise distances while playing by yardages in the Chrysler Championship near Tampa, but golfers here are immersed in traditional golf. The three beguiling, walking-only courses at the much acclaimed Bandon Dunes Golf Resort invite golf that tells the player to throw away the yardage book.

"I don't know how far it is, but this is the club," a Bandon caddie is likely to say. Golfers can consult inconspicuous markers on the fairway, but most learn not to bother. The ground game matters, because the firm, fast fescue fairways welcome a bouncing ball. The golf's about more than the aerial game, into the fescue greens and the fairways.

"The Golf-Course Doctor Is In"

John Paul Newport uses his Saturday WSJ column to profile Gil Hanse, Sleepy Hollow and the restoration movement. Thanks to reader John for this.

Elkington On Tour Courses

Steve Elkington talking to The Age...

"This is just a good course, one of the better ones we play," said the battle-hardened veteran, who trailed American leader Brian Gay by three strokes at demanding Innisbrook.

"Some of the crap we play on is ridiculous. As big as the tour is, you'd think we could play some better courses."

Cronin on Erin Hills

Tim Cronin does some cross-platform leveraging for the USGA, pitting Erin Hills vs. Cog Hill in a battle of wannabe U.S. Open courses.

When the USGA finally brings the U.S. Open back to the Midwest -- it's booked elsewhere through 2013 -- Erin Hills, a spectacular new course in this sleepy rural hamlet 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee, has a remarkably good chance to get it.

How good? Mike Davis, who runs the Open for the USGA, has visited four times. On the grounds the first time after work had barely begun, he didn't return a second, third and fourth time to have a bratwurst.

Erin Hills is more than that good. Opened Aug. 1, it is instantly one of the great courses in the world.

Whoa Nellie. Deep breaths Tim.  

It is also a throwback, a course many will find too quirky, thinking too many of the hazards -- the earth rolling and heaving, leftovers of the last remnant of the Ice Age -- were either placed incorrectly or should have been bulldozed.

And lots of corporate tent space!

What's In A Name?

Lorne Rubenstein looks at the tricky exercise of naming a course.

Fourth Course at Bandon News

John Gunther details the "team-driven" design process planned for the fourth course at Bandon.

The course, to be named Old MacDonald, will be the result of a bold and unique concept - a team-driven design process led by Pacific Dunes architect Tom Doak and his design partner Jim Urbina.

“I think I'm not employing Doak and Urbina as architects,” Keiser said. “I'm employing them to design as C.B. MacDonald and Seth Raynor, his apprentice and successor, would build it if they were alive today.”

A panel of other noted architects, including George Bahto, an expert on MacDonald, will work with Doak and Urbina on the project. Bahto is the author of “The Evangelist of Golf,” a book about MacDonald's life.

Old MacDonald will be located to the north and east of Pacific Dunes, which has received the highest ratings to date among the resort's three links-style layouts.

And... 

“The concept to the average golfer is I believe the team will pull off something that is fun,” Keiser said.

When Keiser decided on his concept for the new course, Doak was a natural choice as lead architect. He is regarded as one of the top students of architecture in the United States and already was familiar with Bandon Dunes from when he and Urbina designed Pacific Dunes.

“I feel as if I'm hiring C.B. MacDonald myself,” Keiser said. “I trust (Tom) and Jim is fantastic.”

The design board could have as many as 12 members, all of whom will have input.

“This is interpretive,” Keiser said. “It isn't just, ‘Tom do it.' It's, ‘You and Jim, along with George, being C.B. MacDonald.'”

Keiser, Lesnik, Doak and Bahto are scheduled to meet on Halloween at the National Golf Links to begin discussing the makeup of the group.

Because of the nature of the project and because of a new role Keiser has taken, there is no hurry for construction of Old MacDonald.

Old MacDonald will be located to the north and east of Pacific Dunes, which has received the highest ratings to date among the resort's three links-style layouts.

And...

The general timeline for Old MacDonald is for design work to be done through 2007, with construction in 2008 and 2009 and the opening in 2010.

Lesson: Award Tournaments To Completed Golf Courses

Exhibit #1291 of the PGA Tour's unfortunate disregard for the tricky business of golf course development was noted in Doug Ferguson's AP notes column:

Not quite two months after the PGA Tour announced its fall schedule, it has hit a speed bump with one of them.

Because of construction delays and financial issues surrounding the Running Horse Golf and Country Club, Tour officials will be going to Fresno, Calif., this week to meet with the developers.

The Running Horse Golf Championship is to be played Oct. 25-28 next year, the second-to-last event on the 2007 schedule. Along with falling behind on the course, KFSN-TV in Fresno has reported that the managing partners are trying to sell it.

"Things at the golf course are going slower than we thought they were,'' PGA Tour spokesman Bob Combs said. "I understand there are one or maybe more groups looking at investing in it. But from our perspective, we're playing in Fresno.''

One option for the Tour if Running Horse is not ready would be to move it to another golf course in the area, such as Fort Washington.

"We believe Running Horse is going to be the site,'' Combs said. "If it turns out to be another one, we'll cross that bridge. The key thing is we'll be there.''

You may be there, but so far, there is no there there. 

Jones v. Jones

Vanessa Blum reports on the lawsuit filed by Rees Jones against his beloved brother, Bobby (aka RTJ II).

It pits the two sons of famed golf course designer Robert Trent Jones in a messy court fight over $100,000 and the use of their deceased father's name.

 The men, both successful golf architects in their 60s, are known to be fierce competitors who conduct most of their communication through lawyers.

Now younger brother Rees Jones is suing older brother Robert Trent Jones Jr. for his share of taxes owed on the estate of their mother, who died in 1987. Rees Jones also claims Robert Jr. misappropriated their father's name when he contracted with a clothing firm to create a Robert Trent Jones apparel line.

A clothing line?

Still, that the brothers would go to court over a relatively modest sum of money is testament to how frayed their relationship has become. Even the language of the suit hints at a much larger family drama.

"This is a story about the eldest son of a famous golf course designer, who has selfishly taken advantage of his younger brother since their father's death through broken promises and clandestine conduct," states the complaint.

I have to stop here to get some tissues so I can weep for these two big grown ups!

Fort Lauderdale attorney Bruce Weihe, who represents Robert Trent Jones Jr., declined to comment on the specific allegations against his client.

"This is a private family matter and we hope for a quick resolution of the dispute," Weihe wrote in a brief statement.

Neither Robert Trent Jones Jr. nor Rees Jones could be reached for comment.

The lawsuit's first claim stems from the execution of their mother's will. According to the suit, Rees Jones paid $296,414 in deferred estate tax that came due in 2001. He asked his older brother for half, but Robert Trent Jones Jr. responded with a check for $49,338 -- leaving $98,869 outstanding, the suit alleges.In the second portion of the suit, Rees Jones demands half the royalties earned by his brother from a Robert Trent Jones clothing brand he developed with Gear for Sports in 2005.

And...

Bradley Klein, who has tracked the brothers' careers as Golfweek's architecture editor, said Rees and Robert Jr., who goes by Bobby, probably began trying to one-up each other "in the crib."

"They hate each other," he said. "They are rivals in every way."

And...

Klein said Robert Jr., more than Rees, has advanced his career by trading on his father's fame and their similar names.

"He's cashing in on the confusion," Klein said. "Now that his father is dead, the name has become even more famous."

According to government records, Robert Jr. trademarked the brands Robert Trent Jones Design and Robert Trent Jones Golf in addition to the Robert Trent Jones logo used by Gear for Sports after his father's death. Just because Robert Jr. has the same name as his father doesn't mean he can profit off it without giving his brother a cut, said Fort Lauderdale lawyer Matthew Nelles, who specializes in trademarks and intellectual property.

On the other hand, Nelles said, Rees Jones could have filed a formal objection when Robert Jr. trademarked the various brands.

"Robert Jr.'s going to say `I have the federally registered trademark giving me exclusive rights to use the name. I don't have to give you anything,''' Nelles said.

In his lawsuit, Rees Jones contends rights to the name passed equally to both sons under their father's will, and any profits should be divided between them.

The case has already drawn a flurry of combative exchanges between the brothers and their lawyers.

Robert Jr. tried to get the suit tossed out, claiming he was not presented with a copy of the complaint within 120 days as required by Florida law. In a sworn statement, the elder brother said court papers could have been provided to him when he crossed paths with Rees Jones at two golf events in spring 2006.

Kline, Rees Jones' attorney, said Robert Jr. evaded the individuals who came to serve him with the documents.

How tragic if these two masters were to spend their final days in court, giving their millions to lawyers instead of screwing up classic courses or building new banal ones! 

Dismal?

As part of the package of renovation stories, a sidebar review of "different" courses is included. Brad Klein slipped this not-so-glowing review of Dismal River in:

Anytime you open a golf course with a windmill smack in the middle of a hole, you raise some eyebrows. Dismal River, a Jack Nicklaus design in the middle of Nebraska's Sand Hills, did just that, on its par-5 fourth hole, and the windmill looks perfectly natural on what was an old ranch. There are some fine, natural looking holes here, but also some significant tweaks that already are being planned to fix some rough spots, including a partial regrading of three fairways and significant softening of the slopes on a half-dozen greens.

Lest anyone think that rerouting a course out here on such natural terrain is easy, remember that in routing Sand Hills Golf Club, which sits only five miles east of Dismal River, co-designers Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw took two years to settle on a sequence of holes that would work in the wind and that would accommodate the ground game.

Dismal River couldn't be more different, not only in playing character, but also in its overall business model. A 26,000-square-foot clubhouse/lodge looms over the property, and the club includes high-end real estate, spa, bowling alley, corporate outings and an exclusive dining room for founding members.