"The two reasons golf courses fail is that almost no one does basic demographic research, and developers and lenders get starry-eyed by the name of the designer."

Kurt Badenhausen's Forbes.com story on the state of Tiger's design business gets interesting on page two. He's writing about how Jim Anthony put together new financing for the Woods-designed course that we've been told is under construction.

Hungry for capital, Anthony turned to homeowners at Cliffs' eight properties. He scared up $64 million from 525 of them in the form of a mortgage note paying 12% annually. So far it's the only debt on the course. Creative fundraising on Anthony's part. Because it was a private placement, he didn't have to register the deal with the Securities & Exchange Commission. "Banks are not lending to any developer," he laments.

Maybe that's because bankers are concerned about repayment. Over the past decade the number of golf courses in the U.S. has crept up 3% to 16,000, but the number of rounds played has declined 6%. In 2000, 30 golf courses closed while 399 new courses opened, according to the National Golf Foundation. Last year 140 closed and only 50 opened. Over the past five years 607 courses have closed.

Now this is fun:

"The two reasons golf courses fail is that almost no one does basic demographic research, and developers and lenders get starry-eyed by the name of the designer," says Jerry P. Sager, a managing director at First National of America, a privately owned financial holding company whose main asset is loans to golf course owners. Sager says that a name architect helps sell real estate during the first year of a project. After that sales look like those at any other development. Bad news for Cliffs, which has sold only 44 lots surrounding the future Woods course.

Wait, you mean to tell me that someone has just now figured out that the quality of the course ultimately outweighs the value of the name brand designer. At least it's finally common knowledge!

Pebble's Double Fairway 9th Could Be Restored!

I understand if you have Pebble Beach fatigue by now, but come on, it beats talking about the Traveler's Championship, no?

Anyway, for years I've been told by Pebble Beach Company folks that the old alternate fairway on the 9th fairway, created by Chandler Egan in the 1928 redo along with a shift of the 9th green toward the cliffs, was not possible because of cliff erosion.

Last week I wandered over to the now abandoned fairway and of course, there is plenty of space for the fairway and it provides the optimum angle to attack hole locations cut behind the gaping left bunker.

So for starters, here is a drawing of the hole that appeared in the 1929 National Greenkeeper:

And here is a view of the righthand fairway from the 8th hole:

And the view as you first walk down this now-abandoned stretch of pricey real estate:

And the view of the second shot from the right, a great angle to approach from:

 Finally, the fairway view:

More Pebble Beach Then And Now: #8

I've got a couple more before-afters that I forgot to post last week once play got underway. So before the 2010 U.S. Open buzz wears off...

Alister MacKenzie renovated the 8th green in 1926 as part of an audition for the greater overhaul that was handled by Chander Egan, Robert Hunter and Roger Lapham. Here is an early view of MacKenzie's green, with the 2010 US Open perspective showing two added bunkers. I'm not sure who added them, but something tells me it was Robert Trent Jones. And I think he made the right choice.

Pebble Beach Then And Now: #4

Another Chandler Egan green surrounded by dunes (above) and the modern version (below).

Pebble Beach Then And Now: #17 Side View

Do I need to say anything?

Pebble Beach Then And Now: #17 Tee View

Chandler Egan, who I profiled in last week's Golf World, oversaw the creation of the imitation dunes green on top. The modern version is below.

"Create The Next Great Dream Hole"

The GolfDigest Armchair Architect Contest goes hi-tech and ought to inspire some amazing entries. Details here.

Update on 2010-06-07 15:11 by Geoff

Here are several videos with some how-to info for interested armchair designers.