"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."

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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!

Rounds Way Up; Average Player Getting In 2.1 A Day!

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From Darren Rovell's story on the business of Tiger...

EA released its online game the week of the Masters and EA spokesman David Tinson reports that 4.2 million rounds have been played in the last three months, with the average player playing 2.1 rounds a day. “We’re encouraged by the trends we’re seeing and continue to invest in bringing more experiences like this online as the business continues to transition to digital.” Woods will still be the main endorser behind Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’11 that hits shelves on June 8, although he will share the cover with Rory McIlroy.

Groove Rule Changes Ushers In Youth Movement!

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Jason Day wins at 22 as Jordan Spieth contends at 16, just weeks after Rory McIlroy wins the ninth major and Ryo Ishikawa shoots 58 to win on the Asian Tour. Just as we predicted, reverting back to grooves reacting like late 80s non-PING's has really swung the advantage to the scrappy vet....err...guys who weren't born until after the Reagan Administration?
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“I suggested to (R&A chief executive) Peter Dawson yesterday maybe we should introduce some kind of scheme along the lines of that which we have with historic buildings in this country,”

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Tony Jimenez tells us about Paul Casey pulling aside R&A secretary Peter Dawson with a little advice to prevent the Wentworthization of classic courses by giving them the same status as listed historic buildings.

“I suggested to (R&A chief executive) Peter Dawson yesterday maybe we should introduce some kind of scheme along the lines of that which we have with historic buildings in this country,” Casey told reporters on the eve of the PGA Championship.

“(For instance) Ernie’s beautiful house by the 16th hole with the thatched roof and the (superb) plaster work. He owns it but that doesn’t give him the right to paint it pink and put a tin roof on it.

“When you’re an owner of a Grade II listed building it’s much like you’re the caretaker for the next generation… (similarly) if you’re the owner of a golf course does it give you the right to make the changes you want?

“Is that in the best interests of that particular course or for golf in general?”, added the world number eight.

The Briton went on to suggest the rule-making R&A could play a role in protecting venues.

Uh Paul...don't go there.

“I think we need to keep courses in as good a condition as we can… but maybe (owners) need to go through a procedure to make sure these changes are in line,” said the 32-year-old.

“Maybe that’s something that would have to go through the R&A… along the lines of listing golf courses.”

Okay just one question for Casey. Was Peter Dawson nervously twitching, sweating or otherwise behaving oddly as you told him this?

Just curious. After all, he's going around to the Open venues and...altering them!

Somehow I'm guessing the irony was lost on young Paul, but he gets major points for a wonderful idea. He's just talking to the wrong folks.

"Try finding a decent pitch-and-putt where young kids and their families can hone their skills playing a mini-version of the game that doesn't involve putting through a windmill."

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Great work by the WSJ's Matthew Futterman to focus on the dreadful numbers related to kids playing golf (pariticipation for ages 6-17 down 24% to 2.9 million from 3.8 million between 2005 and 2008), and for drawing the appropriate conclusions (First Tee failing, scale of courses scaring off players).
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