Pasadera Becomes Nicklaus Club-Monterey

Jerry Stewart reports on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Pasadera Country Club becoming Nicklaus Club-Monterey.

It's part of a re-branding and China's to blame.

The re-branding is part of a recent deal that saw Nicklaus-China, an entity of the Nicklaus Companies, signing a formal partnership with Hainan Airlines (HNA), who owns the private club. Under the agreement, Nicklaus-China will use Nicklaus Companies and Nicklaus Design to offer turnkey development services and support to the 13 golf courses currently owned by HNA. Along with 11 courses in China, the airline company also owns Somers Pointe GC in New York and Nicklaus Club-Monterey.

"Nicklaus-China will manage the course, reporting directly to Jack Nicklaus," said Nicklaus Club-Monterey sales director Robin Shelton. "Our main focus is on operations and service delivery."

As opposed to service...

Lydia Ko Goes Pro

Randall Mell with the news of 16-year-old Lydia Ko, currently 5th in the Rolex Rankings, deciding to turn pro.

She will make her debut as a professional in the LPGA’s CME Group Titleholders next month.

And we have this saga to look forward to:

As a non-member winner of a tour event, Ko is entitled to claim tour membership. She could seek to claim immediate membership for the rest of 2013 and through 2014. Or, she could defer membership to next year. However, Ko can’t do either without first obtaining a waiver of the tour’s age restriction. LPGA commissioner Mike Whan holds the power to grant or deny such petitions.

Update on 2013-10-10 15:59 by Geoff

**The LPGA really doesn't want to hear any questions about what the Commissioner is thinking on this. Their statement:

“The LPGA has received Lydia Ko’s petition and the Commissioner plans to review it upon his return from Asia. The decision on the petition will be solely up to the Commissioner’s discretion and upon his review, he will communicate directly with Lydia and her family. The LPGA does not comment publicly on petitions as they are a private matter between the player and the Commissioner.”

What ClubCorp's IPO Says About The Golf Industry

Brendan Mohler analyzes ClubCorp's decision to go public to raise $300 million to reduce debts and the rough going to date despite the company having a model that might help keep the country club sustainable.

While the details of ClubCorp's debt are somewhat vague (though a portion probably results from the overall stagnancy of the golf industry), one thing is for sure: ClubCorp needed to raise at least $160 million in net proceeds in order to pay a bond redemption. The initial price range for a share of ClubCorp ($16-$18) did not spark the demand expected, so the company was forced to sell more shares at a lower price ($14) in order to acquire the capital needed.
 
ClubCorp has a lot of assets, but the company has not shown significant profit growth, and thus its stock is not an enticing buy. According to Francis Gaskins, Director of Research for Equities.com, ClubCorp's top-line revenue has only grown four to five percent in the last few years, which is more of an indicator of increased prices rather than the type of growth that excites investors.

University Of Maryland Golf Course Eyed For Development

We've been through this before with Stanford (threatened redevelopment) and Yale (neglect), so it's not a huge surprise that University of Maryland doesn't appreciate its 1959 George Cobb course so much that they're willing to plow a big chunk of what sounds like a community treasure.

For a new offramp, faculty house and an entrance to the school with a--big oy vey here--terrapin theme.

Luz Lazo of the Washington Post reports.

But the plan has riled neighbors, who say the course is a community treasure that should be preserved. For more than five decades, the 150 acres of rolling green have been a favorite of college students and area golfers attracted by twilight specials. The public course, which recently underwent a $3.5 million upgrade, also attracts neighbors who come to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July and to listen to live bands Thursday evenings.

A website has been set up to help save the Certified Audubon Cooperative course, which is ranked 27th on Golfweek's list of best college courses.

North Berwick Inspires Watson Designed Kids Course In Missouri

Bryce Mereness of the St. Joseph News-Press looks at Tom Watson's proposed kids course design in Maryville, Missouri, inspired by local Dr. Bruce Twaddle who clearly made a visit to North Berwick.

Fundraising for the $550k course attached to a First Tee is underway:

“That’s the whole idea for this, to make it fun for them and not too long, where they can hit a shot and get rewarded for it.”

The proposed new nine-hole course at Mozingo Lake could become reality by the spring of 2015.

The project came after Dr. Bruce Twaddle, a local dentist, took a trip to Scotland before the 2011 British Open. His caddy pointed out a group of young kids playing on a shorter course.

From there, Dr. Twaddle worked to secure funding for the project, similar to many others sprouting up across the country as a response to the declining number of youths participating in the sport.

“They had a sign there that said, ‘No adults allowed unless under the direct supervision of a child,’” Dr. Twaddle said. “That’s when the light went off. Everyone I related that story to, it made sense."

The sign(s) in question:

"Golf Channel Posts Most-Watched Third Quarter Ever"

In a nutshell, they're up 10% over last year and 32% over the third quarter two years ago.

But in the interest of archiving these things...

For Immediate Release:

ORLANDO, Fla. (October 8, 2013) – Golf Channel’s momentum in 2013 continues to roll as third quarter secures the most-watched third quarter in network history.  This is after marking first quarter as the most-watched quarter ever and second quarter posting the most-watched second quarter ever. These increased viewership numbers have Golf Channel positioned to set a most-watched year ever for the third consecutive year.
 
Golf Channel averaged 112,000 viewers per minute, which represents a +10% year-over-year increase compared to third quarter 2012, +32% vs. third quarter 2011 and +51% vs. third quarter 2010, according to data released by the Nielsen Company (24-hour Total Day 6AM-6AM).
 
Third quarter drew nearly 26 million unique viewers. Additionally, August set a most-watched August record (138,000 average viewers per minute), which was +59% year over year.  July and September both set their month’s second most-watched mark (95,000 and 105,000 average viewers per minute, respectively).
 
As the 2013 PGA TOUR season wrapped in the third quarter with the FedExCup Playoffs, the 2013/2014 season begins this week at the Frys.com Open.  Golf Channel will be the exclusive home of the PGA TOUR, as well as the conclusion of the LPGA Tour and Champions Tour seasons for the remainder of 2013.
 
The record numbers throughout 2013 are built off Golf Channel’s viewership momentum in 2012, which drove Golf Channel’s status as the fastest-growing network on U.S. television since joining the NBC Sports Group (among networks serving 80 million or more homes throughout that span).
 
HIGHLIGHTS FROM GOLF CHANNEL’S THIRD QUARTER:

·Most-watched Open Championship week since the event was moved to exclusively cable coverage in 2010
·Most-watched PGA Championship week ever
·PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs leads to second most-viewed Playoffs’ coverage on Golf Channel with 12.4 million unique viewers
·The new Web.com Tour Finals delivered 167,000 average viewers (+97% year over year) vs. comparable events on 2012 Web.com Tour
·With first-ever telecast of Scottish Open on GOLF CHANNEL ON NBC in July, European Tour coverage is pacing to deliver its most-watched year ever
·Second most-viewed LPGA Tour’s Solheim Cup with more than 5.4 million unique viewers
·MORNING DRIVE is +48% vs. third quarter 2012 and +15% year-over-year
·GOLF CENTRAL is +15% vs. third quarter 2012 and +11% year-over-year
·Golf Channel’s instruction series, led by SCHOOL OF GOLF WITH MARTIN HALL, GOLF CHANNEL ACADEMY, and THE GOLF FIX WITH MICHAEL BREED, are +22% vs. third quarter 2012 and +13% year-over-year