The rumor mill starts with the return of Tiger Woods

Speculation has been rampant about only if Tiger Woods will return - the resurfacing of the prodigal son golf.  He is the subject of a lot of talk, rumor, speculation and tabloid fodder due to his shenanigans have wondered off the golf course and...

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france Grape Expectations

China’s fast-growing thirst for prestige wine has made wineries in Bordeaux some of the hottest real estate on the planet. Over the past year or so, Chinese buyers have snapped up more than a dozen wineries, most of them in a region called Entre-deux-Mers,...

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The Week That Was, may 13, 2012

united states Back in the Swing of Things?Slowly but surely, the bad-news stories about our business are disappearing. While the Great Recession isn’t yet completely dead and buried, it appears that happier days are here again for the owners and operators...

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talking points Lee Trevino, Design Critic

“The Merry Mex” isn’t very happy about the current state of golf design.Lee Trevino thinks today’s golf courses are too long, too hard, and too expensive to maintain. He thinks designers and developers have regrettably strayed from traditional values,...

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china A Moratorium To Dye For

A question regarding China’s moratorium on golf construction: Exactly how meaningless is it?I ask because Dye Designs Group recently secured permission to start building not just one but two golf courses in the People’s Republic. “Two of our China projects...

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The Week That Was, may 6, 2012

scotland The Verdict on Trump’s “Irish-style” LinksTrump International Golf Links Scotland opens in just two months, and one of golf architecture’s foremost opinion-makers has concluded that it’s “one of the most polarizing courses in all of golf.”Donald...

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india Unhappy Days Are Here Again

More and more people in India now have money in their pockets, but it isn’t making them happy.Despite a solid economy, a Gallup poll has determined that Indians have become “much more unhappy about their lives” over the past four years. As a result,...

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wales A Makeover for Brynhill

In an attempt to shore up its balance sheet, one of the oldest golf clubs in Wales has decided to give itself a dramatic makeover.Brynhill Golf Club, a fixture in Barry since 1921, plans to sell part of its property to a residential developer intent...

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The Week That Was, april 29, 2012

 united states The Unlikely Number OneBandon Dunes is the top golf destination in the United States.Its golf courses, according to a recent ranking, combine “beauty and challenge,” and playing any one of them “is sure to be a memorable experience...

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worth reading The Killers Elite

Now that economic sanctions are being lifted, will Myanmar emerge as a hot spot for golf development?Agence France-Presse is trying to make a case for golf’s future in the police state formerly known as Burma, contending that “an influx of investment”...

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india Getting Served in Delhi

Will this be the year that the Delhi Development Authority finally breaks ground on its third golf course? DDA Dwarka Golf Course, the first “international-standard” track in metropolitan New Delhi, is having a better-late-than-never moment. The Phil...

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The Week That Was, april 22, 2012

vietnam The Next War?First, the good news: The golf population in Vietnam may be growing.A government official recently told the Vietnam Investment Review that the nation these days has as many as 8,000 players. This feels to me like a somewhat soft...

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Following the Money

China, Brazil, Argentina, and India – those nations, Greg Norman believes, are golf’s future development hot spots. “We are really focused on emerging markets in developing countries,” the West Palm Beach, Florida-based designer said in a recent interview...

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england Harry Colt, Railroaded

A recently approved railway in England is going to destroy a Harry Colt-designed golf course.The track is the centerpiece of Whittington Heath Golf Club in Lichfield, a northern suburb of Birmingham. A rail line linking London to Manchester, Leeds, and...

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The Week That Was, april 15, 2012

talking points The Coore of the ArgumentThe best golf courses, Bill Coore believes, bear a resemblance to the best songs, in that they reveal more of their complexity and depth during repeated play.“It's like a really good essay or poem,” the Texas-based...

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thailand Drive, He Said

A car nut and a golf nut -- that’s Prachin Eamlumnow in, well, a nutshell.Prachin, the CEO of Bangkok-based Grand Prix International Corporation, publishes some of Thailand’s most popular car magazines and organizes Thailand’s biggest auto show, the...

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australia Virginia Will Get a Makeover

Wayne Grady, a winner of PGA championships in the United States and Australia, has been tapped to oversee a renovation of Virginia Golf Club in suburban Brisbane. The club’s centerpiece is an 18-hole, 6,728-yard “championship” course that opened in two...

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The Week That Was, april 8, 2012

united states Looking on the Bright SideBloomberg has taken the temperature of the U.S. golf business, and it believes the patient is recovering.The industry is “growing for the first time in five years,” the news agency reports, based on its analysis...

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slovakia Creating a Golf Destination?

A Bratislava-based developer aims to build a 27-hole golf complex in the foothills of the High Tatras mountain range near Kezmarok, in northeastern Slovakia.The complex will be the featured attraction of Royal Valley, which will include 66 single-family...

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The Week That Was, april 1, 2012

morocco Tony Jacklin’s Marrakech ExpressA year or so from now, Tony Jacklin expects to debut his second golf design in Morocco, at a U.S.-style resort community in suburban Marrakech.Jacklin’s 27-hole complex will serve as a drawing card for Argan Golf...

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morocco Niall Cameron's Marrakech Express

Marrakech Golf Club, which features the first golf course designed by Niall Cameron, had its debut earlier this month.The club, which bills itself as “the first truly private members’ course in Morocco,” will serve as the centerpiece of Assoufid, an...

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australia Dynamic Duo Goes Royal

Australia’s hottest design duo has been tapped to prepare a master plan for renovations at Royal Canberra Golf Club in suburban Canberra, New South Wales. I’m talking, of course, about golf pro Geoff Ogilvy and “minimalist” architect Michael Clayton,...

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The Week That Was, march 25, 2012

united states The Closings AccelerateIf you believe the U.S. golf business has stabilized, you might want to reconsider: The inventory of golf courses in our nation shrunk dramatically last year.Since 2006, according to the National Golf Foundation,...

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worth reading The Grandest Illusion

I never thought about the lawn-care industry as having a start date, but apparently it has one: the second week of April 1967. That weekend, for the first time, the Masters was broadcast live and in color, sparking America’s mad quest for the impeccable...

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tunisia The Wide World of Sports Cities

If you’re looking for fresh reasons to feel optimistic about international golf development, consider this: Late last year, Sports Cities International announced that it’s resurrected its down-but-not-out community in Tunisia’s capital city.“We expect...

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The Week That Was, march 18, 2012

england The Next Belfry?A few weeks ago, construction began on an ambitious plan intended to transform a small luxury hotel in the North East into one of England’s top golf destinations.Ramside Hall Hotel, in suburban Durham, currently features an 80-room...

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