This year’s PGA Championship highlighted again why Oak Hill CC is a go-to property not only for golf’s biggest tournaments, but also year-round member appeal.
What’s in a Name?
Even a property that still calls itself a golf club, and sees itself that way, needs to recognize the long-range strategic importance of staying competitive with other amenities.
Upping Their Game
After a 100-year flood threatened to wipe out its tennis program for good, Radley Run CC set a new strategic course for recreational excellence.
Nile Shrine GC Gets New Bridge and Culvert to Ease Lake Ballinger Flooding
The improvement at the public course in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., seeks to stem seasonal flooding by providing a freer flow of water downstream in a creek that begins at the lake and flows through the golf course, under Interstate 5, and on to the tip of Lake Washington. Two additional crossings and culverts are still to be built.
Hawks Cay Resort Put Up for Sale
The largest resort property in the Florida Keys could fetch more than $125 million, industry sources believe, as the latest in a flurry of large-scale and high-cost commercial real estate transactions for the area.
New Cliffs at Mountain Park Course to Open September 27
The Gary Player Design project near Greenville, S.C., will debut with a grand opening that will include a clinic by Gary Player and a tournament for Mountain Park members.
The Arlington Club Selects KemperSports
The private club in Richmond, Ky., will have the firm assume management duties and evaluate all aspects of the club’s operations. The 44-year-old club’s property, located on a former 193-acre estate, includes a 150-year-old Mansion and “Mule Barn” that can host group functions and casual events. It is also the home course for Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s and women’s teams and Professional Golf Management program.
Henderson, Nev. Seeks to Revive Two Lake Las Vegas Courses Through Rezoning
The Falls and Reflection Bay golf courses in the development, which was forced into bankruptcy in 2008, have been abandoned for four years. But the Henderson City Council has approved zone changes in support of a “Green Grass Project” that it, and remaining stakeholders, hope will help bring the properties back to life. John Paulson, a New York hedge fund manager, is in contract to purchase the courses as part of the plan, which one planning commissioner called “the rocket fuel to take this community forward.”
John Deere Golf Adds Two New Distributors
Potestio Brothers Equipment Inc. in Colorado and Belkorp Ag, LLC in California will join the company’s distribution network to enhance service and support to superintendents and club managers.
Former Yale Classmates Pitted in Legal Battle Over Electronic Caddie Invention
While in graduate school, the entrepreneurs developed a gadget that advises golfers on club choice and helps find balls on the course. But one is now being accused of stealing the idea and forming a startup with venture capitalists to manufacture and market the device.
Bonnie Crest CC to Close September 26
Dating to the 1940s, the club was one of the oldest private country clubs in Montgomery, Ala. and once a “crowded and popular place to go” in the state capital city. But its operators now feel the club’s time has “just come and gone,” and plan to quietly close its doors.
New Kids-Play-Free Program Helps Boost Rounds At Columbus (Neb.) City Courses
Nearly 400 rounds have been played by children between 5 and 15 who are accompanied by a paying adult or season passholder. Overall, play has recovered after a falloff during a wet spring.
PGA National Resort & Spa To Open Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
As part of its continued investment in sustainable practices, the Florida property will make three stations for electric and hybrid cars available in its parking lot, and has also arranged with Enterprise Rent-a-Car to make electric vehicles available to guests.
Desert Mountain GC Team Wins John Deere World Championship
Director of Agronomy Shawn Emerson, Director of Golf Mike Scully and General Manager/Chief Operating Officer Bob Jones from the Scottsdale, Ariz., property teamed with John Deere Financial’s David O’Malley to take the competition that started with over 200 golfers from seven countries.
Fate of Lemoore Municipal GC Debated
Amid “rumors and misinformation,” the City Council of the California city was scheduled to hold a “study session” on the pros and cons of selling the course, and to give the public a chance to voice concerns should an offer be made.