With an upcoming golf course design project at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo., whose news coverage generated more than 1,200 media stories, as well as a $30 million project that will merge the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses in Chicago, Woods’ influence is expanding the game from behind the scenes.
News of a Tiger Woods-designed championship public golf course coming to Big Cedar Lodge in RIdgedale, Mo., is giving the area a lift in terms of exposure and tourism potential, TravelMole reported.
Since the announcement was made last month, more than 1,200 media stories have been published with an estimated potential audience of 2.8 billion, according to media monitoring analysis.
“We’re overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response for our partnership with Tiger Woods and the Payne Stewart family,” founder Johnny Morris said. “Partnering with an internationally acclaimed celebrity athlete like Tiger will significantly enhance our ability to connect people to nature at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri’s beautiful Ozark Mountains.”
Scheduled to open in 2019 and named in honor of the late Payne Stewart, the new “Payne’s Valley” Golf Course will be player-friendly and walkable. The layout will showcase the region’s natural beauty with a dramatic 19th hole, “The Rock,” that is set in a natural cavern system, C&RB reported in April.
In Chicago, Woods is designing a PGA-caliber course that will merge the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses. The project has yielded a golf program available to students at the Excel Academy of South Shore, which was adopted by Chicago Parks Golf Alliance, the group behind the merger, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
It was in December that Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his $30 million plan to place a championship-caliber golf course adjacent to the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. Chicago Parks Golf Alliance is expected to raise private money to cover 80% of the cost to create a single, 18-hole course from the existing 18-hole Jackson Park and 9-hole, par-3 South Shore courses, the Sun-Times reported.
Public money will pay for shoreline improvements and new underpasses. The Golf Alliance doesn’t expect to present final plans before early summer, but as the Park District-approved proposal works its way through community hearings, residents consistently have demanded the project wreak less havoc on area terrain; stimulate economic development; retain community affordability and accessibility; and include a youth component, the Sun-Times reported.
“The themes we heard the most were about affordability and access and doing more for kids. So yes, there’s this grand vision of a restored golf course, but we don’t need to wait for that. There’s a lot of people working very hard to show some immediate results for the community,” said Brian Hogan, Golf Alliance co-founder and director. “This team from Excel has been a big piece of it. The Alliance bought all the irons, and the Chicago District Golf Association donated the woods and putters and the bags so each kid was able to get a set.”
The Jackson Park and South Shore Cultural Center advisory councils helped spread the word about its need for mentors. A Western Golf Association caddy program will provide jobs and mentoring this summer to a couple dozen high school teens at Jackson Park Golf Course. A slew of applications are being vetted, the Sun-Times reported.
“We’ll fund caddies available at no cost to players, though we’ll ask golfers to provide introduction to golf, and mentoring elements, career guidance,” said Hogan. “We want to reach kids like Felipe who might have been exposed to golf at some point but drifted away, and those who’d never be at a golf course but for this project.”
Excel student Felipe Talavera is a quick learner and his game is improving. After practice is over and all others have left, he’s still there swinging away, the Sun-Times reported.
“The reason I like it is because it’s just you,” Felipe said. “Like, if you hit a bad shot, you can’t blame it on your teammates or anything. It’s your fault, and you know what you need to improve on. Sometimes you’ll get lucky, and it’s only you out there, hitting balls your hardest and seeing how far they go. That’s the fun part. I’m feeling like if I work hard, maybe I can go somewhere with this.”
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