GolfManagement Europe

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As the European Tour moves in new directions, David MacLaren is the man tasked with running

eleven venues in ten countries for the PGA page 23

heritage in the makingWith a classic design philosophy, Niblick Golf Design delivers tailor-made golf holes that excite and reward

issue 64january 2009

ThE lEadinG businEss MaGazinE for ThE pan-EuropEan Golf indusTry

jANuAry 2009 GME 3

publisher’s editorial

Most press releases are, by their very nature, optimistic, promoting one thing or another. But when one arrived in my inbox recently claiming golf was “reces-sion proof” I was gobsmacked.

I wonder if there was somebody at Woolworths head office in the uK who penned a memo with the same laissez-faire attitude, claiming the company would be able to ride out the economic downturn.

To be fair to the company concerned statistics from their own customers showed they intended to carry on play-ing golf in 2009, but the overall claim was specious and totally ridiculous.

Let’s not beat about the bush – be-tween now and the end of this recession many golf clubs will go to the wall. And like Woolworths before them people will offer the normal platitudes: “it’s such a shame” or “how sad.”

I’m no retail analyst, but it seems obvi-ous Woolworths’ problem was that it was a retail jack of all trades and a master of none. People could get almost every-thing Woolworths sold elsewhere – and often cheaper. Without a unique selling point the company was in no position to survive the downturn.

The same is true of many in the golf industry. unless clubs can offer members and visitors something they can’t get better or cheaper locally they will strug-gle. Memberships will not be renewed; annual golf days will be postponed.

Nobody has a divine right to continue in business, and without wishing to be controversial, the loss of some golf clubs may prove beneficial to the industry in the long term.

Cadbury was probably one of Wool-worths’ biggest suppliers, but the stores closure doesn’t mean that we will no longer eat Cadbury’s Creme Eggs – we will merely buy them elsewhere.

Likewise when golf clubs go under, its members and visitors will simply play elsewhere, and it will be the clubs which will offer the best deals for the casual pay-and-play golfer who are most likely to survive.

Within 18 months I would expect to see the proprietary clubs have a larger market share than traditional members’ clubs. It has been moving in that direc-tion for some time, but a recession will just speed up the process.

And don’t for one second believe golf is recession-proof… it isn’t. Everybody is vulnerable – and if we sit back on our laurels we will play the ultimate price.

We have been warned. GME

Golf is recession proof apparently. What rubbish!

Michael lenihanlenihan@portman.uk.com

Based in Norway, the team at Niblick Golf Design have raised the standard across Europe.

5

Proprietor Patrick Kiely talks about the challenges of running Gatton Manor.

15

Trump’s right-hand man, George Sorial, discusses the future for Trump Scotland.

28

Peter Harradine takes a light-hearted look at slow-play and offers some unique solutions.

32

Golf Management Europe is published six times per annum by PPC Portman.

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Editor john VinicombeContributors Mark Alexander, Tibbe Bakker, David Bowers, Penny Comerford, Peter Harradine, Peter Simm

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“And don’t for one second believe golf is recession proof… it isn’t. Everybody is vulnerable”

4 GME jANuAry 2009

headline news

Arnold Palmer will attend the sixth annual KPMG Golf Business Forum to receive the conference’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Arnie, as he is affection-ately known to sports fans across the globe, was voted ‘Athlete of the Decade’ for the 1960s, a time when his popularity and success reached heights never seen before in world sport.

Before, during and after that great decade, he amassed 92 championships in professional competition, including seven Majors.

He also participated in seven ryder Cup matches, six times as a player, successfully captaining the

side in 1963, and again as a non-playing captain in 1975.

On May 5, Arnold Palmer will be recognised for his life-time commitment to the business and the game of golf and will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in front of an expect-ed audience of more than 300 international industry professionals at The Celtic Manor resort, Wales.

“Arnold Palmer is not only one of the world’s greatest golfing legends, he is also an icon of the international golf business,” said Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMA).

“Arnold’s presence at the 2009 Golf Business Forum will make this year’s event exceptionally special and we are privileged not only to be able to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to him in person, but also to have the opportunity to hear insights from one of the golf industry’s most revered businessmen.”

The Golf Business Forum, which has established itself as the leading golf business event for EMA, will this year focus on topics relating to financing, development, golf tourism, and design, and will include interactive panel discussions, key-note presentations from industry experts, and an array of networking opportunities.

KpMG to honour arnold palmer

Plans have been drawn up to build a £12m luxury hotel facility and a state-of-the-art golf academy at a Northumberland golf club.

Owners of Burgham Park Golf and Leisure Club, near Felton, have submitted an outline planning application to Castle Morpeth Borough Council to transform the championship parklands course into the county’s “premier golf location”.

The ambitious develop-ment includes 50 self-catering holiday lodges, ten executive homes and a four-star hotel with around 85 bedrooms.

The owners are also aiming to tee-up a top class golf centre complete with indoor and outdoor driving range and practice area.

joint owner William Kiely said: “I think this would be a huge boost for the area. There is a need for accommoda-tion here.

“We are in the heart of the county and people could stay here whatever their purpose. A lot of golfers come up but there is very little accom-modation which is hold-ing the club back.”

The Golf Academy at Oulton Hall has become the uK’s first Nike Golf Academy after the five-star resort entered into a partnership with Nike Golf.

The new-look Nike Golf Academy features the latest Nike equipment and fitting centre technology, includ-ing the Nike Golf 360° Fitting System that offers over 25,000 different club combi-nations.

Keith Pickard, director of golf and leisure at Oulton Hall said: “We are delighted to be able to join forces with such a distinguished brand as Nike to create the uK’s first Nike Golf Academy.

“The fact they have chosen to partner with Oulton Hall to create their first academy in the uK high-lights the quality of the facili-ties we have here,” she added.

first nike Golf academy created at oulton hall

A new marketing concept is offering the golf industry a direct route to a database of almost 250,000 active uK golfers.

Golf Player Direct (GPD) has been collating golf databases from clubs, oper-ators and golf organisations to ensure it can offer an unri-valled direct marketing opportunity for companies looking to target active golf-ers.

GPD was the brainchild of Adrian Wood, 22, a scratch golfer whose background is in golf marketing and opera-tions.

He said: “Over the last eight to nine months we’ve built up relationships with

small to medium golf data-base holders, which has enabled us to offer new marketing avenues to previ-ously unreachable golfers.

“We’ve already entered into discussions with some of the major players in the market and have received considerable interest.”

He added: “Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and this is a ‘win-win’ situation for both the data-base holders and the companies who wish to target golfers.

“It is a very cost-effective way for companies to guar-antee finding their target market with their marketing budget.

“With this concept you are targeting your emails at exactly the right people – and it costs very little per thousand to participate,” added Wood.

“The database is expand-ing rapidly because of the simple dynamic of the oper-ation.”

For each name on the database, the database provider receives a project-ed £1 per year, so a data-base of say 1,000 golfers, would recoup the club £1,000 per year.

And club officials are safe in the knowledge that the data is safe and members will not be inundated by unwanted emails.

Golf player direct allows access to 240,000 plus active golfers

jANuAry 2009 GME 5

on the cover

faCTfilE;

Niblick Golf DesignGamleveien 16

1534 MossNorway

TEl; (47) 6920 6168faX; (47) 6920 6168

info@niblickgolfdesign.com

WEblinK; NIBLICKGOLFDESIGN.COM

Brian Phillips, director of Niblick Golf Design, has a core belief in the capacity of superb golf course design to transcend factors like fashion, equipment advanc-es and even the prevailing economic climate - change in all of these is guaranteed.

“Great golf courses stay great golf courses as long as there are golfers who want to be thrilled, challenged and entranced as they enjoy them,” he said.

That is why Niblick Design want to excite, challenge and reward golfers over the years to come, design and deliver to a brief, to exceed expectations and to make sound business sense.

Phillips reinforced the value of this approach that has brought Niblick universal praise and recognition.

“Many developers and clubs are constantly looking to progress projects, and they know that we are superbly equipped to help them do this.

“With our proven track record, they can engage us without apprehension or risk, as we have proved that we can and will deliver.”

The Middle East Property Development Summit provides top level investors with strategies and services needed to drive forward quality real estate projects.

With only two golf course architects selected to attend the three-day event in Qatar, it was no surprise that Niblick Golf Design and Nicklaus Design fitted the

high demands set by the organisers.

“Having Niblick and Nicklaus together at the summit will give delegates a truly international perspec-tive on golf course architec-ture via two of the finest exponents of that craft operating today,” conclud-ed Phillips. GME

“With our track record, they can engage us without apprehension or risk”

niblick Golf design emerging as one of Europe’s finest

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6 GME jANuAry 2009

news

Rudding Park Golf Club in Harrogate, North york-shire has invested in a new fleet of Toro mow-ers to tend to its 18-hole Hawtree course and new six-hole repton short course. Course manager, richard Hollingworth said: “We buy on quality, not colour, and quality counts more than price.”

Club Car will provide Oceânico’s latest Por-tuguese resort with their top of the range prod-ucts. The two champi-onship courses opened at Amendoeira raise Oceânico’s Vilamoura offering from the ‘Famous Five’ to the ‘The Magnifi-cent Seven’, all of which are serviced by Club Car.

The English Golf Union and the English Women’s Golf Association are to revisit the possibility of a merger between the two organisations. The merger has been considered before, however new talks have been sched-uled with the first informal meeting taking place in the New year.

leisurecorp, the Dubai World company specialis-ing in developments and investments in the sports and leisure sector, has appointed David Collins as director of sponsorship. Collins, who joins from Octagon where he was Vice President – Golf, has over a decade of experi-ence working in the sports marketing industry.

Owners DC Hughes ltd have successfully sold Teign Valley Golf Club and Hotel, located on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, to a local family for £1.6 million.

in briEf;

Promote Golf has launched its workshops for 2009. The company was inaugurated in 2007 by head presenter David reeves, who has worked in the golf industry for 16 years.

The first workshop will cover the subject of recruiting Golf Members and will be run at various locations across the uK.

Topics will include; conver-sion of green fee players to membership, referral, successful promotions and raising the Golf Clubs profile within the local community.

David reeves, said: “recruitment of new members is a fundamental part of any clubs operations and business strategy; this is particularly important at this time of the year.

“Despite the economic climate there are a copious amount of initiatives and practices that can be imple-mented within any clubs operations, and with the right application these will certainly result in an increase of enquiries.”

Promote Golf offers a wide variety of support to golf clubs, such as training for Golf Day Sales, Customer Service, Tee Time Management, retention and additional services such as recruitment, Club Auditing and Stocktaking.

promote Golf aiming to increase subs

The English Open, set to be played at the St Mellion International resort in August, will now return to The European Tour International Schedule in 2011.

Crown Golf, owners of the St Mellion International resort in Cornwall, and The European Tour agreed to

the postponement due to difficulties being experi-enced by third party devel-opers engaged in building golf homes on the site.

Stephen Lewis, chief exec-utive officer of Crown Golf, explained: “We have a long term agreement with The European Tour to host The English Open but unfortu-

nately like many companies the credit crunch has creat-ed additional challenges for our partners engaged in developing the golfer’s accommodation at St Mellion.

“We are delighted howev-er that Crown Golf’s own £20 million rebuilding and refurbishing hotel and course renovation project is progressing well, and that the landmark hotel with 80 rooms will officially open in june.

“unfortunately construc-tion of the balance of the residential development has been suspended.

“This means that the necessary tournament infra-structure will not be in place and in the current climate we believe a two year post-ponement will ensure that all work is finished for 2011.”

Two year delay for English open venue

A developer who sank millions of pounds into trying to build a world class golf course in Northern Ireland is ready to give up the fight.

Planners have rejected an application by GML Estates to develop Gilford Castle, in Co Down, into a hotel and championship golf course, with the former Gilford Mill site also being turned into shop units and apartments.

And Estates chairman john Farmer said it is the end of the road for his Gilford plans and has confirmed the Gilford Mill site, which is also owned by the company, will lie in its derelict state for at least another year.

Farmer said: “I am very disappointed at the news and it is a big blow for Gilford.

“This project was key to the regeneration of Gilford and would have brought great investment to Northern Ireland which, in the current climate, would have been very welcome.

“Given the amount of conditions for refusal from the planners it seems to us there is very little flexibility with regards to finding a way forward.”

plans scuppered in northern ireland

jANuAry 2009 GME 7

news

Troon Golf, has been selected to manage La Quinta Golf and Country Club in the Costa del Sol just outside Marbella, Spain.

Situated in the heart of Costa del Sol’s golf valley, La Quinta Golf and Country Club features 27 holes designed by golf course architect Manolo Piñero.

Three nine-hole courses share similar characteristics of sloping fairways and deep bunkers that chal-lenge players of every skill level.

While La Quinta Golf resort is home to a myriad of upscale amenities, plans are currently being finalised for a substantial course renovation to begin in 2009.

Exciting changes at La Quinta Golf and Country Club include the appoint-ment of the new director general, Scott Evans, along with Antonio Pineda, the new golf course superin-tendent.

Evans’ impressive resumé features leadership and general manager positions

at several highly acclaimed golf clubs in Dubai and England, including Bearwood Lakes in London.

Evans’ led Bearwood Lakes to a full membership status, as well as a top 100 ranking and most recently worked for Troon Golf on a number of European projects.

Pineda brings valued agronomic experience to the club after working at three well-known golf cours-es in Spain. Most recently, Pineda served as the project

manager and agronomy director at a facility previ-ously managed by Troon Golf in Estepona, Spain.

“La Quinta Golf and Country Club is an exciting addition to our portfolio,” said Bruce Glasco, Troon Golf’s senior vice president and managing director, Europe, Africa & Middle East.

“We are confident that the strength and depth offered by both Scott Evans and Antonio Pineda will make a positive impact at the facility.”

ransomes jacobsen has introduced a three year interest-free finance pack-age to help customers through the tough times predicated for 2009.

Available on all equip-ment, with the exception of E-Z-GO products and ex-demonstration models, this finance offer is available until 31 March 2009.

rupert Price, uK and Ireland sales manager, said: “The three year interest-free option is a first in the grounds care sector and can only be accessed through our deal-er network in the uK.

“We believe this interest-free finance package will help golf clubs to purchase quality equipment, as and when it’s required.”

Credit Crunch finance from ransomes Jacobsen

Troon Golf win the right to manage la Quinta

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8 GME jANuAry 2009

news

A golf course designed by European Tour chairman Neil Coles and vice chair-man Angel Gallardo, in association with David Williams Golf Design, has been described as “the most photogenic course in

the world” by the produc-tion team who have filmed European Tour events throughout the world for the last 15 years.

Following the European Tour Final Qualifying event held at PGA Golf de

Catalunya last year, Tim Lacy, senior producer of IMG Media/European Tour Productions, wrote to richard Hills, ryder Cup director at the Tour.

“just a quick note to say what a successful event we had a Final Qualifying School, especially from a TV perspective,” he said.

“The star of the show was undoubtedly the course which provided such an amazing backdrop to the drama.

“It is certainly the most photogenic course I have ever filmed, and I know from feedback from our camera-men that they shared this view,” added Lacy.

“Our senior cameraman that week, jeff rice, who has filmed golf courses all over the world for over 15 years said it was the best he had ever seen.

“Our commentators also agreed, not only with its beauty, but also because of the layout, describing it as the best course in Spain, including Valderama.”

Neil Coles said: “It was very pleasing to hear the comments, as we have been involved in the project at PGA Golf de Catalunya for over 20 years.

“We were appointed as the design team in 1985 for the 36 hole complex, and produced the initial master-plan for the complete site, including the two golf cours-es, the housing and the hotels, at that time.

“The site had originally been purchased by the rAC of Catalunya to build a racetrack for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. However, plan-ning problems prevented that aim, and rACC went elsewhere.

pGa de Catalunya wins high praise from pundits

Ambitious golfers defied the global credit crunch to complete a £500,000 deal to buy their Northumberland course and clubhouse.

The 739 members of Bedlingtonshire GC have completed a historic deal to buy the facilities from Wansbeck District Council.

Golfers first teed off on the par 72 course – which was created in the 1960s on what was once one of the deepest opencast coal mines in Europe – in 1972 after the land had been reclaimed and landscaped.

Seven years ago the committee and members took over the running of the club from the council and, since then, have set their sights on buying it.

They have now done so with the aid of a mort-gage from NatWest bank and a £50,000 interest-free loan from the royal and Ancient Golf Club.

Earlier this year the council agreed to restruc-ture the phasing of the deal to help the club overcome potential borrowing problems sparked by the emerging credit crunch.

A £500,000 flood allevia-tion scheme at the Nicklaus-designed Machynys Peninsula Golf Club in Llanelli is nearing comple-tion, despite one of the wettest summers on record.

Weeks of continuous rain-fall, running sand and the need to protect a colony of water voles has failed to thwart Welsh-based contractor the Cuddy Group.

Contracts manager Gavin Lockyer said: “It’s been very frustrating at times when torrential rain has left us with no option other than to sit it out and wait for dryer condi-tions.”

The scheme has involved Cuddy moving 35,000 cubic metres of earth – by hand at times in order to safeguard potential vole burrows – to ensure the course’s protec-tion from potential flooding.

Cuddy tackles water hazards at Machynys

Having signed a Toro exclusivity deal three years ago, royal Liverpool Golf Club recently upgraded its Toro fleet to include two Workman e2065s and is now raving about its new electric utility vehicles.

The greenkeeping team at the 18-hole course at Hoylake in the Wirral had been happy with the old petrol versions of Toro’s popular mid-duty utility vehi-cle and so were a little scep-tical about the arrival of its electric counterparts at first.

But the benefits of this powerful, high-performance vehicle soon won the team over.

Links manager Craig Gilholm said: “When we first got the machines, the greenkeepers were a bit unsure about them being electric, but now they prefer them to the petrol models!

“They’re so quiet and comfortable. They’re a pleasure for the guys to use

as it makes such a change being on a quiet machine.They’re just fantastic.”

The Workman e2065 elec-tric model packs all the power and performance of Toro’s mid-duty petrol-driven models, but in a quieter, cleaner and more environ-mentally-friendly package.

it’s electric at liverpool

jANuAry 2009 GME 9

news

russia is gearing up for a golfing first after plans were unveiled for a PGA-branded golf course and academy near Moscow.

The multi-million pound project situated just outside the capital follows an agree-ment between the Belfry-based PGA and OPIN, a russian real estate invest-ment company, and will help boost the sport’s profile in the country.

The Bolshoye Zavidovo resort will feature a 7,300-yard course called PGA

National russia and a PGA National Golf Academy with a nine-hole course and extensive practice facilities including an integrated short game range, practice bays and swing studios.

Set near a picturesque reservoir created by the river Volga, the course will be designed by European Golf Design and will comple-ment plans for a five-star hotel and marina hotel.

Constantin Zabrodin, deputy general director of OPIN, who is leading the

project, is hoping that on completion in 2011, the resort will go on to become a training centre for all young russian PGA profes-sionals as well as the centre of the country’s national golf industry.

The announcement, which was made in December 2008, attracted widespread media cover-age in Moscow and PGA property and commercial director robert Maxfield was in the russian capital to offi-cially launch the project.

“This is an exciting and world class golf facility,” said Maxfield at the announce-ment, “and the PGA is delighted to be working with OPIN and playing a part in the promotion and growth of golf in russia.”

For the PGA, the deal is another landmark step in its flourishing international repu-tation which has seen the recent announcement of a number of branded oppor-tunities across the world including in Egypt, Tunisia and India.

ransomes jacobsen’s Spanish distributor, Green Mowers, has experienced strong sales this season and this is continuing with recent deliveries of equipment to El Bosque Golf Club in Valencia and Valle del Este Golf resort in Almeria.

Head Greenkeeper at El Bosque, raffael Segarra has augmented his fleet of

jacobsen turf maintenance equipment with the delivery of a Tr3 tees and surrounds mower.

jose Angel Salas, the course manager at Valle del Este Golf Club now has the benefit of a jacobsen LF3400 fairway mower, which was recently deliv-ered by the Green Mowers’ branch in Levante.

Continued success for Green Mowers in spain

pGa signs russian deal as it expands worldwide

10 GME jANuAry 2009

news

The Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Golf and Spa, has taken delivery of a fleet of 20 E-Z-GO rXV electric-powered golf cars with the all-new AC drive mo-tor. They are equipped with onboard chargers and also the labour-sav-ing single point battery filling system for ease of maintenance.

The Tytherington Golf and Country Club has opened a new adult-only spa, as the club completes the final stages of its £2 million refurbishment.

England Golf has been awarded a £12.8 million grant by Sport England which will be used to develop the sport over the next four years. The grant is a significant in-crease on the £8.2 million received in the previous period.

China is one of the most expensive places in the world to play golf, surpassing even the Mid-dle East, according to a report by KPMG Golf Advisory Practice. Since appointing Kirov plc as its distributor in Bul-garia, Hunter Grinders has already sold two top of the range ATI machines and more orders are an-ticipated in the coming early part of the 2009.

Swan Golf Designs recently hosted an ex-clusive reception for golf developers at the British High Commission in New Delhi with the attend-ance list reading like a Who’s Who of Indian Golf, whilst also receiving the support of the Mongolian Ambassador, Mr Voroshi-lov Enkhbold.

in briEf;

Dimitri van Hauwaert is currently working on three golf courses in Belgium, all of which are over a hundred years old.

Last year, he accom-plished a complete rebuild of royal Antwerp Golf Club which is a typical heathland style golf course, with pines and heather.

At royal Belgium Golf Club, better known as ravenstein, van Hauwaert rebuilt most of the bunkers on the front nine, together with jos Vankriekelsvenne, manager of the club.

The course was originally created on the initiative of King Leopold II in an authen-

tic arboretum, and is a typi-cal parkland golf course with beautiful undulations and gently rolling fairways in a splendid setting, close to the centre of Brussels.

Currently, van Hauwaert has just started restoring 65 bunkers on the 36 hole links complex in Knokke, known as the royal Zoute Golf Club, Belgium.

Van hauwaert keeps busy in belgium

Green issues in golf normally revolve around the quality of the putting surfac-es but Celtic Manor has hit upon an environmentally friendly way of building its new practice ground for The ryder Cup in 2010.

With the facility sitting in the flood plain just over the river usk from the first tee of the Twenty Ten course, there was a need to raise the level of the land before grassing over the driving range.

Instead of laying expen-sive primary aggregate with the associated cost to the environment of excavation and transportation, Celtic Manor teamed up with energy supplier rWE npower which has provided over 150,000 tonnes of pulverised fuel ash from its Aberthaw Power Station near Barry.

The ash is an inert by-prod-uct of burning coal to generate electricity and, once compacted, forms an

ideal material for construc-tion purposes like this one.

Also housing a substantial television compound, the new practice ground area completes a £16 million redevelopment at Celtic Manor.

Dylan Matthews, chief executive of Celtic Manor, said: “Hosting the ryder Cup is not just a massive opportu-nity for Celtic Manor, but for the whole of Wales.

“It has required a lot of hard work and we have been extremely conscious of the need to find the most environmentally friendly solutions to the challenges we have faced.

“When building the new Twenty Ten golf course we were able to use earth and rock excavated from the closing holes dug into the hillside to build up the level of the land on earlier holes in the flood plain.

“There was no such option available for the new prac-tice ground on the other side of the river so working with rWE npower has provided the ideal solution,” he concluded.

Celtic Manor finds green solution for ryder Cup

Controversial plans by a Wiltshire golf club to take an extra strip of common land have been modified to satis-fy the demands of almost 2,000 local people who signed a petition against them.

Instead of taking an extra 1.67 acres of land currently

used by walkers to enlarge its practice range into a driv-ing range, Marlborough GC has agreed to take a much smaller slice of land as a swap for a triangular piece that it has not been using close to its 16th green.

The golf club leases more than 64 acres of common

land from the town council plus a further 42 acres of adjacent land the council also owns.

In a bid to maintain its membership and attract more members, the club wants to offer facilities found at most others including a driving range.

land swap the way forward in Wiltshire

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12 GME jANuAry 2009

news

Carya Golf Club, a unique heathland inspired golf course on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, has opened for play.

Designed by Thomson Perrett and Lobb, the inter-national golf course archi-tecture practice founded by five times Open Champion Peter Thomson, Carya Golf

Club is a naturally beautiful golf course set on undulat-ing sand hills with holes that cut through pine and euca-lyptus woodland in Belek, near Antalya.

Inspired by the classic heathland courses found in the uK, nearly one million heather sprigs have been planted around the course,

giving it a distinct appear-ance. In a first-of-its-kind project, the heather was propagated on site in specially constructed glass-houses.

“Carya Golf Club is an extraordinary golf course, built on an exceptional piece of land,” said Peter Thomson. “When we first visit-ed the site, we immediately realised the potential for an outstanding layout and a golf course that would be unique to the region.

“Although it is just a few hundred yards from the beach, the terrain is reminis-cent of the classic heath-land courses near London that I rate among the world’s best – and this was the vision that inspired the design for Carya Golf Club.”

Carya Golf Club has been designed to be enjoyed by all golfers. The free flowing holes run between pine and eucalyptus trees and across a dramatic sand ridge.

From the Championship tees, the 7,186 yard, par 72 course, is a demanding test of golfing strategy – while tourists playing from the regular tees (6,366 yards) will appreciate the generous fairways and enjoyable approaches.

Carya Golf Club has also opened a luxurious new clubhouse to welcome inter-national visitors, featuring comfortable changing facili-ties and a stylish outdoor terrace bar resonating to the sounds of a cooling water feature.

Fikret Öztürk, founder of Carya Golf Club, said: “Our goal has always been to create a world class golf course, exquisite clubhouse and a unique golfing experi-ence, second to none in Turkey.

“With the help of Peter and his colleagues at Thomson Perrett and Lobb, this is precisely what we have achieved.”

Carya Golf Club opens for play on Turkey’s coast

Walsall’s only public golf course could be closed within months under plans to claw back £12.8 million of public money.

The popular Grange Golf Course would shut and regulars at the nine-hole facility said they would be “lost” without it, while opposition leaders said that they were “totally dismayed” at the proposals.

The council looks set to fall more than £2 million into the red by the end of the financial year, with plummeting income and rocketing costs expected to continue.

Walsall Council leader john O’Hare defended the plans, saying “tough times call for tough deci-sions”.

“Our experiences over the last few months have resulted in a large down-turn in income,” he said.

“We have also suffered from the Government giving us £6 million less than they had said we needed in Walsall, which clearly contributes to the pressures.”

St Andrews Links Trust has recently renewed its exclu-sive agreement with Toro at the ‘Home of Golf.’

Commenting on the deal, Links superintendent, Gordon Moir, said: “The Toro machinery we use to main-tain our greens and tees has proved extremely reliable and allowed the Links Trust to present the golf courses to the standard golfers expect.

“Many golfers view their trip to St Andrews as a pilgrimage and have very high expectations,” Moir continued. “It is vital, there-fore, that we present the courses in the best condition we can every day of the year – not just for The Open or the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.”

“The Toro equipment plays a key role in enabling our greenkeeping staff to deliver excellent course condition-ing day-in, day-out, and our relationship with Toro allows us to plan well in advance for events like The Open and

to ensure that we have the right equipment available at the right time.

“It means we can rely on the quality of the machinery and high levels of service when we need them the most.”

praise from the ‘home of Golf’ for Toro

Councillors in Aberdeen have voted to press ahead with plans for a major rede-velopment of a historic city golf course – despite concerns over the financing behind the scheme.

Ambitious proposals for a multi-million-pound upgrade of Hazlehead Golf Course were given councillors’

backing in spite of pleas from community representa-tives and “doubts” raised by the local authority’s external advisers.

The decision to agree a long-term lease of the course to the MacKenzie Club, a consortium of busi-ness people established for the project, was referred to

February’s full council meet-ing for a final ruling by oppo-sition Labour councillors.

under the redevelopment plans, the course would be significantly improved, with proposals for a luxury 50-bed hotel, golf academy, new clubhouse and equestrian centre being built on the site.

historic course set for major revamp

jANuAry 2009 GME 13

news

As part of its third annual Golf Benchmark Survey, KPMG has published its first regional report for North Africa.

While the region currently has only 43 courses in opera-tion – predominantly in the tourist areas of Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia – there are currently 40-45 golf projects in different phases of plan-ning or construction, many of which form parts of large master planned resort communities with residential dwellings.

The study, which focuses on the business perform-ance of golf courses, also reveals that the average Gross Operating Profit margin for 18-hole courses is 25 per cent in North Africa, compared to 17 per cent in South Africa.

However, with green fees making up more than 50 per cent of earnings, average revenues at 18-hole courses in North Africa are €945,000, lagging behind other coun-tries including South Africa (€1 million).

Golf has developed and grown in North Africa in the past ten years, largely in relation to travel and tour-ism, with Egypt now boast-ing 14 courses, compared to three ten years ago.

Morocco leads with the way with 18 courses and more than half of the region’s 9,000 golfers, with Tunisia (ten courses) and Algeria (1 course) making up the remainder.

However, there are now between 40 and 45 new golf course projects, in different

stages of development, underway in North African countries, including Algeria, Libya and Sudan.

“This is an important report as this is the first time the North African golf market has been studied in such detail,” said Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice in EMA.

“It is a region that, in golf business terms, has grown over the past decade and continues to develop with a significant number of projects underway.”

Spectators who attended the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship earlier this month were able to view all four golf Major trophies on Etihad Airways stand.

It was the very first time that the world famous Claret jug (Open Championship), uS Open Championship Cup, uS Masters Trophy and Wannamaker Trophy (PGA

Championship) had been exhibited in the same loca-tion at the same time.

Etihad Airways, a diamond sponsor of the ADGC for the fourth consec-utive year, flew the four trophies into Abu Dhabi which is another illustration of the impact the uAE’s capital is having on the world of golf.

all four Major trophies land in abu dhabi

number of courses in north africa set to double

www.clubcar.cominfo_esa@clubcar.com(+ 44) 777 180 5463

the revenue drivers

club car new advert_FINAL alt 28/10/08 15:01 Page 1

jANuAry 2009 GME 15

club focusWEblinK; GATTONMANOr.CO.uK

When Patrick Kiely and his wife Belinda took over a rundown Gatton Manor in 2005 they could have been excused, given their backgrounds in IT, for simply turning it off and turning it on again.

But, to misquote The Who, “meet the new course, same as the old course” was not the way the Kielys wanted to run their business. They had seen the potential of the Surrey-based operation but realised it needed sprucing up – to say the least.

The couple were ideally placed to fulfil their own brief. Patrick, 48, had spent 20 years working in IT before he became part of the consortium which rescued the London Irish rugby club when it ran into financial problems.

His wife had trained in hotel manage-ment before moving into Human Resource Management roles within the IT industry where she eventually ran her own consultancy business.

Tipperary-born Patrick explained: “I was a non-executive director at London Irish and it started giving me an insight into sport. We decided moving forward we’d like to be involved in the leisure industry with something we could control ourselves.

“My wife and I had independent lives. Buying Gatton Manor was more to do with me wanting a lifestyle change than anything else.

“I come from an entrepreneurial back-ground. Most of my family own business-es. It’s in the blood. My twin brother has bought Burgham Park Golf Club in Newcastle. And I’m a sports fanatic.”

But the Kielys did not go into the project believing golf club ownership was a licence to print money or merely a new hobby. Kiely said: “I started looking from about 1999 onwards, but what worried me was that very few golf clubs make money.

“We quickly came to the conclusion if we were going to do something in golf it needed to be resort based so you needed more accommodation, conference facili-ties and the ability to host functions and weddings.

“We were living in Twickenham at the time and, with three young children, wherever we went needed to be within an hour’s travel. We had a budget in mind but couldn’t find anything which met our criteria.

“We hadn’t seen anything for about six months when I picked up the Financial Times one day in March or April 2004 and Gatton Manor was advertised in it with everything we were looking for.

“The course was full but the facilities were run down. The drive was full of potholes, the clubhouse was rundown and the staff were not very friendly - but there was a good vibe from the members.

Gatt’ll do nicely

Owned by entrepreneur Patrick Kiely, publisher Michael lenihan met the affable Irishman to see how he and his wife Belinda, were riding the current economic recession.

16 GME jANuAry 2009

faCTfilE;

Gatton ManorStandon Lane

Ockley, DorkingSurrey rH5 5PQ

England

TEl; (44) 01306 627555faX; (44) 01306 627713

EMail;info@gattonmanor.co.uk

propriETor;Patrick Kiely (pictured)

CoursE ManaGEr;Paul Hobden

Club foundEd;1969

“We had a look around the hotel and it was quite shabby. Nevertheless we put in a bid but were initially outbid by some-body which was disappointing.

“In the following September we had a call from the agent saying that the deal had fallen through, so we reworked our bid and eventually completed in January 2005.

“While we got it for a good price there was a huge amount of investment required and we spent the best part of a million quid in that time.

“Once we’d signed the deeds it was a case of trying to come in here and turn the business around. One thing we real-ised we could do without spending money was to make sure the place was clean and make sure everybody got a welcome.

“There was quite an investment made in the golf course but also a lot was need-ed in the other facilities to get them right.”

While the couple were committed to high levels of customer service and improving the clubhouse and hotel bedrooms considerably, they felt the course itself just needed some TLC and a few cosmetic changes.

“We haven’t redesigned anything, but we’ve reinstated two big lakes which had been in-filled. We created new tee boxes on 12 and 17 – on 17 we now have the longest hole in the south-east of England, which is 645 yards off the blue tees.

“We undertake a marketing campaign every summer around the ‘longest drive, on the longest hole, on the longest day’ which works very well.”

They recruited Paul Hobden – whom Kiely regards as “one of the top course managers in the UK” – from The Wisley, as the new course manager and he set about giving them that product of which they ‘could be proud’.

“We gave him a budget for new equip-ment and staff and over the past three years he’s transformed the course. And if you’re going to make golf your ‘main thing’ then the course has to be right.”

The previous owner of the estate, Bob Heath, bought it in 1954. Upon his death in the mid-80s, ownership of club and the estate fell to his son and daughter.

Kiely said: “It was very popular in the 70s and 80s when a lot of private members’ clubs wouldn’t allow visitors to come and play. However, investments were not made and the standard of the facilities dropped. Hotel occupancy was very low and the bedrooms were in need of refurbishment.”

When Kiely purchased the operation there were only 165 members, but with that figure now standing at 350, he’s clear in his mind exactly what has been the catalyst for the increase.

“It has come about through the invest-ment we’ve made in the facilities and the quality of the course. We’ve had people join from all the neighbouring courses: Slinfold in particular; Cranleigh; Mannings Heath; and Wildwood – they’re our four main competitors.

“People want to play a good golf course. A friend of mine who came along with me to evaluate the property initially said: ‘There are a lot of hotels which have golf courses; this is a golf course, which has a hotel’.

“Those people are telling their friends back at their old courses ‘come over to Gatton; it’s a great course with a good club atmosphere’. We give each member two vouchers to bring three guests free of charge and there are very few vouchers which are not redeemed.

“As a result we pick up new members – and we don’t have a joining fee.”

With husband and wife both having extensive experience in service industries it comes as no surprise to hear Kiely talk of customer service as a major priority.

“I believe if you treat people right, they’ll stay with you – unless for econom-ic reasons they can’t afford the fee or they’re moving away.

“All our staff are taught ‘look after people or they’ll move away’.

“i think 2009 will be quite challenging. Though i think there may well be a lot of people with more time on their hands – time rich, cash poor…”

jANuAry 2009 GME 17

HAWTREEGOLF COURSE ARCHITECTS

Since 1912

5 OxFORd STREET, WOOdSTOCk,OxFORd Ox20 1TQ

TEL: (01993) 811976 FAx: (01993) 812448

WWW.HAWTREE.CO.Uk

“People write back and tell us how great the staff are and that has been our differential. That’s why we’re winning business from other clubs.”

But that doesn’t mean ‘the manage-ment’ are not prepared to do something radical, even if it does rankle with their membership. Take Patrick’s crusade against slow play as an example. And he’s not slow to apportion the blame.

He admitted: “I hate slow play with a vengeance. During the summer I did upset the members one Saturday morning when I insisted they went out in three-balls because it was getting ridiculously slow.

“On a Saturday morning, with fourballs going off the whites it was taking five hours to go round. I didn’t come in that Saturday, but I phoned the shop and told them to send people out in three-balls when they rolled up. They went round in four hours but it caused uproar.

“The medal competitions were going out as four-balls every eight minutes and they were taking the best part of five to five-and-a-half hours. So we changed it to three-balls every ten minutes, off the first tee at 7am, made sure there was a starter, made sure nobody went early, and they started coming in at four hours, to four hours ten minutes. So it can be done – but you need to put the resources into it.

“The R&A, the PGA and the USPGA need to stop the pros from messing around. They go out in two-balls and three balls and are still taking five to six

hours to go round – the pros are role models for amateur golfers and the amateur golfer will follow what they see the professionals do.”

The owners of Gatton Manor are four years into a ten-year plan for the venue. But to keep the balance, as the fortunes of the resort have improved so the economic climate has taken a downturn.

While Kiely accepts there are difficult times ahead he is not yet prepared to simply batten down the hatches and try to ride out the storm.

He said: “I think 2009 will be quite challenging. Though I think there may well be a lot of people with more time on their hands – time rich, cash poor…

“We will see changes in membership, I think that’s inevitable. But you can look at the recession and see it as a time to tight-en your belt, or you can see it as an opportunity, because there will be a lot of operations out there – and we shouldn’t just talk about golf, it’s the hotel as well – who will cut costs, cut marketing spend, and try to ride it out.

“We see it as an opportunity to go and market the hell out of the place to try to create goodwill towards the business. We’re looking after people through value and customer service. And when the good times come back – and it will be three years before we see it – they know Gatton Manor offers good value.

“That’s what we’ve always been about: good value, good service and great facili-ties.” GME

www.golftech-gmbh.de

Marine Golf Club, Germany

BAGCC

GolfTech GmbH Golf Course Construction and

Maintenance

MD: Andrew JefferyGolfTech GmbH, PO Box 1106,

25961 Westerland/SyltGermany

+49 (0) 173 571 8631info@golftech-gmbh.de

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20 GME jANuAry 2009

norwegian golf

According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Norway’s only natural

hazards are rockslides and avalanches, which shouldn’t

come as a surprise to anyone who’s visited this beautiful country.

With its high plateaus and rugged mountains, this is a land of glaciated scenes and scattered plains where one of the longest and most rugged coastlines in the world splinters the land like broken glass. Dramatic and extreme, Norway is anything but subtle.

This can’t be said for its golf industry. In 1996, the Norwegian Golf Federation released information that summed up the fledgling state of golf in the kingdom. The total number of golf courses in Norway had reached a measly 42. This in a coun-try that has over 300,000 sq km of land – or an area slightly larger than New Mexico - to choose from.

By 2007, however, this figure had ballooned to 124 with the number of players growing from 33,000 to 119,000. Golf in Norway had at last taken flight.

“There have been an increasing number of courses and a tremendous increase in the number of club members in the last five years although the total number of members has flattened out,” says Steinar Fløisvik, general manager of Stavanger Golf Club; Norway’s second oldest club.

“We’ve had a lot of competition over the last few years with new clubs opening up. There’s now four 18-hole courses within half an hour drive of here.”

Stavanger is located in the South West of Norway while the country’s other golf hub, Oslo, is located in the East. These are the golfing heartlands of Norway from which a new breed of courses have emanated. But despite the explosion of new courses in recent years, Stavanger’s impressive membership figures, which hover around the 2,000 mark, have remained unblemished.

Indeed, this impressive tally is reflected in the latest Golf Benchmark Survey for Northern Europe produced by KPMG. In it, Scandinavian golf clubs are noted as having larger memberships than the rest

Norway’s fledgling golf sector is coming to terms with its first economic recession. Mark Alexander tracks the

progress of golf in this beautiful country.

norwegian Wood

jANuAry 2009 GME 21

of Europe and the daddy of them all is Norway with a typical membership for an 18-hole golf course of 1,200.

Perhaps as revealing is the Norwegian fixation with sponsorship, which can bring its own problems especially during a global financial crisis. “In Norway we have a lot of sponsorship,” says Fløisvik. “The challenge ahead will be how the financial situation evolves for golf courses. Most of us will lose income.”

In the past, Norwegian golf courses have faired well in revenue terms perhaps because of the level of sponsorship they’ve depended so heavily upon. For instance, Fløisvik attributes a third of Stavanger’s income to sponsorship, which equates to NOK 4.7 million annually (€520,000) with some backers investing NOK 150,000 (€16,500) to support each hole.

But with the business world caught up in a self-imposed moratorium on rational thinking, what can Norwegian clubs do to offset the inevitable fall in income?

“Some clubs will struggle,” he says, “but we have a fairly large membership, so if we lose sponsorship income, the only alternative will be to raise the annual fee which we’ve already done when we start-ed rebuilding the course.”

Fløisvik maintains the reason behind Stavanger’s success is down to its location (close to a city) and commitment to improving the course. This manifested itself in a NOK 22.5 million (€2.5 million) rebirth of Stavanger which start-ed in 2005. By the summer of 2008, the mainstay of the work had been completed with just four greens awaiting overhauls ahead of the course’s relaunch this year.

“Whatever we do, we think quality,” he says. “The golf course has to be attractive to the golfers. That’s why we’re renovating the course with new greens and so on.”

The course’s sweeping doglegs and impressive undulations were devised by Fred Smith more than 50 years ago. Unfortunately, it struggled with heavy rain and so Norwegian-based architect Brian Phillips was called in to devise a strategy to breath life back into the old track.

“As I’m a big heathland fan, I love the course,” said Phillips. “The designer Fred Smith lived in London and I could see his design style came from heathland courses. So the biggest challenge was to modernise the bunkers without loosing the heathland effect he had created.”

Despite hailing from Burnley in England, Phillips has been based in Norway since 1992. After working for Norwegian construction company Veidekke as a project manager, he set up

Niblick Golf Design along with Scottish golf course architect Graeme Webster, and if anyone knows the Norwegian golf market, it’s him.

“It’s reminiscent of how Scotland was 100 years ago,” he says. “There are lots of people who love the game and want to start up clubs here, there and everywhere. It only takes a handful of men and women with a desire to create a golf club to get the ball rolling.”

Despite the Norwegians’ appetite for construction, Phillips says Norway isn’t an easy place to build golf courses. “The terrain is very difficult,” he says. “It’s a very mountainous and rocky place to build.

“There are also very few sandy bases and the Norwegian government doesn’t like you using agricultural land, which can make life difficult.”

With such a bleak assessment, you’d wonder why anyone would bother build-ing there at all. But they do, and with dramatic results. Towering peaks and smooth fjord lakes create stunning back-drops that frame courses that are nothing short of spectacular. Imagine playing a quick nine holes around the base camp of Everest and you’ll kind of get the idea.

“The biggest problem that’s stopping Norway is that Norwegians are not prepared to pay big money for sport,” says Phillips.

“There’s a culture in Norway where you just don’t pay for it. Norwegian’s can walk anywhere and enjoy the most amaz-ing landscape throughout the whole country. They play golf because they’re going for a walk and they’re not prepared to put their hand in their pocket for it.”

According to KPMG, Norway has the lowest joining fees in Northern Europe, although it makes up for it with higher-than-average greens tariffs.

Stavanger, for example, sets its subscriptions at NOK 5,500 (€600), the joining fee at NOK 12,000 (€1,325) and green fees at NOK 400 (€45). The strat-egy is clear - make it easy for the public to secure a decent annual income.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always turn out that way. Although golf participation rates in Northern Europe are about five times higher than the European average, Norway’s participation rates have stalled at 2.6 per cent.

It’s a problem that Fløisvik says is likely to get worse: “We always look to Sweden because they started with golf a long time before Norway did,” he said. “The last report I read said the number of golfers are falling there. If that happens in Norway, there will be problems. Some will survive and others will struggle.” GME

“The biggest problem that’s stopping norway is that norwegians are not prepared to pay big

money for sport”

jANuAry 2009 GME 23

venue developmentWEblinK; EurOPEANTOur.COM

The next 12 months promise to be the most ground-breaking and exciting yet in The European Tour’s history as the first-ever Race to Dubai builds to a climax.

With five of the world’s top ten ranked players at the start of 2009 European and stalwarts of the Tour, competition for the richest prize in golf is certain to be fierce and rival anything its American counter-part produces.

But The European Tour is also moving into a new phase off the course and this year will see one of its newest creations, the department of property and venue development, move into full swing.

Eager to take advantage of its prestig-ious and ever-expanding brand and strengthen its position in the game, the Tour acquired PGA European Tour Courses from Irish businessman Denis O’Brien in January last year.

Owning, managing and licensing 11 venues across ten countries, including Quinta do Lago, PGA Golf de Catalunya and Kungsangen in Sweden - four-time venue of the Scandinavian Masters - the purchase was seen as providing the ideal base to launch the new venture.

And to lead the department, they have turned to the expert hands of David MacLaren, formerly chief executive of PGA European Tour Courses who spent five years in charge of all aspects of golf for Marriott UK prior to that.

“The Tour has been involved in proper-ty development in the past but European Tour courses in the 1980s were, in essence, to provide good courses for our players,” explained MacLaren, director of property and venue development.

“Owning and developing players is a very capital intensive investment to do though, and I think it became apparent fairly quickly that our aspirations weren’t the same as our partners, and owning and managing venues wasn’t the core aim of the Tour at the time.

“Denis O’Brien then purchased the company and the brand, and acquired a collection of the venues that IMG and the European Tour had previously operated.

“But Denis’ courses were based on real estate and the European Tour wasn’t comfortable with someone else owning and developing a brand that was recog-nised as part of The European Tour.

Maclaren aiming to develop a lasting legacy

As director of property and venue development for the revamped European Tour, David MacLaren is tasked with managing 11 courses as well as increasing his portfolio over the coming years as Peter Simm reports.

24 GME jANuAry 2009

“The Tour wanted to get control back of a brand and the acquisition was seen as a platform to re-enter the world of venue and real estate management.”

The European Tour could hardly have employed a more qualified person, with MacLaren having gained experience of all aspects of the golf industry working for Strokesaver, Hanbury Manor, St Pierre and Forest of Arden before heading up Marriott’s golf business.

But, amazingly, the 43-year-old three-handicapper could have been lost to golf and pursued a career in modern languag-es but for a chance meeting with Strokesaver founder David Duckering while he was studying at Edinburgh University.

MacLaren recalled: “I went to an inner city school in Newcastle and golf was a long way down the list of priorities. I then went to Edinburgh University to study modern languages and was on their golf team.

“We had a 12-man team and had this most amazing fixture list with matches against the R&A, Troon and Muirfield among others. We would be wined and dined and that was almost as attractive when you are a penniless student.

“It was quite by chance that I got into golf. I was drawn against David Duckering in a match against the R&A and we got chatting afterwards in the clubhouse.

“Seven or eight gin and tonics later, he mentioned one of the countries that he hadn’t introduced the Strokesaver concept to was France and, as I had a language background, he told me to ring him.

“I ended up working for them for two years travelling the world. It was an unbe-lievable stroke of luck that this connection was made and everything I have achieved since I owe in a way to David.”

MacLaren is certainly happy at the cards that fate has dealt him so far, and is clearly excited at the challenge that lies ahead of him as he explained the strategy underpinning his new role.

He said: “The European Tour is funded through two sources - the Ryder Cup surplus and TV revenues because we own the television and distribution rights outside of where tournaments are played.

“That puts us in a very strong position but there is no guarantee that they will stay as strong forever. And we don’t make any surplus money from running golf tournaments.

“In order to continue our development, it was decided that we wanted to create a third revenue source and, after an awful lot of research with the help of KPMG, we came up with the strategy that venue and real estate would become our third financial pillar.

“The European Tour is a very valuable brand and it can help golf and real estate developers gain more of a return on their investment. We have access to events, for example, and we would like to share the return.

“In theory I think it is a really sound strategy. It drives our brand without putting at risk any revenue and KPMG told us that the brand is strong enough to attract developers.”

As part of his remit, MacLaren is on the lookout for no more than 12 venues to place under the European Tour umbrella, and is prepared to go to all corners of the globe to find them.

The father-of-two is prepared to enter-tain all types of candidates, from existing courses to new green-field developments, and he revealed that the Tour is also hoping to use their new sites as future venues for the Ryder Cup when Europe stages golf ’s most prestigious team competition.

“Our strategy is only about finding ten to 12 venues,” said MacLaren. “We are looking for quality, not quantity, and they have to be venues that do justice to our members. We will be looking at any parts of the world where we are currently active in playing tournaments and will only exclude ourselves from North America. Anywhere outside of there we will see as possible opportunities.

“The European Tour is a very valuable brand and it can help golf and real estate developers gain more of a return on their investment. We have access to events, for example, and we would like to share the return.”

jANuAry 2009 GME 25

“We will be looking at projects in differ-ent stages, from green-field sites to cours-es that have development opportunities, and the selection of future Ryder Cup venues will also be linked in. The selection of venues isn’t just down to The European Tour but as a major partner we will seek for one of ours to be used.

“Our finance strategy is not just to restrict ourselves to countries that are susceptible to real estate crisis, like the present situation. There is a whole world out there, and there are countries that are less susceptible to the economic vagaries of real estate than others.

“There are five to six developments currently under consideration and three developments - two in the UK and one in Portugal - are quite far down the line.

“One is a new green field development and another is a very established golf venue with potential hotel and real estate opportunities which we would be seeking to unlock.”

With the experience from his previous roles under his belt at Marriott, MacLaren is well qualified to decide the venues to take the Tour’s newest arm forward. But he is also well aware of the pitfalls that developers need to avoid in the future and the underlying need for golf to change and modernise if it is to continue to be successful.

He added: “What strikes me is how fragmented the golf industry is. For the game to grow, there needs to be bigger golfing groups.

“A lot of operators out there are making the same mistakes that people have made in the past and I think there’s a big opportunity out there for operators to pool resources. At Marriott, everything we did was centred on making the brand as strong as possible. Golfers chose a Marriott venue because they knew what they were going to get.

“One of the important features was that it wasn’t just about golf. We were trying to sell a whole lifestyle experience and, as a member, you are buying into a network of facilities across the whole country.

“We have to be very careful about how golf is marketed in new emerging coun-tries. You can say golf is successful because of its traditional values but the other side of the argument is that it is completely out of touch with how people run their lives.

“I do think golf needs to adapt itself to how people live and we are incredibly arrogant if we think people will adapt themselves to the game.

“There is a danger over the long term that golf will decline if we don’t adjust our views on issues, such as on the dress code on courses - especially for juniors - and the time it takes to play to play a round. It could be we have to look to build more courses with loops of six instead of the more traditional way.”

If MacLaren gets his way, these are all matters that will be addressed as The European Tour embarks on a new chapter in its history. GME

“i do think golf needs to adapt itself to how people live and we are incredibly arrogant if we think people will adapt themselves to the game.”

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26 GME jANuAry 2009

egcoa

The European Golf Course Owners Association (EGCOA) provides services to support golf course owners in their aims, represents their interests and improve the golf business on a European level.

Established in 2004, with its headquar-ters in Amsterdam, the EGCOA supports owners and operators of golf courses throughout Europe, from owners of nine-hole facilities to multiple course owning companies by protecting their interests and spreading and sharing knowledge.

Ten national golf course federations are currently affiliated to the EGCOA includ-ing the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, Finland and Slovenia, with more than 700 golf course owners repre-sented.

Besides these national organisations, individual golf course owners are also members, and with the support of the EGCOA, several initiatives have already been started in Norway, Bulgaria, Ukraine, England and Poland to start national golf course owners associations.

With the growing role of the European Union and the shift of decision making from a national to a European level, the role of the EGCOA as Europe’s leading authority on the business of golf course ownership is further increasing.

The annual European Golf Business Conference, organised by the EGCOA, is one of Europe’s leading events where golf course owners, managers, directors of golf, suppliers, representatives of national and European golf bodies, golf course architects and industry partners gather.

leading figures unite to help owners in Europe

At the recent European Golf Course Owners Association annual conference in Berlin, Golf Management Europe signed an exclusive partnership agreement with the EGCOA which will see both organisations working closer with one another during 2009. In the first of six scheduled articles, Tibbe bakker explains what the EGCOA has to offer members.

WEblinK; EGCOA.Eu

jANuAry 2009 GME 27

The aim of the conference is to bring the European golf business together in order to get ideas to improve the opera-tion of golf courses, to network, to share ideas and exchange information about matters of mutual concern, and the 2008 event, held in November, was a resounding success.

The central theme to the conference was ‘The Big Change’ and the event attracted a total of 240 delegates from 25 different countries, including participants from Africa, America and Canada.

Various speakers exchanged views on the changes occurring with golfing habits in Europe today, with the general agreement being that the so-called ‘Free Golfer’ is the growing market.

The ‘Free Golfer’ is best described as the golfer who plays golf for leisure and at a number of different golf clubs and chooses not to be a member at a particu-lar club. It was clear that the supply side of golf must change in order to accom-modate this new breed of golfer.

Marcel Welling, president of the EGCOA, sparked an interesting debate on the current structure of golf federa-tions and whether they are meeting the

needs of their markets and therefore preventing further growth of the game.

Another very popular moment was former European Tour executive director

Ken Schofield receiving the 2008 EGCOA award for his

outstanding contribution to developing the European

Tour and for the posi-tive effect this has had on the growth of the game.

During the confer-ence, it was announced that the fourth Golf Business Conference will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark in

November 2009, and aside from the agree-

ment signed with Golf Management Europe other

partnerships were ratified with the International Association of Golf Tour Operators and the PGA’s of Europe.

In the future, these organisations will co-operate, support and share knowledge with the EGCOA, and it was also agreed that mutual recognition of logos is grant-ed and CEO’s will act as Patrons of the respective associations.

Following the conclusion of the confer-ence, the AGM of the EGCOA took place, where the current board of direc-tors were re-elected for a term of three years. GME

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in person

It’s been quite a year for the Trump team. Twelve months ago they were preparing their case for a high-profile public meeting after Aberdeenshire Council first approved then rejected their £1 billion Trump International Golf Links scheme.

The Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney got involved. He said public interest in the case meant “the process to examine the issues [should be] as effi-cient, transparent and inclusive as possi-ble.” A date was duly set for a showdown in June.

George Sorial (pictured), managing director of international development was the public face of Trump’s bid. He recalls his surprise when the plan was knocked back: “We were advised that the real battle would occur at the first hearing, but we sailed through that one, so it was a surprise.

“There were moments when the future seemed difficult, but we’ve always been fighters. This project was going to be so special, so it was worth the fight.”

By November the audacious plan was finally approved. Some greeted the

decision with delight while others were dismayed. Sorial remembers feeling a great sense of relief when the Scottish Government finally gave the go-ahead but admits the affair had got personal.

“Aside from the professional investment, this project had

become personal,” he says. “It meant a lot to us on many levels

when it was finally approved.”The delay had been drawn out and

public. It had raised the profile of the project and sparked fiercely contested debates across the world. Yet despite the storm that had been whipped up, Sorial

says the delay had as many positives as it had negatives.

“Any type of publicity of a project like this helps. There’s no better way to achieve a victory than after a long fight,” he says. What’s more, the holdup meant the project’s costs have been slashed.

“This project just became $600 million cheaper,” says Sorial proudly. “The prices of raw materials have decreased signifi-cantly and there is wide availability of manpower. Two years ago we were told we would have a hard time getting contractors, now there are dozens of them fighting to get our jobs.

“All these things have worked in our favour. I would have preferred to get the approval last year, but in retrospect, the year delay has helped us.”

While the cost implications of the project may have taken a turn for the better, the UK’s housing market has nose-dived in spectacular fashion. With the project’s heavy reliance on property, sure-ly this downturn has had an impact. Apparently not.

“We never intended to build 1,500 resi-dences and put them on the market right now,” says Sorial. “The residential component was always a long-term play.

“At the request of Aberdeenshire Council, we agreed to tie in the phasing of the residential development with the duelling of the A90, so we’re not contem-plating building a single residence for another four or five years.”

With 950 holiday homes, 500 private residences, 36 luxury golf villas, a five-star, 450-bedroom hotel and golf acade-my, not to mention two championship golf courses and Mr Trump’s own family home, the project was always going to attract attention, and perhaps some scep-ticism.

The uK’s most talked about golf development is coming together on a windswept coastline on Scotland’s east coast. Mark Alexander talks to the men who made it happen and finds out what happens next.

Top Trumps

WEblinK; TruMPGOLFSCOTLAND.COM

jANuAry 2009 GME 29

“It’s sometimes funny when people question our dedication to the project. If you look at the massive team we have put in place, for anyone to think that we’re going to do anything other than build it is amazing to me.”

Late last year, the main body of that team was announced which included world-renowned golf course architects Hawtree as the course designers, with the project team being managed by Neil Hobday, the appointed project director at Trump International Golf Links.

“I’m a conductor of a very large orchestra,” he says whimsically, “every-thing from the golf course to planning to operations to management to team build-ing and procurement. I report directly to the client in New York.”

With a background in Scottish golf course development, including key roles in Loch Lomond and Kingsbarns, few would question Hobday’s suitability for the job. But as he points out, his influence has already extended far beyond merely managing the project.

“I saw an article in the Sunday Times in 2005 saying Trump was looking to do something in Scotland or Ireland,” says Hobday. “I had just been introduced to the Menie Estate, so I rang his representa-tive and a meeting was arranged.

“Shortly afterwards, I was invited to meet Trump in New York which I duly did and persuaded him not to buy an existing golf course but to buy the Menie property instead.”

With Hobday’s inspiring words ringing in their ears, the Trump team snubbed the likes of Turnberry and Loch Lomond in favour of a greenfield site on the coast which had the potential for residential development.

“I’ve travelled the 6,200 miles of the mainland Scottish coastline and there aren’t any better sites than this on which to build a traditional links golf course,” Hobday insists.

Along with Aberdeen’s strong economy, international airport and transport infra-structure, the Menie Estate plan certainly had a lot going for it, but it also had its detractors who petitioned fervently against the development.

“It feels like it’s been a battle - a battle that we should never have had to fight,” says Hobday. “I always felt this applica-tion was so important to the region and Scotland that it would overcome its objec-tors, and it has.”

With dust slowly settling over a tempes-tuous year, thoughts are tuning to what happens next, and the answer is plenty. From actioning the all-important plan-ning conditions to overseeing minor stabi-lisation work and putting together an environment plan, Hobday is going to be at the centre of another year of high drama at Menie.

“It doesn’t all get done at once, but what we need to do is get the golf facilities built to provide the raison d’etre for the development,” Hobday explains.

“It’s going to be a busy year.” GME

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30 GME jANuAry 2009

drill and fill WEblinK; ECOSOLVE.CO.uK

drill and fill the way forward for clubs in Europe

Drill and Fill aerator’s reputation as a problem solver in turf care continues to spread across Europe. Ecosolve last year sold a machine into Cologne Golf und Landclub, Germany (GME May 2008) and more European clubs are booking the contract operation to tackle previously insurmountable aeration issues.

Golf Club de Geneva’s director, Francois Lautens, employed the Drill and Fill operation from the UK on 19 greens in April 2008, where old sand with low

permeability was impeding drainage. The following wet summer resulted in neighbouring courses reporting lots of moss and rotting grass, compounded by even worse rain this

year. When GME visited in

September 2008, Lautens said: “Our greens are perfect now and we can even see them draining better.”

The machine’s unique ability to create 31cm deep hollow tine-like ducts and backfill them simultaneously, has enabled remedial treatment to be used to cure major problems of poor drainage rather than to rebuild. In addition to the machine’s dramatic effects, the treated turf

can be further enhanced by using other aeration equipment to build

upon the “foundation” work of the Drill and Fill.

Geneva used the 31cm drills which were able to connect with the gravel layer, enabling better percolation of

water from the surface. Backfilling with an 80:20 sand:Sportslite blend

ensured the ducts stayed open, improved

the rootzone, nutrient retention and CEC and reduced the amended soil’s suscepti-bility to compaction.

“The process was excellent, efficient and very quick,” added Lautens. “Greens were back in play next day and the surface wasn’t disturbed as it is with tining.” Spoil from the operation was removed and recycled and used later for top dressing work.

Head greenkeeper Charles Charmot continued verticutting as normal, but in 2008, the course only needed two core aeration treatments when it would have needed three prior to Drill and Fill.

A further benefit to Drill and Fill was noted during hot spells. In common with many European courses, Golf Club de Geneva has plenty of Poa grass species which don’t handle heat well when cut low for optimum green speed.

The exclusive Swiss Club has only 350 regular members, but it accepts guests and has a busy schedule of tournaments. Lautens added: “In hot conditions, we need to irrigate, which used to result in water logging, but that has been much better since using the Drill and Fill.

“Overall we and the members are very happy with it.”

Just over the border in France, Aix les Bains Golf Club had Drill and Fill aera-tion last year and is looking to repeat the operation in 2009.

Overshadowed by the towering peaks of the Massif des Bauges mountains and many trees, Aix’s greens were slow drain-ing and grass rooting depth poor. A packed summer competition season, with some high temperatures; an ancient and inefficient irrigation system and 1296mm of annual rainfall put a lot of pressure on

Pressure from summer competitions and far from ideal construction has been causing drainage problems on greens around Europe. The Drill and Fill aeration system is proving the ideal solution, as Penny Comerford found out.

jANuAry 2009 GME 31

the fifteen 100-year-old greens, construct-ed mainly of clay.

Despite its proximity to the mountains, Aix-les-Bains has no snow in winter and is the only course in the area which does not close, nor does it use winter greens. Consequently, it has many visitors during that time from neighbouring clubs in France and Switzerland.

Even the three new sand-based greens had problems, explained club director Gerard Bourge: “I am very happy with the Drill and Fill work, the greens are draining in half the time that they used to.”

He too is considering another pass with the aerator in 2009. “This would bring about further improvement to the drain-age rate and encourage deeper rooting of grass as the green’s water table is lowered,” said Ecosolve’s technical direc-tor, Bretton King. Compaction on the sand greens would also benefit.

Having witnessed the improvements at Geneva and Aix-les-Bains, other clubs with drainage problems around the Franco-Swiss border have asked Ecosolve to quote for Drill and Fill work.

“It’s good to see that the body of evidence in favour of Drill and Fill is growing around the Continent,” added King. “Agronomists such as Alain Dehaye are recommending the process, having seen good results in the region and we’re welcoming more European visitors on to our stand at Harrogate each year.”

Geneva has subsequently booked a repeat operation for spring 2009 and

other clubs in the area are looking to share the visit.

The most recent jobs completed by Ecosolve in Europe last autumn were in the Netherlands.

Hattemse Golf Club in Hattem used Drill and Fill to improve drainage on seven greens whilst in the north at Groningen, Nord-Nederlands Golf and Country Club was in need of a soil exchange process to improve rootzone.

Its greens were constructed with a fine, sticky soil on top of the stone carpet and this has been severely hampering grass health, especially its root system.

“Ecosolve has built a reputation based on high quality work and expertise in the field of Drill and Fill technology,” added King.

“By developing the machine with the manufacturer to encompass wide ranging conditions, we have an unrivalled ability to tackle turf problems.

“Our competitors in the UK and Europe are simply unable to offer the customer the range of drilling solutions that our Drill and Fill equipment can, and consequently, we have seen the process’ credibility and respect for providing long term improvements blossom.

“The customer is ultimately the biggest critic of a product and its efficacy, so for us to see continued expansion here and on the Continent in the current financial climate reaffirms that Drill and Fill is an effective tool in golf course management and improvement.” GME

32 GME jANuAry 2009

my view WEblinK; HArrADINE-GOLF.COM

Why do people take such a long time to play a round of golf?

There are many obvious reasons that influence slow play, but the limited number of words allotted for this article are not enough to describe them all. As far as I am concerned the two main factors are: Golf Course Design and a complete ignorance of that most impor-tant golfing civility: the Etiquette!

Apparently, there is an ideal hole sequence that helps speed up play and this sequence is supposed to be par 4, 4, 5, 3, 4, 4, 5, 3, 4.

This is all very well but I would never sacrifice a great topography just to follow an “ideal” sequence. The topography must dictate the sequence, even if (sacri-lege) one should start or finish with a par three! Should one sacrifice a great natural hole just to achieve an ideal sequence?

Actually, the formula is simple: Uncomplicated shorter courses: Faster play. Complicated, long “Championship” courses: Slow play.

Unfortunately, most clients, golf course committees, certainly the media and the exalted PR and marketing egg-heads all think that a par 72, 8,000 metre-long “Championship” course designed by a professional signatory is the ultimate marketing layout.

Media releases heralding a new course always talk about “Championship” cours-es and never trumpet a great resort or

recreational course. Most “Championship” courses

designed by the profession-al signatories are usually great monuments to them-

selves and brilliant chal-lenges to their profes-sional signatory colleagues but are an absolute nightmare for the good old hackers.

Yes, they might be slow but they are the players

who pay our fees!

They like soft greens, wide fairways, no roughs, no lakes, no bunkers and greens in the shape of a funnel.

But how can the marketing gurus use superlatives for a nice, friendly, uncompli-cated resort or recreational course, espe-cially as today’s marketing doctrine is based on matchless greed, wholesale branding and unequalled, unique and incomparable bullshit?

They will convince the client that such a course cannot be marketed! So... Back to slow play!

We have been issued guidelines regard-ing the playing time one would like to see for each hole: Par 3: eight minutes; Par 4: 12 minutes, Par 5: 16 minutes.

But how was that calculated, and did one include the many bad habits displayed by most golfers such as ponder-ing which club to choose or returning to the golf car once one has realised that it could be the wrong club.

Too many practice swings, adjusting the height of the tee (again), and the classic wetting your finger and sticking it up in the air to see which way the wind is blow-ing, only to realise that you had forgotten to take your glove off!

Adjusting your stance and looking at your intended landing area with a great air of concentration (three-to-four times appears to be the norm these days), wiggle, do the twist... pull up your socks and trousers, pull down your shirt, tighten your belt, tighten your shoe laces and blow one’s nose just when your opponent is about to strike the ball are other favour-ites.

How many minutes pretending to look for the opponent’s ball? Golfers will defi-nitely use up the full five minutes and then proceed to clean the ball once one has finally found it.

Lost a club? Apologise and ask all the players one encounters whilst back track-ing and zigzagging along previously played fairways. Oh, and don’t forget to talk to the caddy for four-to-five minutes.

Etiquette the key to slow play

As a former president of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, Peter Harradine knows a thing or two about golf design. In this light-hearted article, he offers a different view on the curse of slow play, and perhaps gets to the route of the problem.

jANuAry 2009 GME 33

Sorry, no caddies anymore except in Thailand and everyone in Thailand is always in the woods looking for balls!

How many seconds (minutes - you must be joking!) does it take to rake a bunker? Anyway, nobody rakes bunkers any more, they use the rake to fish the balls out of the lakes.

Walk up to the green and return to your ball (two-to-three times), and don’t forget to take your glove off before putting.

Now figure out the putting line which will take at least two minutes especially on some roller coaster greens “designed” by some professional signatories, not forget-ting to find the correct spot to place your cigarette (must not burn the grass!)

Three-to-six putts and then replay the putt that has just been missed. Return to the green to retrieve the glove as it slipped out of the pocket, and use a mobile phone to add up the score. Re-count the shots after protestations by the opponent. Look for the pencil. Walk back to the cart that is always parked in front of the green.

Etiquette in French also means label, and to most golfers it might just as well be a label on a wine bottle. Unfortunately, many teaching pros indoctrinate begin-ners with an incredible amount of mumbo-jumbo, so they have no time to teach such trivial matters as good behav-iour and etiquette.

The beginner is so engrossed with all this new holistic (what the hell is that?) and theoretical codswallop that he even forgets his balls when he reaches the first tee! Run back to the pro-shop!

It is about time that etiquette becomes an enforceable and integral part of the rules of golf. All beginners should pass a test on the rules and etiquette before they are allowed on the course. That should speed up play!

An arguable deterrent against slow play is definitely the course police or “marshall”, “ranger” or “pistolero.” I wonder where those words ever came from? Did John Wayne play golf? Golf course police? How did this great game ever get to this pathetic situation?

I heard at the EGCOA conference in Berlin that slow players were actually rewarded with a tortoise on the roof of their golf cars! Poor guys they had the privilege of paying about 250 USD for a round and they had the honour of being chastised with a tortoise!

The R&A produced guidelines for “pistoleros”. So I will allow myself a very liberal and personal interpretation of those recommendations:

You have to help the golfer go round the course in a safe manner and within the time specified by Management which is two and a half hours for 36 holes.

Learn to recognise each flight by what they wear, choose items that will not be changed during the round, for example: underpants.

Introduce yourself to as many flights as possible to show that you are there! Tell them that you are not there to chastise but you are there to help! An early contact is essential as you will be able to determine who in the various flights are handi-capped. No, not the golfing handicap.

Look for any signs of heart problems, epilepsy or drunken behaviour. It is important to recognise such players as they could really delay play. Watch them closely so that you can transport them off as soon as there is a problem!

You must however always be correct. You must also be very sure that the flight you think is slow really is slow!

If you decide to say something you must know what you are going to say. To judge this you must observe the body language of the players: How many fingers did they hold up when they greet-ed you? Are they totally angry or only half angry? They might even be happy. If they are happy they are definitely drunk!

If they still do not play faster after your repeated warnings, show them the book and read them the rules on etiquette, and if necessary hit them on the head with it. But always remain friendly! GME

“it is about time that etiquette becomes an enforceable and integral part of the rules of golf.”

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34 GME jANuAry 2009

the last word

So there was this guy. He had a problem with his hearing so

he went off to see a specialist who decided his tinnitus had been caused by the “sonic boom” created by his King Cobra LD titanium driver.

Subsequently the British Medical Journal reported that, after extensive tests, doctors decided golfers who use the new generation of thin-faced tita-nium drivers - and that might be as many as 80 per cent of the world-wide golfing population according to the report I guffawed at - could be at risk of damaged hearing.

The 55-year-old in question had been using his weapon of choice three times a week for 18 months, which begs the question, how? How was he managing to get out three times a week at age 55.

Did he not have a job? Or, if he was a man of independent means I do hope he didn’t burden our already overworked National Health Service with his self-inflicted ailment.

It’s not a great advert for the modern driver, but I don’t imagine it’s a new thing. I use an old Hippo driver which has a clunk like a saucepan hitting an anvil and that’s done nothing for my hearing let alone my confidence.

And the screams of agony of my playing partners, when their third successive drive disappears right, off into the lake, also resonate in my inner ear.

But manufacturers should beware, for following a recent court case in Korea, they might be held culpable for the damage done by their highly tech-nical, but ear-splitting products.

In fining a golfer around £900 after a wild shot saw the club he was using strike his caddy straight in the midriff – an accident which required seven weeks of hospital treatment – the Supreme Court in South Korea ruled he had violated the duty of due care to prevent injury to others while playing a sport.

The court stated: “In events such as boxing or judo, injury to the opponent is to be expected so there is that miti-gating circumstance. But in golf, it is unreasonable to expect a caddy should anticipate injury to him or herself.”

Now, the same case could probably be made for the golfer who, in all inno-cence, had purchased a top-of-the-

range, state-of-the-art driver and found himself needing an ear trumpet by the time he reached the 16th.

In such a litigious age, surely it is only a matter of time before we see golf-related TV adverts fronted by that bloke who used to be in The Bill and Eastenders.

“Have you been playing golf with a King Cobra LD titanium driver or any other modern club manufactured by a faceless foreign corporation which isn’t short of a bob or two and found your-self turning up the volume on your radio as you struggle to hear the news headlines?

“you have? Then why not contact one of our specialists at www.really-loudgolfclubscanmakeyoumoney.com? Each of our highly trained oper-ators is experienced in the problems you have suffered. Why not call them now and discuss your situation? Though you might need to speak up as they’re all a bit mutton…

“And all of the money we get in compensation is yours to waste on an even newer, louder driver. Ideally one that doesn’t sound like a pick-axe strik-ing a church bell.” GME

Glove; ball; driver - oh, and don’t forget the ear plugs

“The 55-year-old in question had been using his weapon of choice three times a week for 18 months, which begs the question, how?”

david bowerseditorial@portman.uk.com

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Unsure what the future holds?

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