The fate of golf would seem to lie in the hands of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the United States Golf Association. Can we expect that they will protect and reverence the spirit of golf?
MAX BEHR
Martin Williams reports that an offshoot of the Yellowstone Club planned for St. Andrews with course designed by Tom Weiskopf appears to be dead based on word of the site going up for sale.
...defaulting on a $675 million loan...Jeff Ostrowski reports (thanks Steven T.)
Two affiliates of Celebration-based Ginn Resorts last week filed a flurry of Chapter 7 petitions. Ginn sought bankruptcy protection for Tesoro and for Quail West in Naples. Tesoro will continue operations under the supervision of the bankruptcy court and a court-appointed trustee until the property is sold, Ginn said in a statement.
The two Ginn subsidiaries, Ginn-LA CS Borrower LLC and Ginn-LA Conduit Lender Inc., owe Credit Suisse $675 million. Ginn defaulted on loan payments in June and had been negotiating with its lender since then.
The loan covered Tesoro, Quail West, Ginn sur Mer in the Bahamas and Laurelmor in North Carolina. Ginn said it has found a new owner for Laurelmor and entered into a joint venture with the lender to complete Ginn sur Mer.
Thanks to reader Scott for Tod Leonard's extensive and fascinating look at the demise of The Golf Club of California, which closed its doors November 1.
The moral of this story: don't let home developers design golf courses. Or run them.
Sunday, February 1, 2009 at 08:37 PM