Hampton Golf added two Florida golf clubs to its portfolio in late March, to go along with one that was added in late February.

Rio Pinar Country Club in Orlando and The Golf Club at Summerbrooke in Tallahassee are the newest additions, joining the Brooker Creek Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Fla. near Tampa.

“Hampton Golf is experiencing aggressive expansion in both golf course operations management and golf course acquisitions and we are pleased to add Rio Pinar and Summerbrooke to our collection,” said M.G. Orender, president of Hampton Golf. “Our reputation for providing the highest standard of excellence in design, service and course conditions at each facility we serve has helped us to secure management contracts for some of the finest courses in the country.”

Hampton Golf manages golf and amenity facilities through on-site operations and its revolutionary centralized customer service center, which books tee times for its facilities as well as conducts marketing programs for each facility. The service center provides a reduction in employee expenses and payroll to golf course owners, increases the customer service experience for golfers and those booking tee times, and allows the Hampton Golf team to book more tee times and expand growth at each facility.

Rio Pinar Country Club is a private club located minutes from downtown Orlando that was wstablished in 1957. The historic and classically designed course has hosted several state and professional events including The PGA Tour’s Citrus Open and The LPGA Tour’s Lady Citrus Open.

Tallahassee’s Golf Club at Summerbrooke is a family-friendly club both on and off the golf course. The par-72 course features four sets of tees to cater to golfers of all skill levels. The club also features an exclusive resort-style swimming pool with expansive veranda and poolside grill.

Brooker Creek Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Fla. is a semi-private club, which has undergone extensive renovation and revitalization. Hampton Golf relaunched it under its original name, Tarpon Woods Golf Club. Recent upgrades by Hampton Golf include new course maintenance equipment and a new fleet of golf carts, with additional improvements ongoing.

“We chose to rebrand the club with its original name to show our commitment to providing the quality and excellence that Tarpon Woods was known for years ago,” Orender said of the 18-hole Lane Marshall-designed course.

Hampton Golf was co-founded in 1998 by M.G. Orender, 33rd president of The PGA of America, and his business partner, Ed Burr.

KemperSports has launched new private club division named KemperCollection, which will be led by Senior Vice President Barrett Eiselman. KemperCollection was developed to formalize and grow KemperSports’ private club portfolio.

“The needs of private club clients and members are ever-changing,” said Steve Skinner, chief executive officer of KemperSports. “With the formation of KemperCollection, we are aligning our decades of club management experience to better serve private club owners and their members,”

Among its private club portfolio, KemperSports currently manages The Prairie Club in Valentine, Neb., Royal Melbourne Country Club in Long Grove, Ill., The ACE Club in Lafayette Hill, Pa. and Hawthorn Woods Country Club in Hawthorn Woods, IL. This group will add additional resources and customize its services to meet the needs of the private club industry.

With over 20 years of experience in the golf industry, Barrett Eiselman will oversee KemperCollection. Eiselman boasts a professional career in golf course operations, hospitality management and sales and has previous experience in managing a portfolio of private clubs.

“With the state of the industry, we recognize the need to customize our management offerings to meet the changing demands of the private club owners,” Eiselman, said. “KemperCollection provides a flexible and specialized option for private clubs to benefit from KemperSports’ expertise in specific categories of management to enhance operations.”

The Meydan Group has hired Troon to manage Meydan Golf, a new Peter Harradine-designed, nine-hole floodlit course that sits alongside the Meydan Racecourse and The Meydan Hotel in the United Arab Emirates.

Meydan will operate as a daily-fee facility, catering to all golfers. It includes a floodlit driving range and an Academy by Troon, both designed to help develop new golfers. The 3,600-yard course will be open until midnight
“This is certainly a bold and exciting move from Meydan Group and we are positive that this type of golf option will be embraced in Dubai,” said Bruce Glasco, senior vice president, managing director, International Operations.

Meydan Golf is located next to The Meydan Racecourse, home to Thoroughbred racing and the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horserace.

A soft opening of the course is planned for late March 2012, in time for the Dubai World Cup.

“This project is a key strategic initiative in the overall development of Meydan as a center for leisure and business,” said Meydan chairman of the board and CEO Saeed H. Al Tayer.

Meydan City is the brainchild of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

Donald Trump is dishing out a lot of money to buy and renovate the “iconic” Doral Resort in Miami, Florida. But most real estate observers feel he is getting a great bargain.

The New York-based developer, and owner of 11 golf courses, is planning to spend $150 to $200 million in renovating the resort, after his $150 million purchase closes in June. Real-estate listings show that the going-rate for an acre in the center of Miami is more than $2 million.

Doral is an 800-acre property, with a 692-room hotel, meeting space, a spa, four golf courses and a Jim McLean Golf School. The sale does not include the White Course, because it can still be developed.

Trump has been bullish on golf over the past five years, acquiring high-end properties in financial straits, and turning them around. While much larger than previous acquisitions, Doral appears to follow the same formula. 

Doral was part of a collection of high-end resorts, that included the Biltmore and La Quinta Resort and Club. It was previously owned by CNL Hotels & Resorts group. But in February 2011, MSR Golf Resort, an entity controlled by hedge fund manager Paulson & Co., seized the group through foreclosure, and immediately placed it in Chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid paying $1.525 billion in senior debt.

The bankruptcy judge approved Trump’s acquisition earlier this month after Marriott, which held a long-term management contract, reached an agreement with MSR.

The Doral is one of the largest hotels in South Florida and home to the famous Blue
Monster golf course, which has hosted a PGA Tour event every year since it opened in 1962.

“It’s a tremendous location, 800 acres right smack in the middle of Miami, and we look to make this one of the great places anywhere in the world for golf,” Trump said last week. “It needs a lot of work. It’s a little bit tired, and that’s OK. And we’re going to do something special.”

The planned renovations will include Doral’s main building, lodges, conference areas, and spa. All three of its golf courses will be improved, with Gil Hanse working on the Blue Monster. Trump said the course would be shut down after the 2013 tournament, and reopen in fall 2013.

Hanse was selected last week to design the course in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics.

“Doral can be the absolute best,” Trump told the AP Press. “We are going to do this really right. I view it as a business, but it’s not my main business. But more importantly, I will spend much more money on fixing Doral than somebody else because somebody else is looking for a return on investment. I’m not. I’m looking to make an amazing place, and the return will come. So I think it’s a good thing for golf.”

Myrtle Beach, once the darling of the golf industry, has seen play drop for 13 straight years, and with it more than 20 golf courses have closed their doors.

But as the South Carolina destination approaches equilibrium between supply and demand, two of the companies that helped fuel the development in the boom time, are merging forces as operators.

Myrtle Beach National and Burroughs & Chapin announced the formation of a new company — National Golf Management — in early March. The joint venture will operate 23 of the region’s 95 golf courses, and operate MBN.com, the top online tee time source in the area.

Bob Mauragas, a golf operator with Reynolds Plantation for the past ten years, is president. He joined Myrtle Beach National in June 2011, and almost immediately jumped into the negotiations with Burroughs & Chapin over the merger.

“Our joined efforts and assets will be beneficial to our customers and to the Myrtle Beach area’s efforts to remain the leading golf vacation destination in the nation,” Mauragas said. “Our goal is to be better, not bigger.”

Clay Brittain, who founded Myrtle Beach National in 1971, pioneered the region’s cooperative marketing efforts in 1967 in an effort to fill hotel rooms with drive-in golfers from across the Eastern seaboard. Both Myrtle Beach National and Burroughs & Chapin, a 100-year-old regional land owner and developer, rode that wave of success, buying and developing golf courses. Myrtle Beach grew to 115 golf courses at its peak along its 60-mile South Carolina coast that became known as the Grand Strand.

It logged 4.2 million rounds of golf, and even had 23 courses under construction at one point in the 1990s. Around that time, Brittain discovered he could convert hotels into condos and make even more money.

But the strategy slowly shifted resort guests into residents, allowing them to pay less for golf. And soon thereafter, other destinations — including Hilton Head, S.C. and Jacksonville, Fla. — began to pull away golfers.

The result was a drop in rounds, down to 3.4 million in 2010. And thankfully a drop in the number courses — from 115 down to 95.

Mauragas feels the region needs to retract even further — down to 80 courses — in order for supply to match demand. That won’t be easy, but he feels the merger positions the new company to thrive in the challenging environment.

“When [golfers] have choice, the operator has to make a way to stand out,” Mauragas said. “We can’t let our amenities dilapidate. We need to stabilize prices so that we can reinvest.”

National Golf Management plans to invest $2 million annually into improving its courses. The company owns fifteen of the 23 courses under its management.

“We do look to expand — steady and slow,” he said. “We want to be poised to partner in the Myrtle Beach area if someone is looking for capital help. But more importantly, what we want to do is focus on what we do well — operational golf and online [tee time] transactions, all focused on resort destinations.”

Mauragas says the new company, which is 50 percent owned by each partner, is focused on the golfer and delivering exceptional golf and great customer service. He says the operational expertise of Myrtle Beach National combined with Burroughs & Chapin’s great courses, will make a successful company. 

Most of the leadership for the new entity comes from Myrtle Beach National. Mauragas, Jim Woodring, executive vice president of marketing and internet services, and Max Morgan, vice president of agronomy, come from Myrtle Beach National. Mike Turrise, director of human resources, was hired from Burroughs & Chapin. The board that Mauragas reports to is made up of four people from each company.

OB Sports Golf Management has added two more Las Vegas golf courses to its portfolio, bringing it to six in the region.

It recently signed on to manage Painted Desert Golf Club and Las Vegas Golf Club. It already manages The Legacy Golf Club, Angel Park Golf Club, Aliante Golf Club and Stallion Mountain Golf Club, which re-opened in the Fall.  

The two new courses will be added into OB Sports’ Las Vegas marketing efforts including its stay and play packages, and inclusion in the OB Sports Golf Card.

“We have plugged these facilities into our proven and successful marketing campaigns, and from an operational standpoint, are enhancing the services and experiences offered at each of these popular courses,” stated Phil Green, chief operating officer of OB Sports Golf Management. “Our co-operative efforts will be aimed at building Las Vegas as an exciting golf destination and bringing more golf travelers to Las Vegas.”

OB Sports is hopeful its group of courses will appeal to group planners and resort golfers.

OB Sports plans to leverage synergies as it relates to operational efficiencies, agronomic practices and event and service offerings. It is managing all aspects of each facility including golf operations, agronomy, food and beverage, instruction, membership sales and marketing.

Painted Desert Golf Club, designed by Jay Morrish, ushered in the era of desert golf in Las Vegas when it opened in 1987. Clark County’s Las Vegas Golf Club is the oldest course in the area, having opened in 1938. It is close to Downtown Las Vegas, and is widely regarded as one of the best golf values in Las Vegas.

OB Sports has been operating courses in Las Vegas since 1990, and currently manages 45 golf courses and country clubs throughout the United States.

Meadowbrook Golf Group has taken over management of the Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa, which encompasses the entire town of Lajitas, Texas.

“We took over the whole town,” said Scott Beasley, vice president of operations at Meadowbrook. “We have a whole new staff in there, and revamped the whole operation.”

Lajitas is located between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, more than five hours south of Midland, Texas. It includes a town hall, general store, water treatment plant, homes and a private airport.

The 26,000-acre resort includes Black Jack Crossing Golf Club, which was a finalist in Golf Inc.’s Development of the Year. It also has a 104-room hotel, equestrian center, spa and several hunting options, including a five-stand skeet shooting.

Meadowbrook, once one of the largest management companies in the industry with more than 50 courses, now only manages seven properties. It owns four courses in the Florida panhandle, and manages three others — ChampionsGate Golf Resort in Orlando, and Brigantine Beach in New Jersey in addition to Lajitas.

“I am really excited about 2012,” Beasley said. “Lajitas is a big contract for us and will lead to some others. And will close some other management company deals.”

Beasley said Meadowbrook still has the infrastructure in place — with IT, accounting and marketing — to compete with larger management companies.

“I have the resources equal to major guys like Kemper and Troon,” he said

International Golf Maintenance, Meadowbrook’s agronomic division, has been managing the golf course maintenance since September 2010. Beasley said Meadowbrook’s equipment business, Golf Ventures West, is also doing very well.

Lajitas guests either fly into the private airport or drive from the closest commercial airport in Midland, Texas. Despite its remote location, Beasley said the resort should do well.

It was recently designated as a dark sky preserve, only the fifth in the U.S., making it one of the best locales in the world for stargazing.

“It is a place you have to see,” Beasley said. “Phenomenal.”

The resort includes an RV park, a Cowboy action shoot street, a hunt club, rafting trips on the river, fishing, and other amenities.

Europe’s economic struggles are having an impact on the state of golf, according to a new report by KPMG’s Golf Advisory practice.

The number of registered golfers declined in 2011 by 46,000, the first year that the continent has seen a decline. At the same time, the number of courses increased by .7 percent to 6,740.

“While the growth of golf started to slow down after 2005, last year was the first time there was an actual decrease in registered golfers,” said Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice. “The decline can be attributed to two factors: the reduction in the number of golfers in some of Europe’s largest golf markets, especially the UK and Ireland, and the lack of dynamic growth in Europe’s emerging markets, specifically Eastern Europe and the South-East Mediterranean.”

There was a loss of 42,700 registered golfers in the UK & Ireland (3.1%), followed by Sweden (loss of 21,000) and Spain (loss of 9,700). 

Meanwhile, golf course development has been slowed due to a lack of financing and confidence.

“The increasing equity requirements of financial institutions, the growing cost of debt and the increasing expectations of investors in terms of returns, means the market for golf resorts with real estate will continue to suffer for quite some time,” Sartori said.

Sartori said the first markets to bounce back will be the ones with “potentially strong domestic demand, which are also appealing to the international market from a tourism perspective.” He said cited Italy, France and Turkey as possible areas that could rebound first.

Turkey has aggressively marketed to children, to help build domestic demand.

“While much of the golf market stagnation in Europe may be attributed to the overall economic climate, continued support and investment in new programs will be needed to sustain demand and generate further growth in the game, especially in mature and developed golf markets,” Sartori said.

The downturn in golf participation follows a 25-year period of growth – the number of golf courses more than tripled since the 1980s, while the number of golf courses doubled.

Sartori said most countries are not investing into growing the domestic game.

“Rather than introducing youth and family programs, and promotional packages, approximately 30 to 40 percent of Europe’s operators and club managers actually increased prices in 2011,” Sartori said.  “More than half of clubs have not invested in enhanced marketing – and many have not yet capitalized on the opportunities provided by online marketing and social media.”

The Golf Participation in Europe 2011 survey can be downloaded at www.golfbusinesscommunity.com

After a slow fourth quarter for new golf course management deals, 2012 has started with a bang. The three largest operators in the United States — Troon Golf, Billy Casper Golf and ClubCorp — have all announced news deals over the past 21 days.

ClubCorp, the Dallas-based private club giant, has been focused on acquisitions and ownership in recent years. But in mid-January it announced a management deal with LPGA International, a semi-private club in Daytona Beach, Fla. The course is home to the LPGA Tour, and serves as the site of the final stage of the LPGA Tour Qualifying School. It features two 18-hole courses, and an 80,000-square-foot natural turf practice area.

ClubCorp said that while it is focused on strategic acquisitions, there are clubs in today’s environment that would benefit from the company’s professional knowledge and resources.

“Old ClubCorp did a few more management deals than new ClubCorp,” Eric Affeldt said in the fall. “We’ve taken the position [that] we would do lease or management if they provided an avenue toward a future purchase or they provide significant value to our network. We would lease or manage a high profile course that members would think is cool.”

Billy Casper Golf (BCG) announced three deals in late January. It is taking over management of Sapona Country Club in Lexington, N.C., Bay View Golf Park in Kaneohe, Hawaii, and Hanover Country Club in Ashland, Virginia.

The Vienna, Virginia-based company assumed management of 21 new properties in 2011.

Sapona Country Club, an 18-hole private club, is the company’s fifth course in North Carolina. It opened in 1967 and is 45 minutes southwest of Greensboro.

Bay View Golf Park was recently acquired by Windward Church of the Nazarene, and will target families and juniors. The 18-hole course is a 3,269-yard executive course with a 40-stall, double deck driving range and 36-hole mini golf course.

Hanover Country Club is an 18-hole private club that was renovated in 2006. BCG will waive initiation fees and the first two months dues for 50 new members in order to kick start sales.

Meanwhile, Troon Golf continues to grow outside of the U.S. It was selected by Orascom Hotels & Development to manage Taba Heights and El Gouna, both resorts in Egypt.

“Troon will assist us in coping with the upscale movement we are witnessing in Taba Heights and El Gouna,” said Gerhard Niesslein, the new CEO of Orascom Development Holding AG. “

Troon Golf, the world’s largest management company, also recently announced the opening of Turtle Dunes Country Club located within a master-planned community in Acapulco, Mexico.

Turtle Dunes is an exclusive, full-service country club, and the 18-hole course will only be accessible to members and guest of The Fairmont Acapulco Princess and The Fairmont Pierre Marques hotels.

Lew Thompson, who bought The Bridges in Montrose, Colo. two years ago and turned it around, plans to do the same with his second course — Forest Dunes in Roscommon, Mich., which he acquired in October.

The highly-ranked Forest Dunes, a Tom Weiskopf Signature Course design, was developed in 1999 for an estimated $40 million, but was abandoned before it ever opened. The Michigan Carpenters Pension Trust Fund, one of the original lenders, took over the project and reopened it in 2002. But despite several accolades, the course struggled financially, and the trust fund was forced to invest heavily into the courses infrastructure. 

Thompson expects to change the fortunes for the club. 

“I am hoping to bring some stability to the place and attract more members,” Thompson said. “We have a great product here and we will give the kind of service that people will want to be a member for.”

Thompson plans to make Forest Dunes more attractive to current members, to attract new members, and to sell home sites. 

Thompson is in the process of building a 22-room luxury lodge that will help bring additional play. He said a lot of current members do not live in the local area and did not have a place to stay. The lodge will be connected to the 23,000-square-foot clubhouse.

He hopes to break ground in March and has set an ambitious schedule to have it completed by July. He closed on the sale in October for around $2 million plus earn out for any lots sold. 

Chris Charnas, who represented the seller, said there are seven homes are for sale in the development with an average price of $2.9 million and 105 lots are finished and ready for sale with an aggregate price of $13.9 million. Phase 2 of the project allows for the development of at least 200 additional lots.

“Forest Dunes is an incredible property with a remarkable golf course,” said Charnas, President of Links Capital Advisors. “The new owner’s aggressive approach to marketing will surely lead to a quick turn-around for Forest Dunes. The golf course is too good and the land too scenic for the deal not to be a success in the long run.”

Thompson previously acquired The Bridges for $3 million in April 2010. It was struggling with only 40 members and had a checkered history. The courses’ developer had committed suicide and the bank had repossessed the course, only to be taken over by the FDIC.

Thompson has since increased membership to more than 140, tripled wedding bookings, and started selling home sites around the course.

Until recently, Troon Golf managed the Forest Dunes, and had opened it for public play. But, Thompson ended that relationship and is in the process of hiring a new general manager.

Thompson, who lives in Huntsville, Ark., built his fortune in trucking, and recently turned over operations of that business to his son. He is a long-time golfer, but was not in the golf business until he bought The Bridges.

Golf Magazine ranked Forest Dunes 45th in the USA, and Golf Digest ranked it 99th. It is located within the 40,000-acre Huron National Forest, and near the Au Sable River, one of the nation’s finest fly fishing venues. Forest Dunes’ earned a Gold Signature Certification from Audubon International for its efforts to protect the river.