Wednesday, February 17, 2010

“Golf: Tiger Woods to break silence on Friday - agent (AFP via Yahoo! News)” plus 3 more

“Golf: Tiger Woods to break silence on Friday - agent (AFP via Yahoo! News)” plus 3 more

Golf: Tiger Woods to break silence on Friday - agent (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Posted: 17 Feb 2010 12:13 PM PST

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Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Legislation could allow golf carts SC highways (AP via Yahoo! Finance)

Posted: 17 Feb 2010 10:21 AM PST

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Golf carts could be a more common sight on South Carolina's roads with legislation a House panel approved Wednesday despite concerns from the state's top public safety official.

The legislation expands the range for golf carts from a person's home or business to five miles from two. The state has allowed carts on the state's secondary roads for 23 years. They can cross, but not be driven on, primary highways.

With "the rising cost of gasoline, there are lot of people that are looking for alternative means of transportation along the secondary roads," said state Rep. Tom Young, the bill's sponsor.

But Department of Public Safety Director Mark Keel and others were worried about expanding even that use. Unless posted, secondary roads can have speed limits of 55 mph.

And Keel doesn't see any way to make golf carts more safe on the state's highways when they might be involved in collisions with heavier vehicles. "I think it's just the physics of it," Keel said. "I just think the risks end up increasing. The risks are there regardless."

Keel said it would be up to legislators to decide whether to limit use of golf cars to roads with slower speed limits. Industry standards for golf carts limit their speeds to 15 mph on a flat surface, according to the National Golf Car Manufacturers Association in Atlanta.

Young, an Aiken Republican, noted current law has been on the books for 23 years with no data on fatalities to show cart drivers are getting hurt in South Carolina.

The means the state hasn't been tracking that data, not that there haven't been deaths or injuries, Keel noted. "There's obviously not any huge amount out there. If it is, we'd probably be aware of it," Keel said. "I'm concerned about any of them."

Young, who filed the bill last year, said he's open to adding safety requirements, including lights, turn signals and horns.

State law now only requires a driver's license, a $5 state permit and proof of insurance while restricting the carts to use on roads to daylight hours only. South Carolina is one at least three dozen states that allow golf carts on roads, said Fred L. Somers Jr., the general counsel for the National Golf Car Manufacturers Association.

Manufacturers are offering safety accessories for road use that include turn signals, brake lights and horns, Somers said. But they are concerned about using seat belts. If seat belt or other restraints are required, the vehicles need to be able protect occupants in a rollover. Otherwise, "if it rolls over, he's dead," Somers said.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

To match feature SPORT-DECADE/GOLF (Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News)

Posted: 17 Feb 2010 12:35 PM PST

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Tiger Woods of the U.S. smiles as he receives the traditional green jacket from former winner Vijay Singh of Fiji to signify his win of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in this April 8, 2001 file photo.

Goals for Las Sendas Golf Club? Private club, national golf tournament (The Arizona Republic)

Posted: 17 Feb 2010 10:12 AM PST

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From the crest of an east Mesa foothill community, Dennis Shaw points to compelling views of the Valley and evidence of the $8 million-plus facelift to the championship golf course surrounding him.

"At noon on Friday we had 250 people on this patio," he says. "A lot of money has been invested here at a time when a lot of people think golf courses are drying up."

Shaw was standing on the deck of an outdoor restaurant that overlooks the Las Sendas Golf Club fairway, with its desert fauna and natural washes undulating toward a distant mountain panorama.

Viewpoint Patio is one of three new dining spots that recently opened in the makeover of one of the Valley's top 10 golf courses, where business is on the upswing in virtual defiance of an industry downturn.

By the time the renovations are complete in 2011, additions will include a two-story pro shop with architectural features that complement the area's Desert Uplands image, along with permanent restrooms, concessions and 14 concrete cartpaths.

It's the largest investment in the golf course since it opened in 1996 and represents more than half of the $14 million it cost to design and build the links, said Lloyd McBean, managing partner in the venture and executive director of its operations.

"It's tremendous when you see that kind of an investment in a down market," said Robert Brinton, executive director of the Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau. "That's good news."

Though Las Sendas is at the heart of northeast Mesa's upmarket accommodations, plans for a resort hotel near its link with Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway have yet to attract suitors.

Such a hotel would aid chances of luring a major golf tournament to the links, a prospect that appeals to McBean, once the construction is complete.

"We're anxious to have a tournament," he said. "But we're doing a baby steps scenario before we introduce something at a national level. It's like our restaurant manager who is magnificent. He doesn't want to bring in a bunch of food critics yet."

Chef Cory Mango, whose resume includes the Boulders and Wigwam resorts, prepares fine dining creations in a spacious, new kitchen for Bogey's Steak & Seafood -named for the legendary film star - and less elaborate fare for Viewpoint Patio and The Rusty Putter.

The goal is to transform the public course into a private, membership-only enterprise, McBean said, an undertaking that has growing support from the master-planned community, which is the largest concentration of high-end homes in the Southeast Valley.

But it comes at a time when many exclusive private clubs are plagued by declining memberships and have cut fees or opened to the public, according to industry reports.

"We certainly are bucking the system," McBean said. "The industry is stressed, and there has been a lot of publicity about that. But we are debt free, have no commitments to any banks and used our own capital for projects, including renovations."

McBean said his group sold 100 memberships at $29,900 each in less than three months and will take the golf course private when 350 are purchased.

"We have a cap of 450, and our memberships have a 100 percent refundability," he said.

But privatizing golf is facing fierce headwinds, according to industry experts like Shelby Futch of Mesa who has monitored the trend.

"West of the Mississippi there are only five (major) private clubs with full membership," said the CEO and founder of the Scottsdale Golf Group, which owns and operates golf schools and several golf courses, including Painted Mountain Golf Resort and Red Mountain Ranch Country Club in east Mesa.

Futch said his group recently assumed management of Seven Canyons, an exclusive course nestled in the Coconino National Forest and Sedona's red rock formations where membership costs $175,000.

"It needs some outside help because there are not enough of its members to support in on a private basis," he said. "The idea is to become a national club and course that people will travel across the country to play. It's spectacular."

"You need about 2,000 homes in a community to support a private club on a normal basis and we're not in normal times right now," he said.

With 3,400 homes, Las Sendas is capable of producing enough members for privatization, McBean said.

If not, the business will do well from an increase in play, which has already begun, and new revenue streams created from new amenities, he said.

"In some respects, we are more profitable under the existing model than we will be when we go private," McBean said. "But the community wants a private golf club and we're trying to provide it."

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