Saturday, February 27, 2010

“Polling place plan for golf club (BBC News)” plus 2 more

“Polling place plan for golf club (BBC News)” plus 2 more

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Polling place plan for golf club (BBC News)

Posted: 27 Feb 2010 02:03 AM PST

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A clubhouse at a golf course on Skye has been suggested as a polling place during the General Election.

The post office in Sconser has previously been used but it is to close in April.

Highland Council officials have recommended Sconser Golf Club's clubhouse as a suitable alternative.

Councillors have been asked to approve the plan and also the use of Auldearn's church hall as a polling place during renovations of the village hall.



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Bright Ideas: portable crazy golf idea has come a fair way (Daily Telegraph)

Posted: 27 Feb 2010 01:16 PM PST

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By Roland Gribben
Published: 9:10PM GMT 27 Feb 2010

The unemployed ex-salesman was taking stock of a life punctuated by depression, despair and ill-health. The death of his mother when he was 10 left a deep scar that has taken time to heal. Work had been a mixture of therapy and frustration.

He was able to relax during the fun trip around the crazy golf maze with his wife Catherine. He turned to her and said: "Wouldn't it be great to do something so stress-free as crazy golf for a living?"

Back home in South Normanton, Derbyshire, the thought of a crazy golf life refused to go away. "It kept popping into my head. I thought, 'why not design and build a crazy golf course to take to people?' But I had no capital. I went to the high street banks but they were not very forthcoming."

Then the Prince's Trust Business Programme came into view and Crazy Fox Golf began to move from dream to reality. The first meeting in September 2006 laid the foundations for a £4,500 loan and business mentor to turn the idea into a practical proposition. For six months Fox was immersed in the mechanics of business. In-between he designed and built the first nine-hole course with obstacles and a waterproof layout.

The crazy golfer hires out a course at £50 an hour or £400 for the day before delivery charges. Finding the right price level to win business and produce a return has been a struggle. "It's taken two years to nail down the price," says Fox.

A long wheel base van holds the collapsible course, measuring eight metres by four metres, ready for erection indoors or outdoors. Three years on, mobile crazy golf has developed a niche market. Fox says: "It's going from strength to strength."

He has made inroads into the private and corporate hire markets with three courses. One is specifically targeted at schools. Another holds attractions for birthday parties. Fox is also developing a course with the corporate and competitive market in mind and is finding growing interest from brides and grooms who want to add some novelty to their wedding day.

Fox is now looking at other options, including licensing and franchise. "I want to grow the business." Producing an 18-hole course is not on the agenda because it would mean finding bigger layout areas.

Fox has naturally mastered the course. His best round is 13 shots for the nine holes "but it's possible to go round in 11".

Fox pauses and looks back over the years – "crazy golf has given me a new lease of life".

www.crazyfoxgolf.co.uk

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

Hank Haney Golf Center moving, finally (Dallas Morning News)

Posted: 27 Feb 2010 12:35 AM PST

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The Hank Haney Golf Center, an Uptown outpost of suburbia, is being broken up and moved.

The long-expected action started earlier this week when workers began removing the signature poles and netting from the eight-acre lot.

The in-town driving range, which has been closed since Jan. 1, will reopen in April along Stemmons Freeway near Children's Medical Center.

"It's been fun to see Uptown grow up around us, but I'm excited about changing facilities," said Brian Mahon, director and manager of the facility.

The move has been rumored for years. In 2005, a party was held to announce replacement of the driving range with a high-rise mixed-use development.

But those plans fell through.

While such a development remains the long-term goal for the land, there are no deals in the works, according to Neal Sleeper, president of Cityplace Co., which owns the site.

What spurred this week's dismantling of the driving range is Sleeper's belief that, pending Dallas City Council approval, officials are preparing to implement a long-standing city proposal to extend two nearby streets through the property. The streets – Oak Grove and Noble avenues – will run between Cityplace West Boulevard and Blackburn Street.

Karl Stundins, the city of Dallas' area redevelopment program manager, declined to discuss the street extensions, saying his office had not officially received an application for the work.

According to Sleeper, however, city officials have indicated that once plans are drawn up and approved by the City Council, work could begin later this year.

The city wants to expand the streets to make the land more attractive to commercial or residential projects that would draw in far more tax revenue than that generated by a driving range.

The city wants to act soon to take advantage of funds from the Cityplace Area TIF, a tax arrangement that generates extra money to spur economic growth. The TIF expires in 2012. Meanwhile, the recession has driven down the cost of public construction costs, making this a good time to start the new streets.

The recession is likely to stifle development of the land for several years. Still, Sleeper said, it is important that the city act now.

"We want to get everything in place so when the market comes back, we can take advantage of the turnaround more quickly," he said.

So that the land doesn't sit vacant, he said, his company intends to convert the remaining Haney facilities along McKinney Avenue into an "entertainment venue," though he declined to discuss specifics.

The part of the site closer to Central Expressway would become a "parklike" area until something more permanent comes along.

While the driving range served as a local landmark, and saved urban golf enthusiasts a drive to the suburbs, it was never a gold mine, Mahon said.

Earlier development cut the original Haney facility in half, requiring management to eliminate some amenities. It also required the use of limited-flight golf balls, so that the most powerful drives wouldn't send golf balls into the southbound access road of Central.

In addition, the site was far enough from both downtown and the Park Cities that it was difficult for some residents and businessmen to get in driving practice during lunch hour.

"We did well, but we weren't out there killing them," Mahon said.

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