Posted: 09 Jan 2011 12:50 AM PST

by Lynh Bui and Connie Cone Sexton - Jan. 9, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

When it opened nearly 50 years ago, Papago Golf Course was considered a jewel amid the red rocks of east Phoenix, its design a challenge for professionals but enjoyable for amateur duffers.

At its peak, golfers lined up to play more than 100,000 rounds a year.

Profile: Papago Golf Course | Papago Park

It was a course destined to remain a top draw for local and visiting golfers, city officials believed.

But the course deteriorated after the 1990s. The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees municipal golf courses, said major renovation was needed on the lakes, tees, greens and bunkers. Trees were dying, and the existing clubhouse needed to be replaced.

In 2007, the city had a plan. With no money to inject, Phoenix sought an outside course manager. From three proposals, Phoenix selected the non-profit Arizona Golf Foundation to restore the course to its original luster and run day-to-day operations. The foundation secured $12.5 million in financing through the Phoenix Industrial Development Authority, which issued bonds to renovate the course.

After pumping $10 million into Papago, the foundation filed for bankruptcy in October. Bankruptcy proceedings for the non-profit management arm of the Arizona Golf Association are expected to continue through February.

In the meantime, city officials are in limbo, waiting to hear from a judge if they can fire the foundation and hire a new company to run the course.

City officials insist no taxpayer dollars are in jeopardy despite the foundation's bankruptcy. Deputy Parks and Recreation Director Rob Harman has said that Compass Bank, which bought $9.5 million of the tax-free bonds, only has a right to golf revenue from Papago and cannot seize the property or its assets.

But that doesn't mean the city hasn't spent taxpayer money to take care of Papago since the bankruptcy filing.

The Parks and Recreation Department spent at least $100,000 to water and seed the course in 2009 and 2010.

"The payments were a bridge to enable the course to prepare for and stay open until the peak winter season arrived," city spokesman David Urbinato said.

Rick Naimark, the Phoenix deputy city manager who oversees the Parks and Recreation Department, said the city is disappointed to be at this juncture with the Arizona Golf Association.

He said the city has an investment in Papago and is eager to move on following the bankruptcy.

Ed Gowan, executive director of the Arizona Golf Association, said he couldn't comment until legal proceedings are complete. Gowan said the foundation's attorney, Jack Hebert, is the only spokesman for the foundation. Hebert did not return calls and e-mails requesting comment.

Foundation officials from the beginning, however, have blamed the poor economy for troubles at Papago. They also have said they want to keep managing the golf course and have come up with a plan to do it.

"We have the financial resources at our disposal now to give us a great shot of performing all the responsibilities we're supposed to perform," Hebert said during a December bankruptcy hearing.

Three bidders

On Jan. 12, 2007, Phoenix issued a request for proposals to outsource the management and restoration of Papago, located between Van Buren Street and McDowell Road, off 52nd Street, near the Phoenix-Tempe border. The work included restoration of the irrigation system, turf, driving range, restaurant and clubhouse. The goal of the partnership was to "return this facility to its status as a premier municipal golf course destination, while maintaining the integrity of the design concepts of the original architect," the request says.

Three bidders emerged as the top contenders: Lyon Golf, Papago Golf LLC and the Arizona Golf Association.

- Lyon Golf: Partnered with high-end real-estate company Lyon Realty, Lyon Golf runs the ASU Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State University in Tempe. According to its proposal, Lyon Golf had planned to work with noted golf architect Forrest Richardson to restore the Papago course. Richardson had been deeply involved in the city's prior efforts to restore Papago. Lyon also had some of the original plans from the course's designer, the famed William Bell of the family that designed Torrey Pines in San Diego.

Lyon Golf proposed investing about $12.2 million in the project, offering the cash up front from the Lyon family trust. Lyon had the most ambitious revenue projections of the three finalists, estimating a renovated Papago would make $4.9 million in 2008-09, growing to $6.7 million in 2011-12. Lyon also proposed some of the highest greens fees, $30 to $147 a round. It asked to run the course for 25 years.

- Papago Golf LLC: A partnership between Jim Bellows and Landscapes Unlimited. Bellows' company runs Rolling Hills Golf Course, a Tempe municipal facility in Papago Park, also home to the Papago course. Landscapes Unlimited did restoration at Torrey Pines for the 2008 U.S. Open. Papago Golf proposed spending about $6.4 million on the project, offering $4.4 million up-front cash. It proposed the most modest rates, $11 to $40 a round. The company also had the most modest revenue projections, estimating the course would generate $1.8 million in its first full year, growing to $3.3 million in 2011-12.

Randy Spenla, a city auditor who served on the selection committee, said the proposal didn't include enough funding for maintenance. He said the proposal to run the course under a 40-year lease was too long.

- Arizona Golf Association: The Arizona Golf Association's proposal fell in between the other bidders. The association's management experience was limited. It had managed Villa Monterey public golf course in Scottsdale, which shuttered after the association couldn't afford to operate it. Scottsdale had to spend at least $82,000 to maintain the nine-hole course. It eventually was closed and became an eyesore until the city turned it into a park in 2006. For its Phoenix proposal, the association called on the Golf Guys, a team that includes Marvin French, to manage Papago. French helped develop and design Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon. The association proposed funding $200,000 in cash to start renovation at Papago, then planned to rely on loans from the city's Industrial Development Authority.

The association estimated Papago would make $4.5 million in 2008-09, with revenue growing to $4.9 million in 2011-12. The AGA created a separate non-profit to operate Papago for 25 years.

Arizona Golf Association won the bid.

Surprise selection

Mike Conner, a general partner in Lyon Golf, said many were surprised when Phoenix selected the Arizona Golf Association and its foundation as the winning bidder, considering the Villa Monterey failure in Scottsdale.

Conner also said he was surprised that a proposal using public bonds won over Lyon Golf's plans to fund the project through private money from the Lyon family.

"It's hard to lose a deal when you're totally at risk, the city has no risk, and you still lose," Conner said.

Spenla, the city auditor, said the three proposals were similar and none would have provided a windfall to the city.

The association's plan was attractive, he said, because of the development-authority bonds. "That made their cost of borrowing the same as the city," Spenla said.

Another positive for the association was its presentation. "Each firm had a 90-minute or two-hour interview and there is a subjective element of who did the best job in the interview," Spenla said. "AGA did that."

Some wondered, however, whether the association had a foot in the door that gave it unfair advantage over other companies. The association's Gowan sat on the city's golf-advisory committee and had access to city discussions on what to do with Papago.

Joe Hume, a founder of Save Our Papago, a group formed specifically to keep the association from running the course, closely followed the course improvements. He raised questions about the ability of the foundation to deliver its promises, but his questions have fallen on deaf ears.

"Why wouldn't you do business with the people who have the money and the expertise?" Hume said.

Unkept promises

In April 2008, Papago shut down for eight months as the $9.75 million overhaul began. The foundation replaced turf, expanded the driving range and replaced the irrigation system.

But there were some promises that weren't kept.

The foundation didn't complete re-vegetation throughout the course or make its rent payments to the city.

But the biggest disappointment was the failure to build a clubhouse after razing the existing one. The clubhouse is in a trailer until a permanent structure can be built.

Hume said he and others are disappointed with the renovation, which destroyed more than 250 of the course's iconic palm and eucalyptus trees and functional clubhouse. He said a core group of golfers who supported Papago even when the course was falling apart have stopped playing.

The foundation had support from several high-profile organizations, including the Arizona Women's Golf Association, the Junior Golf Association of Arizona and the United States Golf Association. A year after the renovation, Golfweek named Papago one of the top 50 municipal courses in the nation.

Bellows said it would be hard to find a replacement to manage the course.

"The sad part is they missed a big opportunity, because now the industry is totally different than it was three years ago," Bellows said. "The lenders aren't out there. Equity isn't out there."

Greg Stanton was the councilman who represented the district that includes Papago when the decision was made to go with the foundation. He said the city wanted to restore the golf course to its "former grandeur" without using money from the general fund, which pays for core city functions such as police and fire services.

The foundation wasn't successful because the economy took a dive, Stanton said, and fewer people were spending time and money playing golf.

"There were some folks who felt AGF was the very best and others didn't," Stanton said. "Anytime you have a competitive RFP process, you'll get strong sides on both issues."

The Golf Guys is still running Papago during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Regardless of what happens, Naimark, the deputy city manager, said he was determined to see a clubhouse built.

Where the funding will come from isn't known.

Naimark won't join those who question the choice of the foundation, but said, "We didn't achieve what we set out to achieve."

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Golf Channel brings homeless pro’s tale to TV

Posted: 10 Jan 2011 10:55 AM PST

Courtesy Golf Channel

Mark Burk, the central figure in Golf Channel's new show, 'Pipe Dream'

Mark Burk used to sleep in a mansion with a couple of Mercedes-Benzes and a golf studio in the garage. Now he sleeps in a concrete pipe near railroad tracks in Indio, Calif.

That's where we meet Burk, the subject of "Pipe Dream," which debuts on Golf Channel at 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 11.

"Pipe Dream" tells the story of a homeless golf pro who dreams of playing on the Champions Tour while simultaneously trying to clear his name of domestic-abuse charges filed by former girlfriend and supermodel Beverly Johnson.

There's something almost childlike about Burk. He seems utterly incapable of finding his way in the world without someone – his mother, friends or, most intriguing, Johnson – to foot the bill for him. While watching the first two episodes, I was reminded of comedian Dennis Miller's frequent refrain that society needs to "help the helpless, not the clueless." Viewers can decide which adjective applies to Burk.

In the second episode, he is shown wandering from one business to the next, asking people for work.

"What do you do?" one lady asks him.

"I play golf," Burk replies.

Burk's goal is to go to Champions Tour Q-School, even though his golf clubs have been in hock for much of the past year and he's reduced to using desert detritus – sticks and rocks – to work on his game. He recruits a homeless friend named Eddie "New York" – who knows more about reading tarot cards than greens – to be his caddie, provided Burk can reclaim his clubs and his game, not to mention find the money to enter Q-School.

"All I know is how to make money playing golf," Burk says. "My instincts tell me to try to play. And I'll try to play my way into a career."

This can't end well.

"Pipe Dream" also doesn't start as well as I would have hoped. Given the storyline, the narration is oddly stilted and emotionless.

"At 53, Mark is looking for work for the first time in his life," the narrator tells us. "But with no real-world experience outside of golf and no college education, Mark's work options are extremely limited."

There are other problems with the storytelling.

"Mark's story defies explanation," the narrator tells us in the first episode. But it's the storyteller's job to find the truth. Every story can be explained; the producers of "Pipe Dream" will need to do a better job of that as the season progresses.

In the first episode, we're quickly told a murky story about how Burk came from an affluent family of retailers and picked up golf while attending private school. Things went south, Burk tells us, when a cousin "ended up stealing quite a bit of money from the federal government." Burk says his mother, who apparently coddled her son, had to pay off the debt. By age 40, Burk says, the family money had dried up.

This cursory summary, which raises more questions than answers, isn't good enough. Viewers need to understand more details about Burk's story if they're expected to care about his plight. He does not – nor should he – get the benefit of the doubt.

Similarly, we need more specifics on Burk's playing credentials. His thumbnail summary: Turned pro in 1980, got back his amateur status in 1984, turned pro again in 1988, then played on various mini-tours and in South Africa. Burk says he "won" the 1984 California State Open. Greg Twiggs actually won that event; it's possible Burk meant that he was the low amateur that year, but the Southern California PGA couldn't confirm that. Burk did play in the 1984 U.S. Amateur, but failed to reach match play.

In the second episode, he's shown shooting 3 over in his first round in two years. "His game is solid," says friend Rich Greenwood, who played on UCLA's 1988 national championship team.

Burk's bigger problem, obviously, is clearing his name in court. Burk and his attorney insist he is innocent, and make casual assumptions about Johnson's mental state. Johnson so far has not responded to requests for comment, according to a Golf Channel spokesman.

"Pipe Dream" represents one of the most ambitious programming choices in Golf Channel's 16-year history – the sort of show many of us have hoped to see rather than another interminable, unwatchable season of "Big Break." While storytelling flaws emerged in the first two episodes, Burk's story is, nevertheless, compelling enough to keep me watching.

Classic Hollywood: The best golf movies

Posted: 09 Jan 2011 09:06 PM PST

It's appropriate that the first major Pro-Am PGA golf tournament of the year, the Bob Hope Classic, which begins Jan. 17, was created by a comedian. Because let's face it, the only really good movies about the sport are funny ones. The serious ones tend to be double bogeys with audiences, critics and golfers alike.

"When you are sending golf up, the stuff is great," says golf journalist Jeff Silverman, who has written for such publications as Sports Illustrated and is working on a book about Pennsylvania's famed Merion Golf Club. "But when you look at the serious attempts to do golf movies with messages about the importance of the game, they are absolutely weighed down by the pretense of the messages, which is why the funny movies work."

Since Hollywood's earliest days, golf has been a frequent movie subject (perhaps because so many studio execs and stars play; hence, the longtime tradition of the celebrity golf tournament). But turning that interest into popular films has been tricky.

Scoring a birdie in Silverman's eyes is Ron Shelton's 1996 romantic comedy "Tin Cup," starring Kevin Costner as a washed-up golf pro working at a golf range who decides to qualify for the U.S. Open in hopes of winning the heart of a slick pro's ( Don Johnson) girlfriend ( Rene Russo).

"Tin Cup" hits a hole in one, says Silverman, because Shelton "had the sensibility to understand that you don't make movies about golf, you use golf as a window into the character. If the movie is just about golf, it's absolutely dreadful."

Early golf movies, such as W.C. Fields' 1930 short "The Golf Specialist" and the 1930 musical comedy "Love in the Rough," with Robert Montgomery, were all funny. "The whole idea of the clothes, the ball, the swing… The Three Stooges did a golf movie ['Three Little Beers'], and in the Our Gang comedy ['Divot Diggers'], Spanky used a monkey as a caddie."

The first golf movie on most people's minds is 1980's "Caddyshack," which scored below-par notices from the critics but became a cult favorite with audiences. Directed by Harold Ramis, the film starred Michael O'Keefe as a caddie at an upscale country club, Chevy Chase as the son of one of the club's co-founders, Rodney Dangerfield as a nouveau-riche real estate tycoon and Bill Murray as a, well, Bill Murray-esque greens keeper trying to rid a gopher from the club.

Silverman, though, is far more enthusiastic about Adam Sandler's 1996 "Happy Gilmore," about an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers he has a talent for golf. The film is best known for a hilarious brawl between Sandler and "The Price Is Right" host Bob Barker.

As for the serious golf movies, don't get Silverman started on the 1951 Ben Hogan biopic "Follow the Sun," with Glenn Ford, which he feels is strictly miniature golf. "Ben Hogan is one of the great stories of all time, and 'Follow the Sun' may be the worse movie ever made."

Not much better is the 2004 biopic disaster "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius," starring Jim Caviezel ("The Passion of the Christ") as the famed golfer. "He looks like he never saw a club in his life." And Robert Redford's 2000 golf parable "The Legend of Bagger Vance," says Silverman, gets bogged down in its own pretension.

Ironically, the literature written about the game, from Ring Lardner to John Updike, he says, is "gorgeous." Silverman was especially taken with Mark Frost's book "The Greatest Game Ever Played," about how working-class Francis Ouimet became the first amateur to win the U.S. Open in 1913.

But the 2005 film version, adapted by Frost, starring Shia LaBeouf as Ouimet, falls into one sand trap after another.

"Early on in the movie, you start getting all of these facts wrong," he says. "You have a scene where young Francis Ouimet is studying a yardage book that are made to help you around the golf course. These books didn't come until the 1970s, until Jack Nicklaus created them. The movie was over for me."

This beloved comedian, known for playing the violin (badly), was a celebrity golfer in his day. Who is he?

Hint: He drove a Maxwell on his radio and TV series.

Answer: Jack Benny

susan.king@latimes.com

Golf Zone

Monday, January 10, 2011

“Papago Golf Course, Phoenix in limbo” plus 2 more

“Papago Golf Course, Phoenix in limbo” plus 2 more

Three bidders

Surprise selection

Unkept promises

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