Golf Inc - March/April 2009 - (Page 19) All the world’s a stage for Player After traveling 14 million miles, golf’s legendary Black Knight continues to cover the globe in pursuit of his a wide variety of business interests. From his successful course design firm to his efforts at promoting environmental stewardship, Gary Player has maintained the same unwavering commitment to quality and excellence. ary Player is indisputably golf ’s international goodwill ambassador. Since launching his remarkable career more than a halfcentury ago in his native South Africa, Player has been a giant on the world golfing stage. One of golf ’s “Big Three” with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in the 1960s and ’70s, he stepped up his involvement in a wide range of business interests as his playing career has wound down. Today Player is a rancher, a wine grower, a thoroughbred horse breeder, real estate developer and philanthropist. He’s also one of the world’s most prolific golf course designers, with more than more than 250 courses in 35 countries to his credit. Today he has design projects under way in exotic locales such as Cyprus, Abu Dhabi and Mexico. G Player – who will be a keynote speaker at the spring Golf Inc. Conference March 30-April 1 at the World Golf Village — recently sat down with Senior Editor Jim Dunlap for a wide-ranging discussion on some of Player’s favorite topics: water conservation, golf course design and development, new golfer development, Tiger Woods and the PGA Tour and even President Barack Obama. Q Give your many interests and busy schedule, how much time are you able to spend on your design business? A I spend an awful lot of my time on that because I only play in about seven or eight tournaments a year now. It’s something I really love. Anybody can take a beautiful piece of ground and make a golf course, but I like to take a piece that’s not that good. Years ago, we took a piece of ground like that at Fancourt [South Africa] and made The Links. It’s one of the five best golf courses I ever played in my life. It was an airport, then it was a city dump. It had all the wrong grass and it was unplayable. We developed something with elevation changes of 100 feet, all these sand dunes, and it’s now hosted a President’s Cup, a Ladies World Cup, all these international events. To take a place like that and build beautiful bird sanctuaries and wetlands, to see all that and walk around, I’m always flabbergasted at what can be done. Q Are there distinctive features or styles on a Gary Player course? A I believe bunkering makes a massive difference. I go to golf courses, by top designers, and I give them a 3 out of 10 for their bunkering. It really gives a golf course great character, makes a huge difference. When the PHOTO © RYAN FIELD March/April 2009 www.GolfIncMagazine.com 19 http://www.GolfIncMagazine.com
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